A few quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. to keep in mind the next time you praise Mark Zuckerberg for his selfless generosity

A few quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. to remember post $45bn charitable gift from Mark Zuckerberg:

"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary."

"Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That's the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system."

“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

"One day we must ask the question, 'Why are there forty million poor people in America?' ... When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy."

Are large philanthropic organizations like the new Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and The Gates Foundation truly helping to promote equality, or is this simply a rebranding of business as usual in the "dogged march to source new supplies of capital?"

Check out No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy by Linsey McGoey, currently 50% off on our site with free shipping worldwide.

Read Linsey McGoey's op-ed in the Guardian:
"Love from mom and dad … but who gains from Mark Zuckerberg’s $45bn gift?  The new era of philanthrocapitalism won’t directly help the poor. Instead the money will be moved to a new investment firm – with the aim of making more money"