Phil Anthropoid

Excellent news for all who are interested in philanthropy. We now have a knowlegeable, witty, and good humored insider who is putting his thoughts on line. Mr. Phil Anthropoid is one I will be reading carefully to see just how much he is willing to share. He is the first philanthropy blogger, other than the scurrilous crew at W*eatlh B*ondage who is willing to take an irreverent but kindly poke that the dignified world of upscale giving. Two places you don't laugh: During religious observances and in conversation about philanthropy. Money, or the chance of extracting some from the wealthy, makes us all as pious as heirs around a deathbed. Mr. Anthropoid has a jaunty way about him that spells trouble for the established decorum.

Comments

[Phil Anthropoid]

Thanks for your kind words. And I split a seam with your deathbed simile. Talk about synchronicity, a cousin of mine was on the phone just the other day telling me about the passing of a great aunt of ours who was fairly well to do. She was in crisis for several days, and the family had gathered to be with her in her last moments. But she recovered, and her daughters were compelled to shoo everyone out of the bedchamber and send them back to their hotel rooms. Half a day later, she fell ill again, and the family was summoned back, only to be sent away a second time when the stricken woman decided she would walk to the parish church to attend mass. She did end up dying several days later. She didn’t leave a penny to charity, not even the church.

I don’t know whether or not to believe my cousin. He often takes advantage of my gullibility, but it’s a good story.

[Phil]

Fortune hunters, as you know, were a favorite satirical butt in Old Roman Comedy, and in Horace, Juvenal, and Martial. Couldn't resist invoking the old tropes. We could relieve a lot of the tension in our own Age of Empire if we were to re-read and imitate the Old Masters.