The person that posted this I’ve known for 40 years and he’s a very decent guy. Unfortunately he seems to have fallen into the abyss of Trump hatred so that, looking at his social media posts, it’s taken over a larger part of his life than it should. It’s one thing to hate Trump- he can certainly be annoying- but in my own little orbit I’ve encountered the following sentiment several times: “I don’t care if we’ve been friends or are coworkers or even family, if you voted for Trump I don’t want anything to do with you, now and forever.” Not a single time have I heard this from conservatives, whether involving a Clinton, Obama, Biden, or Harris. Our minds just don’t work that way.
Post-WW2 liberals were serious people with reasonable opinions, but transformed over the years into progressive leftists, and their former advocacy for the “working man,” pretense or not, became advocacy for the privileged elite. The progressive left has many narratives about themselves and this quote on Facebook, “The more intelligent the man the more he begins to notice suffering,” embodies two of them: they believe they possess extraordinary levels of intelligence and sensitivity. The list is long- they are sophisticated, nuanced, cosmopolitan, compassionate, caring, empathetic, refined- all the things that people who are not them are not, in fact quite the opposite. Those who are not them are Nazis, fascists, neo-colonialists, racists, bigots, mouth-breathers and knuckle-daggers, Islamophobes, anti-science, want people to die, far-right Christian nationalists, ignorami, etc; all in all disagreeable and deplorable people.
The progressive left has manifested itself during this new Trump era in part by protests, most recently under the guise of “Hands Off!” and “No Kings!” Reviews of photos of these events suggest they are attended by a disproportionate number of white people, which is not surprising- people whose ego-identity involves perceiving themselves as sophisticated and compassionate tend to be white and affluent. This is not to say many of them are not caring and compassionate, but when it comes to personal effort or expense, there are lines that won’t be crossed, hence the endless anger when there is a threat of cutting or terminating pretty much any government department, program, or subsidy, no matter how corrupt, feckless, or unnecessary, even when the beneficiaries are wealthy and elite people and institutions. Sure, they might pledge $50 for PBS (and get a free tote bag!) or $75 to the local theater group, but it’s not going to happen if $10s of thousands or even a few thousand are required, because in their minds that is the role of the government. In other words, taxpayer’s money or non-existent money borrowed by the government is supposed to fund compassion.
Affluent white people enjoy protesting Trump at "No Kings!" rallies on 6/14/25
I honestly don’t know the statistics, but I will reasonably speculate that what money is donated by progressive leftists is not really directed at helping the truly impoverished and needy, but in supporting activist cultural and political organizations, or institutions that support progressive leftist causes. For example, does the CEO of the “non-profit” NY Presbyterian Hospital group, with its “commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging,” really need an annual salary of $10,000,000 plus? Does the director of the “non-profit” NY Museum of Modern Art really require a salary of $2,500,000 and a rent free $6,000,000 apartment? To the progressive left obviously the answer is Yes! One could only imagine the outrage if the tax-exempt, non-profit status of such organizations was threatened.
It’s almost entertaining, in a kind of satirical way, to consider the wealth of the notables of the activist and angry progressive left, and ask, “Why do they need so much money, especially when their hearts constantly bleed for the oppressed and downtrodden?” Below is a very incomplete listing of the net-worth of such luminaries in a variety of fields. I’m not opposed to wealth, even when it is massive, but I am opposed to blatant and abject hypocrisy, which pretty well characterizes the progressive left:
Author Stephen King $500,000,000; Actor Robert De Niro $500,000,000; Basketball player Lebron James $1 billion; Media figure Oprah Winfrey $3 billion; TV personality Whoopi Goldberg about $50,000,000, President of Harvard Univ. Alan Garber $11,000,000; News media personality Anderson Cooper between $100,000,000 and 200,000,000; Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan $100,000,000; Currency speculator and progressive activist George Soros $7 billion; Founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos $227 billion; Microsoft founder Bill Gates $100 billion+; Politician and businessman Michael Bloomberg $100 billion+; Singer Madonna $850,000,000; Actress/singer Cher $360,000,000; Singer/Actress Barbara Streisand $400,000,000; Musician Bruce Springsteen approaching $1 billion; Singer Bono $700,000,000; Politician JB Pritzker $3.5 billion, Politician Nancy Pelosi $250,000,000, Politician Gavin Newsom $30,000,000; Bill and Hillary Clinton $240,000,000; Barack Obama $70,000,000...Poor Joe and Jill Biden have a mere net-worth of $10,000,000 to 15,000,000.
I made decisions in the path of life that led me to intimately witness true poverty and need, and it’s very frustrating to observe the progressive left make-believe world, where appearing and feeling compassionate are divorced from real acts of compassion and generosity. Where mindless slogans are a substitute for actual effort to improve lives of the truly needy. Where the donations that actually are made are either for self-aggrandizement or directed to meaningless causes, and line the pockets of people who already enjoy great wealth. Whether you have massive wealth or relative affluence, instead of attending these silly anti-Trump protests, step up to the plate. If, for example, your pet cause is opposing deportations of illegal immigrants, don’t chant meaningless platitudes but make a stand by opening your homes to them. Boldly declare, “The government need not spend money on housing, education, health care, etc, for these people because I am assuming all costs and responsibility!” The progressive left, possessing wealth both large and less large, should happily be devoting not just a few hundred dollars, if that, to satiate their yearning to feel compassionate, but 20-30-even 50% of their income and net worth. Say you’ve accrued investments of $600,000, would it really set you back to give $75,000 to support vocational training in Central America, or perhaps fund university educations for promising young people? I suspect that thought, in their make-believe world, doesn’t even cross their minds.
Ron .s
I recall when the orphanage I support in Honduras was attacked by gang members and we relocated and was in desperate needs of funds, a former volunteer did not understand why we did not get funding from the U.S. government.
Reid Fitzsimons
I recall that event well, as our project was located close to the orphanage and we shared volunteers to some extent and provided housing for their volunteers. Every once in a while someone would ask, "Did you ever consider applying for government grants?" and the answer was no, it was an idea we never even considered. Why should American taxpayers support our efforts because we decided to be do-gooders? We did accept donations from people who knew us and what we did personally, and we're proud to say literally 100% of any donated money went to direct program costs: paying our local staff, food for the kids, lp gas for our kitchen, program activity supplies.
At one time we were considered a "non-profit" under the umbrella of an organization that provided "non-profit" status to small projects like ours. This was done on a reimbursement basis, in that we had to provide accounting and receipts at the close of a session. A memorable experience was that this group said they didn't have a category covering direct program costs, but we could use donated funds for our personal travel and living expenses and fund-raising costs (we never did any actual fundraising as donations were simply from friends, family, and people who spent time with us). Eventually our expenses were entered under a misc. category.
This was eye-opening for us, i.e. expenses that qualified for "non-profit" status were primarily personal or administrative and what we actually did was of secondary importance. The organization we were associated with was decent enough, but eventually their charges for providing support exceeded the limited donations we received, especially once they began to require liability insurance, an American concept that really didn't apply to Honduras. It was no great loss losing our "non-profit" status, because for the most part we funded the project out of our own pockets. I think the world of grants and "non-profits" is pretty convoluted and nebulous. For example, we could have used any and all donated money to pay ourselves salaries: there is lots of money to be made in the grant and "non-profit" world, and the benefit is you can pretend you are doing something wonderful while depositing the money in your personal bank account!
Alfred Finocchiaro
You nailed it Reid! Reminds me of a song from my childhood/
Money, get away.
You get a good job with more pay and you're okay.
Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team.
Money.
Well, get back.
I'm all right Jack, keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set and think I need a Lear jet.
Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say.
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're giving none away.
"Huh uh! I was in the right!"
"Yes, absolutely in the right!"
"I certainly was in the right!"
Carole Ann Milljour
I really enjoyed reading your article, Reid! I wish I knew the music to that song Alfred quoted. I tried to think of which one that was, however, the lyrics don’t seem to be familiar. Oh well! It certainly fit the theme of your article!
I just have to say, when the money flows in, it is a huge temptation for some to take advantage, and many do, unfortunately! Thank God for decent individuals who care to give over wanting to take. I really admire the integrity involved with Plan International and Samaritans Purse ...and I most certainly congratulate you and Patricia’s volunteer efforts in Honduras; you accomplished a lot throughout the years of your involvement. You certainly offered them a great deal in care and education. That was not an easy position or place to be in; and most certainly all you did came from the heart! I know too, that one of the biggest reward you received was from the friendships you made while over there!
Carole Ann Milljour
I meant to say that International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, not Plan International, is the organization I admired for the wonderful work they are doing. Plan International at one time was top of the line for dealing with individual's needs from poverty stricken areas, however, it seems that they are now in line with gender equality, so I am not so much in total favor of them as I once was. Just wanted to clarify my error in naming the two organizations I totally support!