Good things can come from guilt

I do not know anyone in the Sackler family. I wouldn’t even have heard of them were it not for recent reports of their return to the large-scale philanthropy with which their name was once associated. These reports have led to criticism of institutions that accepted Sackler charity: the well-worn argument being that the family’s businesses made a fortune from aggressively promoting the use of opioids in America, and opioids have caused serious addiction problems for millions of Americans.

Sam Leith wrote thoughtfully about the controversy on the Spectator website last week (‘We should be thankful for the Sackler family’s philanthropy’). His — to me — most arresting argument is that whatever view we take of how the super-rich made their fortunes, we should be pleased when they’re parted from some of their money to the benefit of mankind. We wouldn’t complain if the government taxed them and used the proceeds for the public good, so we shouldn’t complain if they give the money away themselves. I agree. Sam also doubted whether ‘image-laundering’ by big businesses with dodgy reputations was achieved efficiently through philanthropy. Like him, I suspect that the reputational benefits of public-spirited initiatives by tainted corporations are slim. One doubts that BP’s former sponsorship of the Royal Shakespeare Company (the RSC has now rejected the arrangement) changed any minds either about the need to tackle global warming, or the morally ambiguous position in which big oil companies find themselves.

But Sam set me thinking, so let’s take the argument forward. Moving beyond the Sacklers and Big Oil — I have no window into individuals’ motivations here — I think more generally that the linkage between guilt and good works runs very deep in the human psyche, and we should neither deplore it in others nor try to strip it from our own natures.