The Imperative of Philanthropy as a Way of Life
I have a picture of two young French children that I met when I was 11. I keep it in a box with some of the most meaningful pictures and letters I have collected over the years. I don’t remember the children’s names but I will never forget them or their parents. As part of the experience of representing the United States at the International Fair of the Child, I stayed with this family who lived in the outskirts of Paris, France. They lived on a very small farm, in a small home that looked like a cabin where one might stay for a quiet vacation. To them it was home. They were kind and generous people who prepared a feast for me, an 11-year old child they did not know, to celebrate my visit. There were beef, pork, and chicken dishes. More than my appetite could handle, but all of it delicious. I was very grateful for their hospitality, which made me feel special and comfortable. I later learned that they hardly ever ate any kind of meet because they could not afford it. They gave me more than they “had” and that gift lasts to this day because it touched my heart and my life. Without neither them nor I knowing it, they were teaching me philanthropy as a way of life.
Most of us can’t imagine what it is like to not be able to eat healthy and delicious food, much less to serve others a meal that we can’t afford for ourselves and our families. It’s okay if we don’t. But what if we try to give more of ourselves or better parts of ourselves to others, whether strangers or not. What would happen at home, in our neighborhoods, communities, and cities if more people were kinder and more generous than what is expected of us, which often is not even a lot. Case in point: no one expects us to smile or say hello to strangers we walk by on the street, but it is not difficult to do and it can make a difference in the day of both parties who acknowledge one another even for a short moment. Now imagine that on a larger scale. Kindness and generosity at home, in the workplace, in line at the supermarket, with the elderly, with the homeless, with the hungry, with the marginalized. It sounds simple, but it probably is not. Otherwise, many of the problems in today’s world would probably be very different. This is why I believe philanthropy as a way of life is an imperative.
Philanthropy is widely understood as charity performed by those who have financial wealth, or as defined in the dictionary: “the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes.” The generous donation of money to good causes is necessary and worthy of recognition in a world where there is pervasive division, disease, war, oppression, and destitution. That is not in question.
The questions we should be asking about philanthropy – “having dialogues about” – are whether the desire to promote the welfare of others is enough, and why the focus is mostly on generous donations of money. While both are necessary, take a look around the world, your country, city, neighborhood and maybe even your home and ask yourself if the desire for good and the act of giving money are making enough of a difference that this is all that is needed to change the world: or as we say at The Legacy Dialogues: to improve the human condition.
If we reserve philanthropy for when we give from our excess resources and exclude it from almost everything else, we risk not only a life void of meaning and a legacy of indifference, but also and more devastating, a world where children, rich or poor, are dying due to the consequences of domestic and global violence, malnutrition and un-nurtured souls, overdosing on drugs, pain, anger, injustice, ignorance, and cruelty. While adults and children alike, are exposed to the destruction of their wellbeing in the most evident ways (pause)…like with massive shootings and in situations of dire poverty, or with incurable diseases, and manmade disasters like wars and terrorism (pause) – people are also exposed to the deterioration of their lives in somewhat less evident but often equally dangerous ways too. Such is the case with things like deceit, abuse of power, racism, injustice, lack of opportunity, and a lack of respect for basic human rights.
Philanthropy as a way of life means that we are not only taught to be good and hope that most people will be kind, fair, respectful and truthful. If it were as easy as teaching people to be good, 1) we would not see or experience such tragedies, big and small, that happen every single day the world over, and 2) we would actually be learning to be good from a very early age. I’m not saying that parents and teachers aren’t trying and many times succeeding in the transfer of morals and values. It is just not having a transforming effect on the broken parts of people’s lives and of the world that each generation inherits from the one before them.
Living philanthropically means being aware of the impact each of our actions has on our lives and the lives of those around us AND choosing actions that have positive impact. From the smallest action of saying hello to a neighbor instead of sneaking into our home before they see us to larger than life actions like working with purpose and dedication to eliminating malaria. Philanthropic living improves relationships with those you love and it can save the lives of those you have never and may never even meet. Philanthropy is a choice we can all make everyday in everything we do. The Legacy Dialogues invites you to make that choice too.
