“Why don’t you just give your money to philanthropy?”, is a question members of Millionaires for Humanity often get when advocating for a wealth tax. Whilste all our members are highly involved with philanthropy, philanthropy is not the solution to the world’s pressing issues. In fact philanthropy is underpinned by integral injustices and finds itself fundamentally flawed in multiple aspects. 

But before we go any further we’d clearly like to state that by all means the actions of individuals giving to philanthropic causes are wholly positive, and their generosity is highly commendable. Philanthropy can do good,  and there are plenty of examples of philanthropy being cataclysmic in bringing about meaningful change. [examples here]. 

However, we contest that whilst highlighting the actions of the wealthiest these lists highlight a shockingly low contribution from many, and should be used to facilitate further discussions around how the wealthiest in society should go about paying their fair share. 

ONLY 30 OF THE TOP 100 GIVERS, GIVE MORE THAN 1% OF THEIR WEALTH AWAY

We contend that in times of increasing hardships where lower and middle income families are struggling, it is up to those who have greater levels of wealth to provide economic assistance to those that so desperately need it. The richest members of global society have seen their wealth expand at unprecedented levels during the coronavirus pandemic. Whilst at the same time the Trussell Trust the United Kingdom’s largest provider of food banks has seen demand skyrocket.

In fact the Sunday Times Giving list published on xxx highlighted that only 30 of the top 100 givers (in the UK) give more than 1% of their wealth away.. 

A correctly implemented wealth tax would ensure that all of the mega wealthy individuals would be paying minimum 1% of wealth over a stated threshold. Take Sir James Dyson, a man who moved his business outside of the UK after pushing for a Brexit vote, a man who has continued to profit economically whilst pushing lower income earners into greater inequality. In spite of all this, Sir Dyson gave as little as 0.11% of his £23 Billion fortune to charitable organisations over the year, a figure that would increase drastically for the benefit of all with correct introductions of wealth taxes. A wealth tax would not only create equality amongst