新编剑桥商务英语高级第三版The New Philanthropists 全文

The 19th century was the age of capitalism, the 20th century socialism. The 21st century, it seems, will be the age of charity. But, as Mrs. Thatcher says, ‘The Good Samaritan （心地慈善的人）had to earn his money first.’Warren Buffett, when he made a gift of $31 billion to the Gates Foundation, already worth $29 billion, joked that his children would have to work for their living – apart from a billion dollars handout （施舍）to each.Later, when Buffett and Gates held a press conference to announce what they intended to do with their fortune, it was clear that channeling it through government was not an option. ‘Bill and Melinda will do a better job than… the Federal Treasury,’ said Buffet. Instead they would ‘seek out talent to distribute their money just as they sought out talent to acquire it’.For these tycoons, （企业界大亨）who have prospered （昌盛，成功）in the free market global economy, government and the public sector are monopolistic and inefficient. Governments may have built the welfare state in the 20th century, but to provide them with free cash to support these structures (schools, hospitals, etc.) was not on their agenda. Instead their efforts will be focused on alleviating work poverty and disease, and improving access to technology.Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’, the economic theory that the market will run smoothly if it is left to decide what products are sold and at what price, has been the guiding principle behind globalization. In America it has produced large fortunes for a handful of successful industrialists: men who now, it seems, are turning to philanthropy. (慈善事业)Opponents say that the free market shows no regard for social concerns and encourages poor employment and environmental standards. Wealth, they argued, is now concentrated among a handful of global corporations whose only interest is financial profit and who are only accountable to their shareholders. They would like to see governments put a brake on the activities of the businesses.But the power of governments, national and international, is dwindling. The welfare states of the 20th century, and the public sector workers who staff them, are slowly being replaced- if not by private sector workers, then certainly by private sector principles. Government and public service have become synonymous with inefficiency and waste.At the same time, the agents of international government- the UN, the IMF, the World Bank and the EU-have subsidized too many dictators and undermined too many economies. As their reputation declines, they will be replaced by the charity of the private sector.Children of the 60s, like Bill Gates have exploited the free market ruthlessly, （无情地，残忍地）but now they are preaching（劝诫，讲道） freedom and love and are choosing to give back to society. Their hearts are in the right place. But they share on enemy-modern government in all its forms. As Buffett said, only a fool gives his money to the treasury.Will such people make a better world? Who knows? But they mean to try.