In the process of making a pitch for a new foundation, The People's Foundation, that is in the early stages of development, Marshall provides us with an excellent understanding of the role that major foundations such as the Rockefeller, Ford, and Carnegie Foundations play in our society and in much of the world. These foundations are sponsored by the highest levels of the capitalist elites who use their huge wealth resources in order to preserve the goose of capitalism which lays their golden eggs of power and wealth. The lengthy article reveals so many insights about this insidious form of control over our minds and imagination.
Changes in technology and communication were facilitating the spread of more information to more people than ever before, and the concept of ‘the public’ – and specifically, how to manipulate the public – moved to the forefront of elite intellectual discussion. It was an era that gave birth to the modern university, the advertising and public relations industries, the consumer society, and the modern philanthropic foundations.Unfortunately, the article never makes any explicit mention of what is informing every paragraph of the essay: the very system of capitalism which the above foundations are protecting and promoting. However, given the valuable insights with which Marshall always provides us, I am not leveling this as a major criticism--merely pointing it out. We all, at times, must make some compromises with the huge power of our ruling class, and one of the red lines that must not be crossed in their academic institutions is criticism of the system upon which this ruling class's power and wealth depends. Because Marshall is well connected with intellectuals who are mostly located in academic institutions, he, in making this pitch, probably did not want to provoke unnecessary opposition to his project at this early stage of development.