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“Phil,” is the Greek word for “love,” and “Anthropos” is the Greek word for “people.” Put them together and you get one of the most beautiful words to have been produced by the English language, Philanthropy, the love of humanity. What a concept! But with today’s society bogged down by a more geocentric economic mindset, it’s no wonder the United States of America is in the worst financial debt in its entire history. We are so focused on individual benefit and personal gain that we forget the fundamental factor which leads to a more prosperous economy, and it could be summed up in one word, kindness.
We as Americans have forgotten how to be kind to one another; maybe it’s because we have been lied to, thinking that we have nothing to gain for ourselves by giving to others. Well that’s not necessarily true. In fact, it’s a proven science demonstrated in the lives of countless unsung heroes in our society who go out of their way to make life a little better for their neighbor. Politics won’t do it for us; we have to start from the ground level. Kindness is contagious, and if enough of us have it, we are capable of making kindness the new “pandemic,” albeit, one with much more positive results. So where do we start? The answer lies in a largely forgotten section of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 664,, signed into law in 1969, which Les Winston of the Endow America Network Foundation calls, “Social Secharity.”
“Social Secharity” takes power out of the hands of government and gives it to you the people, through the life-saving power of philanthropy. How does it work? It’s a very simple concept, but first we need to review a bit of the current system. Right now most, if not all of the charity organizations in the United States depend greatly on government funding of one kind or another to be able to operate effectively. But where does the government get the money? Answer: your hard earned tax dollars, that’s where! You go to work, and a portion of your pay check goes to Social Security, and most of us are stuck in this over-burdened system our entire lives. What happens to the tax taken by Social Security when you die? The Government keeps it, to do whatever they want with it. Sounds bad, right? That’s exactly why Social Security is now struggling, and there will be nothing left for us and our kids in the next few years.
Section 664, on the other hand, offers a more promising alternative. Instead of buying into Social Security, you open a Social Secharity account, where your money accumulates every year and returns annual income to you until the end of your life. Before you get there, you choose the charity or cause where you would like your money to go, not only leading to tax deductions for you, but if enough Americans do this, we will effectively save our economy by endowing charities so that they no longer have to depend on government grants. And guess what that does, it results in a dramatic reduction in taxes for the whole country and puts us on the road to financial recovery. America is currently $23.3 trillion in debt, nearing $30 trillion very soon, a recipe for disaster if nothing is done. By helping and giving back to the community around you, you are helping improve society which will in turn make life better for you, me, and all of us really. Philanthropy is an age old concept, but it is the way of the future.
