MacFadyen: Selfish Contribution?
Pete Peterson writes the book on philanthropic grandstanding.
June 16, 2009
Newsweek Magazine receives more than 800 personal essay submissions a week for its “My Turn” column, and apparently they still couldn’t find anything better than Pete Peterson’s submission, “Why I’m Giving Away $1 Billion.”
That is the real title, by the way. It actually sent me to Dictionary.com to find antonyms for “anonymous” and “humble,” but nothing quite does justice to Peterson’s show of display.
In 700-plus words, he went into lengthy detail about his $1 billion gift and his reasons for the donation. He ends the essay with a reference to Joseph Heller, of whom Peterson says without a hint of irony, knew “the meaning of enough.”
Peterson likens himself to John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, and credits the example set by “other billionaires” – Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and others – for setting him on this selfless path of philanthropy.
He also references his father, a Greek immigrant “who had spent most of his life running a 24-hour diner in Kearney, Nebraska.” Peterson apparently borrows this plot coupon from Stephen Schwarzman, whose $100 million gift to the library did not come without mention that he is “the son of a linen and curtain store owner.”
Throughout his essay, Peterson wrestles with his cause, observing at around the mid point, that “our children will not do as well as we have.” This was an interesting choice of words.
(In a possibly related note, Peterson’s grandson, Peter “PC” Peterson III, is set to star in a Bravo reality show that promises do for New York City’s prep students what the network did for Orange County and New York City housewives.)
Near the end of his column, Peterson discusses the broken political system and the inimical influence of career politicians. He expresses his desire to focus on “America’s key fiscal sustainability challenges.”
These are all things that I can rally around. But just as I’m about to applaud Peterson’s cause, he concludes, “Ultimately, I decided to commit $1 billion to the Peter G. Peterson foundation.”
Maybe I’m reading this wrong, but it seems like he tries to sneak this in, as if he realizes that the public spirit of the gift is scarred by the ego of the name.
I’m not trying to criticize the cause, because it seems worthy enough. But I’d suggest some tact for the next billion Peterson doles out. The grandstanding seems just as pretentious and self indulgent as what we’re probably about to see from the youngest Peterson in Bravo’s reality show.
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