Excess Wealth Critic Scott Ellis on Why Philanthropy Is Failing Society

credit: HV Home Matters

"People think it's the rich people, because no matter how much wealth you have, you always want more," says Scott Ellis.

"I think that's also part of excessive wealth disorder."

Ellis is the founder of the $30 million Success Project, which calls for a 50% tax on all household wealth over $30 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The tax would bring in $10 billion a year, he says.

Ellis tells the Journal that he's heard people say they want the same thing he does: a tax on the rich.

"I think that's also part of excessive wealth disorder," he says.

"And I think the goal for philanthropy should be to encourage wealthy people to use their wealth in a way that doesn't undermine society, and to manage the massive accumulation of wealth because that undermines capitalism and democracy."

In an interview with Inside Philanthropy, Ellis says there are many problems in the world, including climate change and education, "where, if you choose not to spend the money to fix a small problem today, in the future, you may have a larger endowment, but the problems will be bigger because you didn't fix them when you could have."



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