Mark Cuban and John Legend Display Conflicting Visions of the Poverty Fight

Patrice Lee Onwuka, adjunct senior fellow with The Philanthropy Roundtable, writes in the Washington Examiner that in a celebrity dust-up over private charity vs. government spending, she is on Team Private Charity.

“Here’s why: Philanthropy, or private charity, has a track record of addressing root causes of social problems using targeted, innovative approaches, while government writes massive checks to treat symptoms while often leaving underlying issues untouched,” she writes. 

Singer John Legend and entrepreneur Mark Cuban represent two different sides of the debate around the value of government support vs. private giving. Legend supports the former, while Cuban—and Onwuka—support the latter. Efforts that are decentralized and individualized—characteristics of private giving—are more likely to have success.

Read the rest of the op-ed here.

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