A Focus on Philanthropy

I have always been envious of people with a clear sense of purpose and destiny. That becomes admiration when these people use that sense to make the lives of others better. Philanthropy in its Victorian incarnation has all but disappeared in our modern world where people in power, political or financial, only wish to make their own lives better. Only a few of those with influence use that influence for good. Nowadays it is much more common for powerful people to deliberately make the world worse for the vast majority in order to make it better for themselves. We are in the age I have seen described as the ‘Broligarchy’ where those who have made countless billions through their ability to use technology for their own ends now bow down to the very worst leaders humanity has to offer.

What a contrast to the Victorian philanthropists who were extremely well off and who lived in luxury that was unimaginable to their workforce, but who did what they could to make life better for them. The Cadbury company built the Bournville Village for their employees in the late 18th century, with relatively spacious houses to alleviate the many problems caused by overcrowded accommodation. They also built schools, parks and facilities for further education of the workers. George and Richard Cadbury were Quakers so they refused to have pubs in the village, removing a source of both social and personal problems that they saw as inhibiting effective work in their factories. Were they completely altruistic? Of course not, because the village tied the workers to the company in perpetuity as their home was utterly dependent on remaining employed by the company. In that sense it worked as a kind of benevolent dictatorship because what the Cadburys expected of you was socially enforced in all areas of life, not just work. However, they realised something that nearly all modern employers have completely forgotten, namely that a workforce that is valued will produce much better work than a workforce that is threatened and overworked, the situation for so many people today. It is very sad to think that employers are worse now than they were 200 years ago, but it’s the truth and I can only see them doubling down on their poor treatment as it is profitable for them and keeps them in the manner to which they have become accustomed. It is unimportant to them that they have more money than they can spend in a hundred lifetimes. All they care about is power to do bad things to people below them.