There is a series that is running on CNBC in United States called Executive Vision. It is a series where business leaders and academics meet to discuss some of the pressing economic issues of our time. Today's program centered on philanthropy and one of the issues raised was the possibility of for profit philanthropy, a phenomenon that has evolved out of the Grameen Bank of Muhammad Yunus. The matter of those who have used Yunus' micro-finance idea to evolve banks that now charge poor people up to 90% interest on loan was raised. It was within this framework that the idea of for profit philanthropy was discussed. If I understood the matter well, the argument was that profit could be made from philanthropic ventures. In fact, some even argued that philanthropy may work better within the framework of profit-making.
The argument that philanthropy may work well within the framework of profit-making made me to go to the dictionary to look for the meaning of the word "philanthropy." I saw that the word has a Greek background that means one who loves humanity NOT one who loves profit. In fact, descriptions of philanthropy connect it to "gift". Seen from this background, it appears that the very idea of philanthropy militates against profit making, especially the kind of profit made by big businesses. The profit made by big businesses seems to have more to do with love of self or shareholders than love of humankind. That is probably why Yunus refrains from endorsing those who are striking it rich through exploitation of the poor in the name of micro-finance. The idea of for profit philanthropy seems to be just a means by which greedy business people want to hijack Yunus' idea for their own benefit. For-profit philanthropy is a contradiction since philanthropy seems to be about gift giving rather than profit making. Those who make exorbitant profit out of micro-finance are no longer doing micro-finance. They are now bankers not for the poor, as Yunus envisaged it, but against the poor.
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