When rich people save their kindness for legacy-building | Mickey Z.

Photo: Ryan McGuire (gratisography.com)

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

Sept. x, 2018

As many of you know, I’ve been running a one-man project for the past two years. Called “Helping Homeless Women - NYC,” it involves me fundraising to buy food and supplies that I regularly distribute to homeless women on the streets of the Big Apple. If this sounds good to you, please donate here.

Capitalism in action

Every weekday, one of my “regulars” (I’ll call her G) sits at the busy corner of an affluent midtown block. All around her, construction is buzzing: large, upscale stores and tall, high-end office structures. The building closest to her houses many, many tenants but took a big risk in 2018. In light of all the neighborhood changes, they tossed out some smaller companies in the hope of luring in major businesses that would instead rent full floors. The results so far have been abysmal.

A few mid-level workers from a variety of companies in this building had befriended G in the past year - sometimes even sitting with her to chat on their breaks. These folks now know me, too, since I’m so often there around that time.

The building owners, needing a scapegoat for entire floors now sitting empty, blamed their failure on local homeless people for driving down property values. In particular, they said, it’s the woman who always sits on the corner. That would be G. Since they cannot legally remove her, they chose a form of petty, ugly, vindictive revenge. Employees who had previously been seen talking with her were given the firm “suggestion” that they never again interact with G. All of those employees, fearing for their jobs, agreed to cut off contact with such a real estate-devaluing monster as the tiny, destitute woman begging for money by a light post.

For a few weeks, G was puzzled by the absence of her “friends” and even grew concerned about them. She finally ran into one such employee a few blocks away and learned the ugly details. G is now more alone, isolated, lonely, and invisible than ever as former “friends” walk past her without even acknowledging her. 

“Philanthropy”

If things stay true to form, the owner of that building will one day make a huge donation to some kind of arts organization. He may have a wing of a museum named after him. At the ribbon-cutting, he’ll be lauded as a generous “philanthropist” and such donations will appear in the first paragraph of his obituary.

It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. This system is not preordained theology or an unstoppable force of nature. Changing such a system is near impossible at this point, of course, and I have no delusions it will happen in my lifetime. That said, I do have an abstract suggestion (or three) for all you non-rich folks out there:

• Stop lionizing self-made [sic] entrepreneurs. 
• Stop putting billionaires on a pedestal.
• Stop worshipping wealth.

If these predatory and exploitative oppressors were truly interested in kindness, they’d practice it where and when it matters. The man who heads a trans-national corporation would perform “philanthropic” acts like providing his workers with fair wages, safe workplaces, and fulfilling work. Rather than funding an opera house in the distant future, that billionaire could improve the lives of countless humans right now -- humans who could never afford a night at the opera anyway. CEOs and “trailblazers” could choose kindness right now. They could limit profit in the name of giving right now. 

That midtown Manhattan real estate tycoon doesn’t have to demonize G. He could easily give her a job, help her find affordable housing, and assist her re-entry back into mainstream society. He and so many others could be known for “philanthropy” RIGHT NOW.

Since it seems utterly unlikely that the upper classes would ever consider such an approach, it leaves us to seek the catharsis of symbolic gestures like calling out the wealthy as the parasites they truly are and thus, no longer perceive them as role models and heroes. As a far more practical reaction, there’s always this:

We could ignore the public relations-based behavior of the proverbial 1% and instead aim our time and energy to being kind in our everyday life. Recognize how this system leaves nearly all of us without a safety net -- and act accordingly. We can get off social media and make each day count IRL. Take good care of ourselves and take good care of anyone else within our reach who may benefit from what we are able to offer. 

The term “philanthropy” is from the late Latin (and Greek) philanthropia meaning “kindliness, humanity, benevolence, love to mankind.” So yeah… we can and must be the true philanthropists. 

Mickey Z. is the founder of Helping Homeless Women - NYC, offering direct relief to women on the streets of New York City. To help him grow this project, CLICK HERE and make a donation right now. And please spread the word!