I rag on the elite institutions in our country all the time because they’ve shown that they are cowards and sellouts. Law firms, universities, corporations etc. have (with some notable exceptions) demonstrated that they have no civic responsibility or even any sophisticated instinct for self-preservation in the face of Trump’s petty and puerile demands. But according to James Fallows there is on sector that is not kow-towing and they are powerful and wealthy in their own right: foundations. He discusses this in the podcast below:
This first podcast is about an under-publicized and perhaps unexpected source of civic strength. These are America’s philanthropic institutions—including the legacies of great wealth accumulated from the Rockefeller or Ford eras onward, which are now applied to challenges in the US and around the world…
Toward the end of making their collective courage less quiet and more contagious, I recently had a podcast discussion with one of the most outspoken of their leaders. This is John Palfrey, now in his seventh year as president of the MacArthur Foundation, based in Chicago.
MacArthur is best known for its “genius” fellowships, but it is active in many other realms, in the US and around the world. Its total assets are just under $10 billion. Before coming to MacArthur, Palfrey had directed the Berkman Center on the Internet and Society at Harvard, been a tenured professor at Harvard Law School, and led Phillips Andover Academy.
This year, Palfrey has been prominent in the philanthropic world for his exhortations that institutions need to “Unite in Advance”—and that they should use their money right now, on an emergency basis, to defend the values that shore up democracy. You can read more about his efforts and messages here, here, here, and here. Those rainy day funds? The rain is pouring down.
Because Palfrey presents his case so clearly, I hope you’ll listen to the full 30-minute podcast discussion, below. His answers are precise, and he clearly extends the lessons from his powerful and privileged sector of American society to the obligations of citizenship for all of us, in emergency times.
As I’ve written many times, the late Jane Goodall had an answer for audiences around the world, especially children, who learned about society’s problems and asked, But what can I do? She would reply: Do what you can. Where you are. When you are able.
John Palfrey closes this discussion on a similar note. In the final two minutes of the recording below, he says that he ends this tumultuous year asking himself, Am I fully doing what is mine to do?
Whatever is in our control, are we doing it, to preserve this American Republic, particularly as we go into our 250th year?
I think there are going to be so many opportunities for every American to stand up and do something that represents the history and the community that we believe in.
And I think only by doing that are we going to be able to restore the fabric of this incredible, incredible American Republic.
It’s really interesting. Give it a listen if you have the chance.
Yep. We’re all in this together. And I think it’s already making and difference and the energy will only grow in the next year.
Happy Hollandaise everyone!