wrythings

We have a question before us: how can a (would-be) philanthropist (WBP) engage meaningfully with grassroots organizers in advancing the World We Want?

Let’s start with a contrast… if you want something done, you can DIY, or you can employ someone else. Simple enough. Except that employing others brings it’s own responsibilities.

Spending money is work, and employing others to do good things is work too. The Greeks called that higher work Leisure, and the purpose of all work, but we can go into that another time.

Organizers, and others ostensibly “doing good work” might like the WBP to just ‘gis the money. After all, we know what to do with it. (So the story goes, so we have convinced ourselves)

As quick as fools and money are parted, we aren’t looking for foolish money. We’re looking for a relationship, we’re looking for community. We want wise money, don’t we?

And that has been the problem all along: wealth exercised without enough care or cognizance of it’s ramifications, or sometimes with so much care over these things it becomes absurd in it’s ineffectiveness, inhumanity and insufficient vision.

Let’s stir men’s souls. We’re speaking from Chicago after all: the City that works, the city of broad shoulders and all that Jazz.

In between DIY and ‘leave it to the hired hands’ is a roll up your sleeves philanthropy.

Yes, we all know the symbolism and rhetoric of the boss who can get in the trenches and work along side the common man. Be we can also tell the difference between PR-fanfare and the real thing, and the symbolic effect would not be there if it didn’t speak to us of something real.

Let’s get at what is real in this. We don’t need a boss or a WBP ready for a photo-op where we use them just as much as they use us. We need to sit down and decide what work we are going to devote ourselves to and get moving. And each one of us had better bring themselves fully to the problems we face collectively.

There is great wisdom in the parable of the talents. Much is required of us. All of us.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 7th, 2006 at 8:45 pm and is filed under community, network, philanthropy, social justice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.