Bringing Balance to the Coming Clarification of Conservatism

Capitalism is, and some individual capitalists are, under increasing attack, including from prominent commentators and political figures on the American right. Markets, the way they operate, and the results they yield have been quite negatively appraised throughout history, of course. While the current critiques might seem harsher to us than before, none of this is really all that new.

Relatedly, philanthropy and individual philanthropists are also being assailed—interestingly, including from progressive commentators and policymakers. The very wealth endowing philanthropy was generated by capitalism, of course, so this may just be a derivative phenomenon—but it does seem relatively newly brought to bear, by these progressives, to progressive grantmakers. They’ve probably had it coming for a long time, however, one might think. “Whoever sows generously will also ….”