View source for The Beneficence Of Plutocrats

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[[Category:Plutocracy|300]]
[[Category:Private Charity]]
{{DES | des = People often excuse the harms done by plutocrats by citing later philanthropy.  The Gates and Carnegie foundations, for example.  But the benefits are hardly comparable in size to the harms, and they may not be what we want. Libertarians claim that government cannot spend tax money as wisely as individuals could; why then should we believe plutocrats could spend their profits as wisely as individuals could?| show=}}
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Plutocrats amass their wealth by insuring that profits and ownership come to themselves, rather than more broadly to workers and governments as salaries and taxes.

But there is no reason to think that plutocrats make wiser choices (on average) than the public would.  They are simply patrons the way royalty was centuries ago, and prone to wasteful, vain and irrelevant funding choices.  Or worse ideological, political and other sectarian funding aimed at cementing their own positions and wealth.

The alternative is simply democratic governance with taxation and support of worthwhile initiatives.  

See also: [[Private Charity]]

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