American Oligarchy and Broken Philanthropy: A Deep Dive

The US is incubating its own class of billionaires while philanthropy serves as a reputation-laundering exercise for the wealthy.

• The rise of American oligarchy is increasingly being recognized, with the US becoming a haven for foreign wealth and incubating its own class of billionaires.
• American oligarchy is characterized by a small number of people having enormous power and wealth, and creating a system designed to protect their interests.
• Philanthropy in America is broken, with the wealthiest individuals enjoying huge tax breaks for their charitable donations, while the public has no say in how the money is spent.
• Philanthropy often serves as a reputation-laundering exercise for billionaires, constructing an aura of altruistic do-gooding and distracting people from attending to the source of the moneymaking.
• Philanthropic world, spurred by rising criticism and the dire needs exposed by the pandemic, has gone through a period of soul-searching.

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