The article by Collins and Flannery (2022) addresses the issue of raised inequality in the country and its consequences. It claims that the American system is at risk of becoming a taxpayer-funded private power platform for the ultra-wealthy. The article points out how this situation is dangerous for the nonprofit sector. The main argument that the author states is that because of the raised inequality, charitable organizations face the risk of being subsidized. I think that is a fair suggestion, and some statistics from the article may serve as evidence for this idea. The share of households giving to charity has decreased from 66 percent to just under 50 percent between the years 2000 and 2018, according to the most recent data available (Collins & Flannery, 2022). Economic instability indicators like employment, wage growth, and house ownership rates may explain this trend. On the other hand, over time, the percentage of charity deductions taken by the wealthiest households has progressively increased, according to Collins and Flannery (2022). Business figures’ contributions to charity have increased their influence on nonprofit giving.
The wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world have all donated billions of dollars to their own foundations and donor-advised funds, saving millions of dollars in taxes because of charitable tax advantages. At this point, the author is raising a very important point about how wealthy people overcome taxes. I think that avoiding paying taxes might be a problem in the context of the situation of the other charitable organizations. For instance, charitable organizations are more reliant on wealthy donors. Finally, the author suggests reforming the laws in order to prevent charitable assets from being held in reserve, match tax breaks with the public good, and promote charity among all societal groups. I find this approach worthy of consideration since it will help to reduce inequality among the social groups in the USA.
Reference
Collins, C. & Flannery, H. (2022). Gilded Giving 2022: How wealth inequality distorts philanthropy and imperils democracy. Inequality. Web.