Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Remember when....?

Remember when philanthropy, foundations, and nonprofits were unknown? Boy, has that changed - they now play regular roles in news and literature.
  • Senator Patrick Leahy asked Mark Zuckerberg why Facebook had to hear from civil society groups before taking action against violent crimes in Myanmar
    • (editor: Why didn't Leahy also ask Zuckerberg about Facebook's labor exploitation of those groups' volunteers - essentially relying on them as his workforce?)
  • Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the FBI are investigating the President's attorney for foreign payments to Trump's foundation.
  • Meg Wolitzer's new novel features a protagonist who works at a foundation. A review of the novel in Bookforum includes this wonderful line:
    • "...it takes an earnest but compromised nonprofit endeavor as a vehicle for its ideas. With its magical relationship to money, the foundation helps insulate Greer and her beliefs from the world beyond, at least until she must confront the reality of what the suits are doing upstairs"
  • Jonathan Franzen's 2010 novel, Freedom, featured a bird rescue nonprofit. 
I guess not all press is good press. 

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