“Giving back” really is a terrible phrase

Good article at the Foundation for Economic Education’s site:

First, the phrase “give back” implies that something was taken in the first place. It paints the successful entrepreneur as a taker who through their success has deprived us of something that must be returned. This could not be further from the truth.

The problems with the phrase go deeper, and they have their source in a long philosophical tradition that corrupts the concepts of productivity, benevolence, and justice. My earlier article on Immanuel Kant’s contribution to that tradition:

the phrase also denies the benevolence of the giver. If you are only giving back what is rightfully someone else’s, then you do not deserve any special praise for your action. Your benevolence need not be acknowledged or honored.

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