Actual title is, "Philanthropy's Difficult Dance with Inequality," by Brad Smith, President of Ford Foundation, at PND Blog. What I love about the article, based on my own professional activities in Wealth Bondage, proud sponsor of Gifthub, is the phrasing, "All these foundations have the same intimate relationship with inequality as the rest of the sector." I know I am no better than anyone else in the sector. I only wish it paid better. And the older you get, the less you get for it, until you become a philanthropist yourself eventually giving it away for nothing. And even pro bono, at a certain point you can't offload it. The last time I actually got paid for an intimate relationship with inequality was..... well, this is a field that depends on confidentiality. Let's just say it was in the late '70's. The Scene of Injustice, as they called it, involved four hundred thousand extras in subservient roles, each of us doing our best for the one client. They made a movie, but you can't see my face, thank God. It was a good experience all around, except for Mamie, my friend, who went mad. I had said to her, "What harm in this one time? Everyone else is doing it. The whole sector does it. And they are no different from the other sectors, either." I only wish I could go back in time. A beggar then, a beggar now. If I had never been intimate with inequality, among the millions and millions who are, at least I would still have my self-respect. And if I could have counseled Mamie, and set a good example; she might have become a teacher as she had planned. We might even have gotten married.
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