Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Who cares a lot? Conservatives, that's who
When it comes to doing unto others, a conservative is more likely to put his own money where his mouth - and heart - is. This from National Review:
Since the days of Charles Dickens, conservatives have been caricatured as Scrooges for their supposed indifference to the suffering of the poor. At the same time, liberals have smugly trumpeted their own generosity in supporting expensive government welfare programs. But in a new book, Who Really Cares?, Syracuse University professor Arthur Brooks challenges this conventional wisdom. Judging by private charity, he says, it’s conservatives who are more compassionate. Each year, conservatives give 30 percent more than liberals to charity. Religious people, especially, are remarkably generous: Believers are 57 percent more likely than secularists to help the homeless. There are two lessons here: As modern liberalism has come to equate compassion with large-scale government programs, it has eroded the sense of individual responsibility for the well-being of one’s neighbors. And when conservatives say that low taxes and spending should be supplemented by a safety net that is privately funded, they put their money where their mouth is.
Since the days of Charles Dickens, conservatives have been caricatured as Scrooges for their supposed indifference to the suffering of the poor. At the same time, liberals have smugly trumpeted their own generosity in supporting expensive government welfare programs. But in a new book, Who Really Cares?, Syracuse University professor Arthur Brooks challenges this conventional wisdom. Judging by private charity, he says, it’s conservatives who are more compassionate. Each year, conservatives give 30 percent more than liberals to charity. Religious people, especially, are remarkably generous: Believers are 57 percent more likely than secularists to help the homeless. There are two lessons here: As modern liberalism has come to equate compassion with large-scale government programs, it has eroded the sense of individual responsibility for the well-being of one’s neighbors. And when conservatives say that low taxes and spending should be supplemented by a safety net that is privately funded, they put their money where their mouth is.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, December 19, 2006 
