Lucy Bernholz recaps the newest philanthropy buzzwords, but she misses one, or is too embarrassed to type it, the one that everyone knows, the one that is whispered in the ladies room, at Council on Foundations, or out behind the Dumpster at Philanthropy Roundtable, the phrase that no one dares say in polite company, lest the whole world come crashing down: "Wealth Bondage." It means what the other buzz words mean.
Open Philanthropy
Aligned Philanthropy
Hyperlocal Philanthropy
Mircofranchising
Wealth Bondage says the same thing but much more succinctly. There is no 'outside' of wealth bondage; it is all a capital market, the whole country is a capital market, Lucy, and we might as well celebrate it. We have no other metaphor, no other symbol. The World We Want Creating Social Capital Markets. It is all one book, all one field, all one celebration of Wealth Bondage. But the less said the better. Wealth Bondage is the dirty secret of Philanthropy. We will not escape our slavery to Wealth Bondage, our dependency on Wealth Bondage, our addiction to Wealth Bondage, until we have the courage to say, "I love Wealth Bondage and I don't care who knows it," and then run off stage all aflutter. It is about time, Lucy, that we came out of the closet about it: You love Markets, I do too. Everyone loves Wealth Bondage, they are just afraid to admit it. OK, I feel better. At least it is off my conscience.
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