FORT LAUDERDALE – The biggest election year in history is unfolding at a time when rising wealth and income inequality are fueling polarization and undermining social cohesion in many countries. Average income levels and overall economic performance seem to make little difference; widening gaps between haves and have-nots are becoming a practically universal phenomenon, and they increasingly translate into sharply divergent visions of what constitutes economic and social progress. This makes governance difficult, at best.
If formal governance mechanisms are impaired by seemingly intractable political polarization, how can we address important challenges, like improving equality of opportunity, building sustainable economies, and delivering critical public goods? One answer is philanthropy.
Once considered a preserve of the wealthiest few, philanthropy today is a mass phenomenon. Crowdfunding platforms enable small donors to support all kinds of people and projects, and volunteers of all income levels devote their time and energy to charitable organizations. But if wealth is accumulating rapidly at the top of the distribution, it would make sense to tap the wealthiest cohort to fund universally beneficial projects.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates offers one model of such philanthropy: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, of which he is co-chair, has had a far-reaching impact in a range of areas, from global health to sustainability. Large investors are also playing an increasingly important role in basic research, which can also be considered a kind of philanthropy, depending on how the results are shared and used.
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