“A CIVIL SOCIETY - Celebrating Diversity of Opinion”
The Social Capital Campaign today publishes its latest publication on social capital and civil society, described by The Washington Examiner as “an alarming report” that “you should read.”
A society with strong stocks of social capital can celebrate not just diversity of backgrounds but opinions too. Tribes and clans create social capital. But without society-wide trust to bind them together, other forms of bonding trust are sought and we experience polarization.
The combination of wealth inequality and amassing of power to the federal government, are cause and consequence of the decline in society-wide trust.
Centralization is a runaway problem, super-charged by an arms race in philanthropic and political funding focused on federal government.
Historic federal election campaign expenditure by the new mega-wealthy, for example, coincides with historic low levels of trust in our national institutions, including philanthropy.
Trust, however, remains high at the local and “small” level and in informal giving.
We recommend building on local levels of trust to expand society-wide trust, by revitalizing local civl society through these measures:
The IRS to create a 501c3p category that differentiates nonprofits that are tackling poverty and providing welfare and human services at a local level
To create a State Poverty and Relief Community Chest (SPARCC): a donor vehicle that distributes funds without a grant-application to the registered 501c3ps located in just their state, in the way a state tax rebate might
To include low income in the charitable deduction who are more likely to give to local, poverty relief efforts
An Independent Voucher Commission directed by Congress that can investigate ways to ensure a diversity of providers, including faith-based groups, are involved in the delivery of welfare, health and human services programs
“A Civil Society - Celebrating Diversity of Opinion”
Chris Bullivant
April 2023
A country with strong social capital can celebrate not just a diversity of backgrounds, but opinions too.
Chris Bullivant is the director of the Social Capital Campaign. Previously he helped to establish the London-based online commentary magazine UnHerd and two think tanks: U.K. 2020 focused on improving environmental policy and global food security, and the Centre for Social Justice developed a welfare policy platform implemented by the then incoming Prime Minister. His commentary has been published in USA Today, The Washington Examiner, The American Conservative and UnHerd.
