Posted on 12/18/2007 7:00:04 AM PST by Neoliberalnot
The stereotype holds that conservatives are mean and don't care about the poor, and that liberals who do care for the poor give more. But in his book, Who Really Cares, economist Arthur Brooks says that's not the case.
"The average conservative-headed household gives 30 percent more money to charity than the average liberal-headed household, despite earning six percent less income," Brooks said.
Brooks also found that the biggest givers in America are religious people from traditional families.
"If there's one question I can ask you that will predict more than any other whether or not you're going to be a giver, it's whether or not you attend your house of worship weekly," he said.
Brooks says that after religion, the biggest predictor of giving is a person's attitude about the role of government.
About one-third of Americans want the government to take care of the poor and tax the rich more in order to do so. But Brooks says those who oppose this view are the real givers by more than 4 percent.
"So people who believe that the government should not be re-distributing money might seem awfully hard-hearted to the political left in this country, but they're putting their money where their mouths are," Brooks said.
And they're not just giving to their churches.
Brooks says religious people are just as likely to give to secular causes as well, giving 50 percent more money each year to social welfare charities than the average secularist.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbn.com ...
Conservatives walk the walk. Liberal talk the talk.
This really shouldn't be surprising to anyone. The liberals are so wrong in their views about helping the poor.
Part of it is, when the money is given voluntarily, it can be NOT given if the recipient is obviously unworthy of the charity.
This is judgemental, something anathema to leftist ideology.
Better to have it “given” involuntarily by forcefully confiscating it from one group to give to another without the “strings” of judgement.
The Goatse guy is the biggest giver, of course!
Oh.... NM.
It's true...
It depends on whose money they are giving. Liberals can be very generous with other peoples money.
Anyone got a DU account? This article would be fun to watch the loonies foam all over it.
“The Goatse guy is the biggest giver, of course!
Oh.... NM.”
Please explain the code??
Not me. I encourage you to start one and post it. I would enjoy seeing the responses. Let us know.
NM is never mind.
As for the rest.... if you don’t already know, you don’t want to. Though I’m sure some will guffaw at the comment. But seriously. You don’t want to know.
It’s two myths shattered at once:
“despite earning six percent less income”
Conservatives don’t represent the rich and greedy oppressors. That’s the Libs domain.
In it Brooks notes that to liberals charitable giving is a very bad thing. He does not consider redistribution of wealth (a leftist goal) to be charity at all.
In fact, he points out that there is no evidence in any country where redistribution of wealth actually benefits the poor, while conservatism and charity actually benefits the economies as a whole as well as the poor.
Here's a link to Amazon for the book.
Biggest “givers”?
The taxpayers.
Biggest Takers?
Government.
The biggest problem with private charity, in the eyes of the left, is that when money flows thru private charities, the recipients don't vote for rats to keep their benefits flowing and the aid disbursers don't vote for rats to keep their jobs.
Some libs state that voluntary charitable giving lets the gov't "off the hook" for what they see as the primary role of government.
uh, that's nasty... I would send that link to unsuspecting people to terrorize them.
It is worth repeating - conservatives are more generous with their own money and liberals are more generous with other peoples money.
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