What Is Noblesse Oblige?

‘‘the duty of the Man of Wealth… is to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community…’’   –Andrew Carnegie [1]

Noblesse Oblige is a French phrase that means "nobility obligates," implying that significant power comes with an obligation to take care of those who lack some privileges[2]. For some, the logic behind this is balancing the opportunities by performing duties. Although this perception greatly evolved and complexified with time, even today we see some kind of similar sense in political, economical and social aspects of our lives. Perhaps the increasing popularity of impact investing could be seen as one of the examples.

However, first we must look into the term power to understand why these wealthy owners should exercise such duties. Oxford dictionary defines power as "the ability to control people or things"[3]. In addition, being in a position of power implies that one's actions have an impact on the lives of others. As a result, this either means that power can be viewed as a means of "getting things done" in a selfish way; or it could lead to taking responsibility for others, treating individuals with a lesser voice with greater care. 

Having social power invokes a sense of control that might result in acting selfishly while ignoring the consequences for others, echoing the adage "power corrupts"[4]. There are so many examples and mentions of this side of the power -human relationship in the literature and history that maybe that is why some felt the need to make emphasis on the fact that this is not the only way to go. Fortunate ones, in fact, can also be referred to as the people with a responsibility to look after things that only they, as the one with unequal control, can.

If one doesn’t have the ability to fix the broken, no one will blame him or her for this. You can’t use what you lack. However, if one has the means and does not allocate them based on common needs or to solve problems, others can always throw some rocks at him or her. The power holders can claim as they want that they had nothing to do with the emergence of the issue. As long as they show that they are able to make it go away, they will likely keep being seen as responsible. 

This is why, I think some believe this understanding of "noblesse oblige" is how things should be, not that this is seen as the only way to continue to exist as human kind but because we already tried other things and they failed. For example, we saw that socialism collapsed and capitalism continued to exist so sources will not be shared equally or that when not answered, calls for economic reforms in France turned into a whole revolution. So, you can’t ignore the demands that come from the less fortunate, someone has to address them. 

Thus this concept, which emerged in feudal times seems to still be valid today. Back then maybe it was just a nobility giving a family a job at one of his fields. Yet, now we can see headlines such as "The millioner X can put an end to the world's hunger if he wanted to" or "If X person gives this much from her assets, she could actually save this much child from death". Whether this is a fair expectation or not is a totally different debate, however it can clearly be seen that it was an issue to be discussed for a long time ago and it seems to be staying like that. 

References for the photos:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4: Gary Waters / Getty Images/Ikon Images