Conservative Americans Give the Most to Charity
Andrew Ferguson reviews a few basic misconceptions that most people have in his summary of the latest book by Arthur Brooks a Syracuse economist.
He indicates that contrary to popular belief - that Americans actually do give to charity - about 75% of all families. It comes to $1800 on average. No other developed country in the world (except Israel) gives so much. On average, this is 5x the amount that German families give, and 7x the amount that Italian families donate.
Why is this so surprising? Well, it isn't to Americans, but probably is to Europeans because every so often there's some Eurocrat from Brussels or the UN on his high horse saying that Americans don't give as much as we should. (Remember that Norwegian guy during the tsunami?) So what else is new?
Among those that give, conservative households give 30% more than liberal households, even though liberals earn more. South Dakotans give almost twice as much as San Franciscans. Also, religious people give more - not just money - but twice as much blood!
The conclusion is that if you're an American conservative - this doesn't surprise you. However, if you're an American liberal or from some other part of the world it may. Thanks to Arthur Brooks for his book on charity giving.
He indicates that contrary to popular belief - that Americans actually do give to charity - about 75% of all families. It comes to $1800 on average. No other developed country in the world (except Israel) gives so much. On average, this is 5x the amount that German families give, and 7x the amount that Italian families donate.
Why is this so surprising? Well, it isn't to Americans, but probably is to Europeans because every so often there's some Eurocrat from Brussels or the UN on his high horse saying that Americans don't give as much as we should. (Remember that Norwegian guy during the tsunami?) So what else is new?
Among those that give, conservative households give 30% more than liberal households, even though liberals earn more. South Dakotans give almost twice as much as San Franciscans. Also, religious people give more - not just money - but twice as much blood!
The conclusion is that if you're an American conservative - this doesn't surprise you. However, if you're an American liberal or from some other part of the world it may. Thanks to Arthur Brooks for his book on charity giving.
posted by pistolpete | 1:03 PM
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