I've noticed that this sort of naming-rights philanthropy correlates with certain cultures, too. I know when I'm driving along 11 mile and see a bunch of buildings with people's names on them, the good deli is just a few blocks further. ;)
I concur, it's not a bad thing. I actually think it helps motivate others to do likewise -- generosity in the shadows doesn't help set a cultural expectation or contribute to a pattern. Generosity in foot-high letters is hard to ignore, and it's still generosity. And tacky though it may seem, I think it's actually wonderful and I'd like to find ways to encourage it more broadly.
The downside (because there's always a downside) is that names _encode_ identity, and if your name isn't like all the names you see on all the buildings in this part of town, you might start to feel like you don't belong here. There are a lot of subtle things that can encourage or neutralize that perception, but having names emblazoned all over the place is sort of an enabling factor. So along with encouraging philanthropy, I think we should be looking at ways to make sure it doesn't get turned exclusionary.
I concur, it's not a bad thing. I actually think it helps motivate others to do likewise -- generosity in the shadows doesn't help set a cultural expectation or contribute to a pattern. Generosity in foot-high letters is hard to ignore, and it's still generosity. And tacky though it may seem, I think it's actually wonderful and I'd like to find ways to encourage it more broadly.
The downside (because there's always a downside) is that names _encode_ identity, and if your name isn't like all the names you see on all the buildings in this part of town, you might start to feel like you don't belong here. There are a lot of subtle things that can encourage or neutralize that perception, but having names emblazoned all over the place is sort of an enabling factor. So along with encouraging philanthropy, I think we should be looking at ways to make sure it doesn't get turned exclusionary.