Tuesday, August 19, 2008

International aid and philanthropy

My friend Tony Pipa sent me this thoughtful reflection on international aid and international philanthropy. He delicately raises some key questions about the distinctions between them, intended and perceived, past, current and future. He lets me off the hook for mistakes I made in this post, and gracefully suggests my mis-application of language might be indicative of larger trends (which might be the case, or I might just have been wrong).

In doing so, he raises the fundamental issues underlying both - what is one community's responsibility to another? How are we connected? What are the right tools (financial, in this case) for the job? What is, or should be, or could be, or will be, the difference between a public commitment and a private commitment? And if, when, and how can they be the same?

Great piece, Tony!

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