Philanthropy

We have recognized the tendency in human groups to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few. The processes of accumulating wealth are selfish and involve exploitation of human and natural resources.

Concentration of wealth is not favorable for long term stability of societies and progress in human rights and justice requires redistribution of wealth. Government schemes for wealth redistribution are part of the solution. Philanthropy is the other of method of wealth redistribution that fits into a capitalist model of society. In the best case, an individual or group that achieves wealth by selfish means will become generous when their wealth exceeds a threshold which they themselves define. The new generosity also expresses the interests and ideas of the benefactors.

Donations of time, skills and money have proved to be a vital component of social progress. Corporations that become philanthropic contribute to the social good and gain public relations points. One generous act tends to inspire more generosity. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation continued a grand tradition of philanthropy in the US with a stated goal “to reduce inequities in the United States and around the world. “ Bill Gates founded Microsoft, the world’s most successful software company which made Bill one the world’s richest men. Another of the world’s richest men, Warren Buffett and friend of Gates, added his Berkshire investment portfolio to the Gates foundation resources with the hope that his money could improve the lives of people around the world.

Bill and Melinda Gates stated their key principles:

“First, we concentrate on a few areas of giving so we can learn about the best approaches and have the greatest possible impact. We choose these issues by asking: which problems affect the most people, and which have been neglected in the past?

"Our Global Health Program focuses on diseases and health conditions that cause the most illness and death and receive the least attention and resources—diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria that barely exist in rich countries but still kill millions in the developing world. And AIDS, which infects 5 million new people every year, the vast majority of them in poor countries.

"We also believe in the power of science and technology to improve people’s lives. In recent years, the world has made tremendous advances in fields ranging from biology to information technology, and yet not everybody is benefiting from these innovations. Our goal is to help apply science and technology to the problems of the neediest people. “

"The Gates Foundation decided to cast the net wider in the search for new people and ideas. Last week, it announced the 104 winners of the first round of its five-year, US$100-million 'Grand Challenges Explorations' program. This solicited unconventional ideas for protecting against infectious diseases, limiting drug resistance and exploring latent tuberculosis. Future rounds will include ideas for vaccines for killer diseases and tools to help eradicate malaria. The grant proposal is one that many researchers can only dream of — a two-page explanation of the idea, with no supporting data required. To emphasize that it's the idea that matters, reviewers were blinded to the name, profession and nationality of the applicant. The reviewers themselves were atypical. Instead of consensus review by experts in the field — as is the norm — the 4,000-odd proposals received were sent to individuals, not just in science but also in engineering, business and beyond — people the foundation considers to be 'champions' with strong track records in high-risk research. Dishing out large sums of money on far-fetched ideas would be foolhardy, given that as many as nine out of ten of these projects are expected to fail. But those that show signs of success will be eligible for further funds of $1 million, or much more. Risk-taking brings new faces and ideas to the table at reasonable cost and spurs creativity. Research agencies everywhere need to take a hard look at their funding portfolios to ensure that they are investing sufficiently in high-risk and potentially transformative research.” 

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Group Dynamics

Group Dynamics is part of the  Psychology & Philosophy series, developed by Persona Digital Books. We encourage readers to quote and paraphrase topics from Group Dynamics published online and expect proper citations to accompany all derivative writings. The author is Stephen Gislason and the publisher is Persona Digital Books. The most recent date of publication is 2010.  The URL to the book description is http://www.personadigital.net/Persona/groupdynamics/