Remember when we were so inspired by the Giving Pledge as the decade changed? It was right after the housing crash and the bail-outs. People had been losing jobs and housing, and rich people looked like monsters who profited at the expense of the poor. Of course, there was nothing new about being predatory, but when it looked bad, the wealthy scrambled for an image cleanser. With the Giving Pledge, people were thrilled, thinking there would be changed behavior. Sadly, we were all conned, because that same year, the wealthy turned around and made Citizens United happen. More than anything, I think the contrary actions prove a total lack of commitment for predators to change their ways.
Most extremely wealthy people offer donations to non-profit organizations because they receive tax breaks. There are so many types of non-profits that they have more options than ever to convince the public that they are not evil, but simply waiting for the right enticement. For the non-profits themselves, it places two burdens. First, they have to host events to try capturing wealthy attention. Second, they have to spend more time chasing money than actually solving the problems. There is something so insidious about demanding to get something back after having already taken so much, and this is why the industry is now referred to as the “non-profit industrial complex.” Behavior cannot be deemed “generous” when that is the ultimate endgame.
Consider that the fascist oligarchy that began in January 2025. During the first Trump administration, it was obvious that wealthy people were preying on the poor and they looked bad for doing so. This is the main reason that Biden was elected, even though he was vice-president during the bail-outs, Citizens United, and the rise of racial terrorism. Rich people needed to look good after the first Trump election, but instead of actually changing, they used proximity to the only Black president to lie to the populace. It is disingenuous to throw pennies at problems created by already having taken too much, and they proved their dishonesty by only “partnering” with Democrats until they no longer needed to preserve their images. Now, they have all the power, so image control is meaningless in their eyes.
Moreover, there are too many wealthy organizations classified as nonprofit organizations, including the majority of private universities, especially the Ivy Leagues. Technically, both major political parties are classified as non-profit, which is why they feel so comfortable asking for money all the time. Megachurches should have never been valid. Thanks to the Citizens United decision, most political action committees are also classified as non-profit organizations, and are responsible for the formation of the fascist oligarchy. Having organizations have so much money and influence without accountability is the opposite of a democracy, which is why the country fell. At this point, the classification of a “non-profit” is meaningless, since they behave like for-profit organizations.
Should the country evolve, new rules need to be required. Because wealthy people need to control their unethical behavior, a non-profit organization should be either a non-profit or have an endowment. It is morally corrupt to have both, especially when the collapse of the empire occurred at the hands of non-profits. Moreover, there should be endowment limits for larger organizations, and if an organization surpasses an endowment of $500 million, it should be stripped of its non-profit status for a minimum of 5 years. After that, there should be a lengthy application process to reclaim that status.
Furthermore, an entity should be either non-profit or for-profit, and let the chips fall where they may. There should be no more wealthy organizations pretending to be generous by using an adjacent non-profit to hide their greed. It was particularly satisfying when the Guggenheim rejected money from the Sackler family, but not so satisfying when recognizing that the adjacent non-profit can still have influence over the livelihoods of others. This family murdered people and celebrated the acquisition of more wealth, and merely had to pay a relatively small penalty for their transgression. People should not be able to classify themselves as both to avoid their moral responsibilities and hoard more wealth that was funneled in bad faith.
For all those colleges bragging about endowments, they should not be allowed to raise tuition until they lower their endowments, and in my opinion the $500 million criteria is reasonable. Charging students $90k to enter a job market barely offering $30k when the standard cost of living is now about $50k is just evidence of the sociopathy of the fascist oligarchy. No one can reasonably repay money like that, and the wealthy have done nothing to indicate that they will allow non-rich people into their folds. Networking by money is abusers seeking apprentices, and that has nothing to do with how “good” an education an institution can offer.
The mess of laundering money through non-profits has been happening for a long time, but the damage it has done will take decades to repair. That Giving Pledge was the start of evil, and since then, the monsters who made it have rejoiced at the demise of others. It is also true that most of the wealthy people own the press. Next time they try a publicity stunt like pretending to offer pennies for padlocks, people should stop giving them undue praise and attention.
Chasing A Dying Empire 