--- title: America Relies Too Much Upon the Generosity of the Rich description: Anand Giridharadas, author of "Winners Take All," tells TIME that philanthropy from the wealthy can end up hurting those it seeks to help canonical: https://time.com/5386276/anand-giridharadas-winners-take-all/ author: Joey Lautrup article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-06T18:15:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T07:53:26.320Z article:section: Ideas og:title: America Relies Too Much Upon the Generosity of the Rich og:description: How philanthropy from the wealthy can end up hurting those it seeks to help og:url: https://time.com/5386276/anand-giridharadas-winners-take-all/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef393a122c88a50b/69893964fb4eac326e8978d6/cam_b-mts-00_37_38_05-still001.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: CAM_B.MTS.00_37_38_05.Still001 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: America Relies Too Much Upon the Generosity of the Rich twitter:description: How philanthropy from the wealthy can end up hurting those it seeks to help twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef393a122c88a50b/69893964fb4eac326e8978d6/cam_b-mts-00_37_38_05-still001.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # America Relies Too Much Upon the Generosity of the Rich > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=74c9abcb-78e3-4460-a329-981635509727&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: America Relies Too Much Upon the Generosity of the Rich [Watch (HLS stream): America Relies Too Much Upon the Generosity of the Rich](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7PDoEGJU.m3u8) (3:24)  _Published 2018-09-06. By many measures, we live in an era of extreme generosity. But is it enough?_  by [Joey Lautrup](https://time.com/author/joey-lautrup/)  ## Joey Lautrup Sep 6, 2018 6:15 PM UTC By many measures, we live in an era of extreme generosity. But is it enough?  by [Joey Lautrup](https://time.com/author/joey-lautrup/)  ## Joey Lautrup Sep 6, 2018 6:15 PM UTC By many measures, we live in an era of extreme generosity. Prominent billionaires pledge to give away the bulk of their fortunes. Social enterprise executives dedicate business acumen to solving the world’s most challenging problems. Thought leaders spout innovative ideas for rethinking and reworking society. But is this all enough? In his new book [_Winners Take All_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/110197267X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=110197267X&linkId=f69297b30292d2a9d6399e3d4b47d95f), [Anand Giridharadas](http://time.com/5382439/can-we-trust-the-wealthiest-americans-to-fix-our-country/) argues that many of these “changemakers” are actually key actors in upholding systems of inequality because they refuse to sacrifice the perks and privileges that keep them at the top. “A lot of philanthropists cause problems with their left hand and then try to fix those problems with their right hand,” he told TIME. “They underpay workers and then try to rebuild, through their foundation, the American opportunity structure.” For this reason, Giridharadas doesn’t think that real solutions to our national problems, from wage stagnation to education inequality, will come from the country’s wealthy and powerful but rather a return to America’s foundational public institutions. “It is we the people who actually need to take change back from these pretenders of change,” he said. For those who have given up on government’s ability to effect change, he points to public life’s victories throughout history: “We had slavery in this country. We had segregation in this country. We had internment in this country. Women couldn’t vote in this country. People without property couldn’t vote in this country. We have fixed what’s broken time and time again.” Watch the video above to see highlights from TIME’s conversation with Giridharadas. ## Transcript Philanthropy, social enterprise, win- win businesses that try to help people with some app and various things that sound good, that sound kind, that sound helpful. These things make a small difference to the people that they're helping. But they are part of upholding a system of extreme inequality that is responsible For the anger and social dislocation, and just rampent anxiety that has buffeted the society in recent years. We live in this time of extraoridinary generosity by the winners of our age, but a time in which those winners Use generosity to actually protect the system that continues to cause most of our biggest problems and to shut most of Americans out. [ MUSIC ] One of the interesting things about rich people in our time is they are, many of them not all of them, many of them deeply determined. To do good. To make a difference. But in there insistence in doing that in a way that protects their own privileges, keeps them on top, keeps the money making system that let them win does not make them sacrifice, does not come at the expense of their privilege. And their insistence on the Those things. Their do- gooding often ends up being the accomplice to greater harm. A lot of what I'm arguing for is for America to fix its infrastructure, its core social infrastructure, the stuff that allows us to be a society. We have allowed over the last 30, 40 years government To be othered. Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem. Government has been turned, in peoples imagination, into an enemy, and alien invador. The work of actually fixing that begins by taking government and public change making back at all levels. You can't use a dysfunctional Congress or Trump as an excuse to not do that. We have government at every level in this society. We are the popular vote. There is a playbook in this country, written in our very first amendment. For speaking your truth, for assembling For organizing and actually fighting to change this country. And people have done it time and again. We had slavery in this country. We had segregation in this country. We had internment in this country. Women couldn't vote in this country. I think for a lot of the last many decades, there was kind of this view that, government was this bloated boring side show. And it was really Mark Zuckerberg who was changing the world. It was really, you could buy a tote bag that would change the world. And Apple was changing the world with that ad that it had. Apple computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be Like 1984. You could kind of make the world a better place regardless of what was happening in the realm of public life. And I think we've been very rudely awakened to the idea that society is only as good as its public life. There's a lot of things we can do to recreate the condition. Is for actually improving this society in it's deep bones, and not on the surface. We just have to be willing and desirous in doing so. 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