To the Editor:

Re “Merchants of Fake Change” (Sunday Review, Aug. 26):

Anand Giridharadas’ s criticism of the American donor class and its self-serving idea of change is spot on. As a wealthy American, I’m accustomed to my friends’ patting themselves on the back for making the world a better place, without taking a second to consider the structural inequality that gives them access to huge amounts of money that they can spend on philanthropy.

At best they’re silent on how our tax code contributes to their wealth, but too many (like the “patriotic philanthropist” David Rubenstein) actually go one step further and actively advocate for policies that enrich themselves but hurt our country.

Our tax code doesn’t favor the wealthy by accident. There’s a reason millionaires can pay a lower tax rate than middle-class Americans. It’s because many great philanthropists have spent vast sums of money to influence Congress for their own personal gain.

The donor class, people like me, should start taking an active role in fixing structural inequality, not rewarding ourselves for surface-level charity.