On 15 April 2019, just before 18:20 (CEST), a structure fire broke out beneath the roof of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and soon President Emmanuel Macron announced that the cathedral would be restored, as he launched a fundraising campaign which soon brought in pledges of over €1 billion. The sudden rolling in of funds has raised many eyebrows. France's mega-rich have stumped up huge sums to restore the gothic architecture, with billionaires Bernard Arnault (€200M) and Francois-Henri Pinault (€100M) among the biggest donors. One early estimate by French construction economists suggests that the donations may far surpass the cost of repairs. It is suggested that the cost of restoring Notre Dame will lie between €300 million to €600 million.
The level of donations has sparked a lot of criticism all around the globe as the money could have been better spent elsewhere. The generous donations have resulted in protests all across France especially by the yellow-vest demonstrators and people in regions across France like Marseilles where children are suffering and dying because of poverty and hunger. Over the past year, homelessness has increased by 21 percent in Paris. Yellow-vest demonstrators complained at the ease with which corporations and wealthy individuals had raised money for a building but had ignored months of protests against the sudden rise of high social inequality. The French are angry with Macron as they believe that he is prioritizing the wrong causes as France is currently facing a social emergency. Some even say that the donations have resulted in a 60% tax deduction for the big donors by the French government. People across social media questioned why similar support was not given to historically black Louisiana churches devastated in arson attacks, to the fight against climate change, or to development aid for African countries.
But we should never forget that Notre-Dame is valuable as a beautiful, architecturally unique structure with a rich, romantic history. It’s also a mega tourist attraction that brings in hordes of visitors ( 13.6M visitors each year) who then dine, shop, and lodge in the area, creating perhaps thousands of jobs and helping to maintain the local economy. So it’s certainly a laudable goal to rebuild as quickly as possible. We should also keep in mind that the big donors especially the billionaires could have used the same money in buying a house or painting and no one could criticize or stop them. We should applaud them for their generous charitable donations .
