Philanthrofascism

Welcome to our new reality: doing tyranny while giving back

In the depths of the longest government shutdown in American history, with tens of millions of people about to go hungry and millions more on the brink of losing their health insurance, philanthropists are stepping up. But not like that.

It’s regular folks who are pitching in to stop people from going hungry next week. The oligarchs are paying military salaries and making sure they get their names on the gilded ballroom Donald Trump is erecting in place of the demolished East Wing of the White House.

Can the Department of Defense really be signing on to be a mercenary organization, bankrolled by mysterious private interests? Do the masters of the universe really want to be remembered for picking up the tab on 90,000 square feet of gold leaf?

How did we get here?