Philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, and politicians in a Philanthropy Roundtable video explain why private actors have done and can do better than government in addressing social problems and building social capital.
Andy Smarick notes that civil society has been responsible for the many of the “most important things that have happened in public education, especially for disadvantaged kids over the last quarter century.”
Some of those in the video note that personal interactions are an important factor in the success of private efforts, or Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts explained in a talk noted recently here, “For all the people who need our help in society…the path to recovery is not a straight path. Sometimes it’s two steps forward and one step back and when they take that step back someone has got to be there to love them back on that path to success. That requires a person. That’s not going to come from the government.”
