[gruez]

>this author seems to take as a fairly key element of their argument that people getting stupid rich and then doing government type stuff without democratic oversight is good [...]

Which part is bad? The "government type stuff" or the "without democratic oversight"? I agree that billionaires fielding their own armies/police forces would be pretty bad, but what's wrong with funding homeless shelters or schools? If I decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen, am I also "doing government type stuff without democratic oversight"?

[naravara]

> but what's wrong with funding homeless shelters or schools?

You don't get to be fabulously wealthy without some of the second order effects of your wealth accumulation being unsavory. Generally speaking, these people will do things like run out competition, foster massive economic inequality, and perpetuate labor abuses to pad their bottom line and then buy the indulgences by doing a cosmetically "good" bit of philanthropy. But they probably could have done more good by doing their day job in a less exploitative way.

[kodah]

Most of the time people don't do stuff just to be nice, it's because they want something. When our needs/desires are met as well, we feel good. Philanthropers, especially of the political nature, are trying to shape society and if leading examples are anything to go by they're influencing society to be more dependent on them and see it as okay.

That's what I took away from OP.

[ryandrake]

To me, the key downside of philanthropy is the "without democratic oversight" part. It's all fine when the billionaires are funding homeless shelters or schools: things everyone can agree are a public good. We are extremely lucky that guys like Bill Gates suddenly got a soft spot for fighting malaria after amassing their fortunes. But nothing exists to stop these billionaires from donating to causes against the public good.

That's the problem. The public should define what "public good" means, not rich people. As inefficient as taxes/government is, at least the voters are theoretically in the driver's seat, and get to at least indirectly define public good through elected representatives. With philanthropy, we're simply letting a single wealthy demographic decide "this is public good, trust me bro", and the public can't vote out rich people if they disagree.

[s1artibartfast]

But that's not true. The people and the democratically-elected government are the ones that Define what qualifies as a charity.

We have said through our Democratic process that these are good things.

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organiz...

[rhn_mk1]

That's an impediment, yes, but it's not a barrier. There's nothing preventing billionaires from putting their money into causes which are not charitable. There's only a disincentive in the form of lowered efficiency.

[s1artibartfast]

Sure, but now you are arguing that the rich shouldn't be able to spend money as they choose, and not against deductible philanthropy.

That is a different beast entirely.

[ZeroGravitas]

You could make the same argument for tax loopholes, in fact they may actually just be the same thing in many cases.

[s1artibartfast]

How do you define loophole. Is is the code that explicitly gives a tax credit for children and dependence a tax loophole?

I don't think that you can make a coherent argument that a law operating as intended is considered a loophole.

[goodpoint]

> what's wrong with funding homeless shelters or schools?

...that such organization replace the government in doing such services and they obviously run without democratic oversight

> If I decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen, am I also "doing government type stuff without democratic oversight"?

Do you have the power to control how millions are spent? To direct thousands of employees?

No - then it's the opposite of undemocratic. It's actually very good for society.

[ZeroGravitas]

Interesting you mention those two topics:

Erik Prince: founder of Blackwater, private mercenary army.

Betsy Devos: former education secretary and champion of charter schools

Both children of Edgar and Elsa Prince, Erik runs their charity:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Foundation