On John D. Rockefeller's Method of Philanthropy

Rockefeller gave away over $500,000,000 in his lifetime (billions and billions in today's dollars) but he was also very careful how he doled it out. According to great many sources (Allan Nevins's "Study in Power", Burton Folsom's "The Myth of the Robber Barons", B.F. Winkelman's biography of Rockefeller - just to name several), Rockefeller would actually interview people to make sure that they weren't going to piss away the money and that they were going to use it toward a positive end (a lot of private charities actually worked this way before the welfare state; lodges, friendly societies, etc.). Compare this to how the government operates today and it's very easy to see how Rockefeller became the wealthiest, most successful man in the country while the Feds have racked up $19,000,000,000 in debt.