Well, this does sidestep the argument of whether certain forms of philanthropy should be encouraged over others. I do think this is more of a cultural problem than otherwise.

I'm not overly fond of TED talks nowdays, but this one still sticks out as awesome. http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about...

Basically, I think the argument is more that we might be better off if philanthropy was viewed as just another form of consumption.