Why Do Creative Capitalists Persist?

As I have noted, there is no financial return in the usual sense from the deployment of creative capital in philanthropic ventures, and very little in the deployment of creative capital in venture capital activities. Why, then, do creative capitalists persist in putting their money out in this way? The answer is undoubtedly complex, but I suggest that it has much to do with the peculiar conditions created by societies that are both capitalistic and democratic. Free market economies allow wealth to be created. Wealthy families in democratic republics internalize the ideals of democracy, of the dignity of every citizen, and behave accordingly. This creative use of capital after it has been earned validates the soundness of the American idea. American families who have become wealthy have richly deserved that wealth, enriching all our lives. But it is the ongoing deployment of private capital in creative ways that validates the moral acceptability of capitalism in America and that ensures the continued importance—indeed, the decisive importance—of wealthy families to America's sustained preeminence.