American Generosity Spurred by Entrepreneurs

PhilanthropyDaily.com ^ | July 9, 2014 | Scott Walter

[Edmunds mom]

America isn’t just a bit more generous than your typical country. We’re an order of magnitude (and counting) more generous than most countries, including Germany and Japan.

... “American capitalism differs from all other forms of industrial capitalism” because it focuses "on both the creation of wealth (entrepreneurship) and the reconstitution of wealth (philanthropy). Philanthropy is part of the implicit social contract that continuously nurtures and revitalizes economic prosperity."

... nonprofits must learn that they are not in an “independent sector.” They are dependent not just on that abstraction known as the economy but also, horrors, on its heroic leaders, the entrepreneurs who power its growth and innovation and thereby make possible the giving that is civil society’s lifeblood.

... If the unequal distribution of wealth disturbs you, the solution is not to make America more like the rest of the world. Would you prefer socialized France where ... “inherited wealth plays an increasingly important part of the economy” and the people are less than one-sixth as generous as America? No, the solution is to spread the ideas – economic and philanthropic – that make American capitalism successful.

[Edmunds mom]

A country's charitable generosity is closely related to the number of entrepreneurs it allows to flourish. Want to help the poor and lower inequality? Then let the economy bloom and encourage philanthropy.

[ConservingFreedom]

Point to ponder: "in 1950 eighty percent of wealth on the Forbes list of the richest people in America was inherited; by 1990 it has fallen to only 20 percent."

[Jim from C-Town]

Not to worry. I am still willing to inherit a great deal of wealth.