Generosity was a fact of life long before the industrial revolution -
there have been plenty of kind and altruistic people over the ages.
But philanthropy as we know it is a construct of capitalism. It is the
“feedback” loop that allowed great capitalists - better know by
posterity as great philanthropists – to give back a lot of what they
gained from economic success. Names like Carnegie and Ford come to mind
– the role models for today's foundations set up by the likes of Bill
Gates, Mark Shuttleworth and so forth.
In the years
following the demise of communism (the Second World), philanthropy was
viewed, in the words of one charity worker, as a “cynical act of
capitalism”. The implication was that if it were not for capitalism,
the inequities that underpin philanthropy would not exist. That
attitude is really a socialist hang-over – a good example of sour
grapes.
A term has emerged that is very familiar –
corporate social investment or CSI. This is evidence that philanthropy
is more than a personal inclination or agenda. It is a system.
Corporates takes profits from society – so they plow back “social
investments” through foundations set up for this purpose. This is more
than personal, it is structural.
A good example of this
is a South African Internet site called Greater Good. Visit it on
<www.GGSA.co.za> It is a place where individuals or corporates
can review various charities and contribute. GGSA has boiled it down
to four ways of giving – money, goods, time (i.e. volunteering) or
buyer-related spin-offs. For example, when you buy coffee at Starbucks,
you help out small-scale coffee growers in targeted countries. By the
way, C4L is now registered with Greater Good, so one can give
(anonymously if preferred) to its work through this mechanism.
The
point is that philanthropy is taking hold. This is good to see,
because one way of stating the ambition of C4L would be: “A secure
future for African philanthropy”. The mission of capacity building has
always been to reach an end where the “third sector” (not government or
commerce which are the other two sectors) is functioning as well as the
other two. That is why it needs quality leaders and managers, after
all.
That is why we rejoiced this week to see the
establishment on Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday of a group of elders for
the Global Village. Indeed! It was nice to see Jimmy Carter there,
and Kofi Annan too. Also Richard Branson, an eminent philanthropist,
and others representing the arts. This was more than another
extravaganza for Africa's favorite son. The tectonic plates of African
economics shifted. This was deeper than politics, this was like an
upper house being formed. The African Union becomes a lower house of
state representatives engaged in day-to-day affairs. It met recently to
debate Gadaffi's idea of a United States of Africa with one president
over all. That paled in significance to the global eldership of eminent
persons. Mandela is now at senator level, no mere politician. He is
still shaping Africa's future, and that is reassuring in the light of
the endless slugging matches between mere politicians like Zuma and
Mbeki.
Ever since the Second World secured its
footholds in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Angola, the socialist model has
been on the rise in Africa. Even with the collapse of communism
elsewhere, Africa has not let go of its structures easily. The efforts
to scrap socialism as a development model have been largely imposed.
Even Stephen Lewis in his book Race Against Time lambastes the way that
this was done through structural adjustment programmes and all.
So
it is good to see capitalism emerging in a way that is fresh and
upbeat. Philanthropy, let there be no doubt, comes with capitalism. It
is part of that model. When you see an old ANC stalwart like Cyril
Ramaphosa establishing the Shanduka Foundation you realize that while
the ruling alliance may still include the SA Communist Party, it
certainly has other strong elements in it as well. These support a more
sensible approach – strong economic development with a “feedback loop”
for social investments. So when you see philanthropy on the rise in the
very same week that the SACP suggested that Mittal Steel and Sasol
should both be nationalized, you realize that the ANC is trying its best
to hold together some very diverse points of view. Its youth league in
particular is seen as militant in terms of leaning to the left.
So
the emergence of a good African tradition of village elders for the
global village is wonderful. It challenges that cynical view of
philanthropy that socialists espouse. It says no to socialist ideology
and yes to a market-driven economy with a strong element of corporate
responsibility and social investment.
Dave Thomas is
the founder of Wendy's. His success led in due course to the Dave
Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Through its influence, it is estimated
that in 2007 fully half of all employers in the USA provide benefits to
employees that will adopt. Within a few years, it will be standard in
America for an employer to offer such benefits to prospective employees –
in part because Dave Thomas Foundation publishes a list of
adoption-friendly workplaces. Africa should follow suit - not just
because of its “deluge of orphans” but because it is this kind of deep
social ethic that is contained in today's market economics.
This
becomes a challenge to the so-called “black diamonds”. That is, to
those emerging capitalists who are amassing fortunes in Africa. Tokyo
Sexwale and Patrice Motsepe are among the South Africans at the
forefront of this new philanthropy. People like them have the
inequities of apartheid in such recent memory that their social
conscience will not be dulled by wealth. Sexwale spent time on Robben
Island with Madiba, after all. Success is just going to fuel his social
conscience, as it has done for people like Bono, Gates and Warren
Buffett.
So while it was nice to see Pele back on the
football pitch on the occasion of Mandela's 89th birthday, the real
prize was to see the gathering of elders or statesmen seeking peace and
prosperity. Too often, African politicians are looking for how they can
benefit from their positions of influence. That is the dynamic driving
Africa's corruption levels... an all-too-familiar African proverb
says: A goat eats where it is tethered. To complete the metaphor, a
goat is eventually prepared to be a feast – to feed people. That is
when it gives back, providing nutrition and satisfaction for the hungry.
It
is nice to see African leaders who – in looking out for others - are no
longer bogged down in socialist rhetoric and doctrine. Long live the
elders of our global village, and happy birthday Nelson Mandela!
