That's what the statistics show.

This holiday season is a time to examine whoÂ’s been naughty and whoÂ’s been nice, but IÂ’m unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy.

Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates.

Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals.

Other research has reached similar conclusions. The “generosity index” from the Catalogue for Philanthropy typically finds that red states are the most likely to give to nonprofits, while Northeastern states are least likely to do so.

The upshot is that Democrats, who speak passionately about the hungry and homeless, personally fork over less money to charity than Republicans — the ones who try to cut health insurance for children.

What is pretty clear here is that while we on the right may question the propriety and effectiveness of government programs, we do more to actually help the poor than liberals do. Support for high taxes and yet another government give-away leads liberals to absolve themselves of the need to actually do something personally for the poor -- while conservatives at all financial levels give more to charitable causes than do liberals at the same income level. And when you include volunteer time, you see the disparity grow. Only if you exclude giving to religious organizations (which would include not just churches, but religious hospitals, religious schools, and other religious charities that engage in their work for religious reasons) does the gap close. But such an exclusion, besides being intellectually dishonest, is also an example of the essential religious bigotry that permeates much of contemporary secular liberalism.

That isn't to say that liberals are bad people -- most of them are not. But when they call for sacrificial giving, they are unwilling to engage in it themselves unless they are forced to do so by the government -- and everyone else is forced to do so with them.

Posted by: Greg at 01:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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