My Fill of Anthropy
The Happy Tutor is our proxy in a discussion about how the love of humans might actually result in building a better world for humans.
I have a stubborn idea that I know won’t work. I once tried writing about it in the rhetoric of a politician because it only sounds plausible if it’s in a voice you don’t take seriously. So, here it is in PowerPoint format:
The Problem
Those who have the money to give got it by being the one’s least like to give it
Business’ Secret Prime Mover
It’s not greed
It’s winning!!!!
(Hence business’s love of exclamation points)
Solution: Competitive Philanthropy
Every corporation competes to be the most successful at giving
But what is the metric of success? It used to be money, but…
The New Business Landscape
Despite corporations’ best efforts, the Internet is affecting our culture
Internet teaches us to connect directly
Competitive Philanthropy in a Connected Market
Each corporation picks “do-able” projects that require direct connection
International aid groups and charities will arise to manage the projects
E.g., Oxfam builds water purification plants in central Africa for Exxon
The company shamelessly touts its own goodness in the voice of humility, tacitly trying to out-do its competitors
Action Items
Towns, congregations and online communities can do this, too: Let’s start.
Get Marketing to work on naming and branding the idea
Elect a president with the Vision Thing
Look, I know this is impractical, implausible and naive. It would require a change in expectations: of course a big corporation will add “lifting up the world” to its mission statement. But, expectations are powerful.
Not powerful enough to give me any hope, of course.
Categories: Uncategorized dw