Thos book couldn't be any more brilliant. The précis of the book is that the elite cling to a set of social arrangements that allow it to monopolize progress and give symbolic scraps to the forsaken. The elite's ownership of the problem tales the sting out of the tail of public anger at being excluded from progress. Their private and voluntary half -measures often crowd out, and are given at the expense of, public solutions that would solve problems for everyone. This elite posture is best expressed by the fictional Italian aristocrat Tancredi Falconeri: "If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change".

By purporting to change the world, Giridharadas argues that the elite have foreclosed an attack on the structural causes of inequality. Under the guise of public-private partnerships, social enterprises and ventures, the very people who have been beneficiaries of exploitation paint themselves as being allies of the exploited. Whilst there is indeed an overlap between the elites' self interest and the broader societal interests, the relative complements to this overlap are far more superior.

The philanthrocapitalists, as referred to in the book, have perfected the art of helping a victim rather than the victim, otherwise known as personifying political problems. This amounts to actionable tweaks rather than structural change, hence removing perpetrators from the story. Hence they've yielded watered-down theories of change that are personal, individual, depoliticised, respectful to the status quo, and not in the least bit disruptive.

While the counterargument would be that their charity is better than nothing, it is to be kept in mind that the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. Growth in inequality might be a foe to civic comity, but it is a friend to private philanthropy. Per Theodore Roosevelt, "No amount of charities in spending such fortunes can compensate in anyway for the misconduct of acquiring them". True generosity might mean restrained taking, not just the belated shedding of some of what has been taken.

Giridharadas' book is sure to unsettle the people who form the subject of the book. But most importantly, it is an assault to our blindness to the advancement of a few neofeudals at the expense of society, aided by morsels of charity and cosmetic moral high ground. Reading this book, I am more critical of the facially benign resolutions of business leaders in Davos, Jackson Hole, the Business Round Table, corporate social responsibility, and anybody who claims to want to change the world by way of charity.
Brilliant, brilliant book.