# The Price of Humanity

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/the-price-of-humanity/
- Published: 2023-12-05T17:04:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**How Philanthropy Went Wrong – And How to Fix It**

The word ‘philanthropy’ today makes people think big money – Bill and Melinda Gates,
Warren Buffet, and Andrew Carnegie come to mind. The scope of suffering in the world
seems to demand an industry of giving, and yet for all the billions that are dispensed,
the wealthy never seem to lose any of their money and nothing seems to change.

Journalist, academic and consultant Amy Schiller shows how we get out of this stalemate
by evaluating the history of philanthropy from the ideas of St. Augustine to the
work of Lebron James. She argues philanthropy’s contemporary tendency to maintain
obscene inequality and reduce every cause to dehumanizing technocratic terms is 
unacceptable, while maintaining an optimism about the soul and potential of philanthropy
in principle. For philanthropy to get back to its literal roots – the love of humanity–
Schiller argues that philanthropy can no longer be premised around basic survival.
Public institutions must assume that burden so that philanthropy can shift its focus
to initiatives that allow us to flourish into happier, more fulfilled human beings.
Philanthropy has to get out of the business of saving lives if we are to save humanity.

## About Amy Schiller

Amy Schiller is a journalist, academic, and consultant. She is currently a postdoctoral
fellow at Dartmouth College in the Society of Fellows. She previously held fellowships
at Stanford University and Bard College.

Her writing has been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Nation,
and The Daily Beast and has been quoted as an expert on philanthropy in The New 
York Times, The New Yorker, Bloomberg, and Slate. She has also had a nearly 15-year
career in major gift fundraising consulting. She has worked in a wide range of settings,
from international humanitarian nonprofits to a major New York City dance company.

## Reviews

“Down-to-earth, chatty prose…[A] refreshing vision of what true “love of humanity”
could look like.”
_**Philanthropy News Digest**_

“This is a magical book. It takes philanthropy out of the hands of the Gates Foundation
and the Effective Altruists and restores it to its original purpose: love of humanity.
It is an enthralling experience, made all the more by Amy Schiller’s distinctive
voice: wise, skeptical, delighted, hilarious, grounded, joyous, sharp, and shrewd,
so much in love with the humanity, and the individuals, who move across her pages
and, thanks to her narrative art, step into our lives.”
**Corey Robin, author of
_The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edward Burke to Donald Trump_“A hopeful
vision of philanthropy and society… Thoughtful, timely reading, both intelligent
and humane.” _Kirkus Reviews_

> A grad school professor of mine commented on one of my papers, “well, after brilliantly
> skewering him, you then redeem him.” 
> That’s what this book does for philanthropy.
> It’s a wild but hopeful ride. Come on board.[https://t.co/HhsF7nULBm](https://t.co/HhsF7nULBm)
> [pic.twitter.com/mKESI0RUwQ](https://t.co/mKESI0RUwQ)
> — Amy Schiller (@AmyTheSchill) [November 29, 2023](https://twitter.com/AmyTheSchill/status/1729999442940453118?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

More at [amybessschiller.com](https://www.amybessschiller.com/).