Was talking to my Life Coach, The Happy Tutor, about Venture Philanthropy and how sterile many of the venturers seem, how unawakened. Tutor had this to say, Selfishness, Phil, as you know, is important for the Market, but comes at tremendous cost to our humanity. Two of Ten Commandments condemn coveting. Giving is one sector in which we can recover the human soul we have lost to commerce. We need all three: GNP, Democracy (which is a form of government), and Civil Society. Each has its own dynamic. Those who over-emphasize coveting do good for others through the miracle of the pricing mechanism, but damn themselves to Hell. ("Myself am Hell nor am I out of it" - Marlowe's Faust). Even the wealthy could (maybe) enter the Kingdom of Heaven by giving all they have to the poor, and following Christ in the way of self sacrifice. The Social Venturer is half saved and half damned, caught like Lazarus between two worlds, awaiting the healing touch to burst the bonds of market logic. Surely, this is Biblical? Well, actually, I doubt it. What is Biblical is will to power, and alibis for wordly gain. God loves a winner.
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April 27, 2005
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Blogging Philanthropy from A DumpsterTo Whom it May Concern
Gifthub is an immortal work of art in theMenippean Tradition,written in a Padded Cell (he calls it a Dumpster for obvious reasons) in a state of shock by Phil Cubeta, Morals Tutor to America's Wealthiest Families, under an alias, or alter ego, The Happy Tutor, Dungeon Master to the Stars in Wealth Bondage...... More....
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The Bible is two books neh?
Eye for an eye, turn the other cheek. You decide.
You get one phone call.
Posted by: Morris Penstemon | April 30, 2005 at 03:51 AM
This is an example of secular approach but with similar undertones of doing good. A study from Michigan School of Business and a new book "The Fortune At the Bottom of the Pyramid" about improving lives of the poorest by treating them as as a '5 billion market of consumers'. Social Transformation is a good business it's still in a context of a Pyramid and Profits. Social Transformation in a context of Charity would look at what is in the works that creates the Poor. So instead of Eliminating it we look at Marketing to them. - I wonder if in this book they ask the Poor what obstacles and traps and barriers exist that makes them stuck in Poordom.
Posted by: K! | May 04, 2005 at 08:23 PM
Yes, the poor are a good market. You can buy a pack of cigarettes, since you have the capital, and then sell on cigarette to each of twenty poor workers. 35% profit and everyone wins. Plus it is scalable. You can hire thousands of poor people to work for you selling the cigarettes, providing jobs and helping families.
I should work in a think tank. This kind of sophistry goes for $200,000 per year, minimum. What philanthropist from a tobacco fortune wants to fund me?
Posted by: Phil | May 05, 2005 at 11:42 PM