Author of Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism Arthur C. Brooks sums up his findings:
“For too long, liberals have been claiming they are the most virtuous members of American society. Although they usually give less to charity, they have nevertheless lambasted conservatives for their callousness in the face of social injustice.”
Brooks’ work is drawing praise.
Harvey Mansfield, professor of government at Harvard University and 2004 recipient of the National Humanities Medal, does not know Brooks personally but has read the book.
“His main finding is quite startling, that the people who talk the most about caring actually fork over the least,” he said. “But beyond this finding I thought his analysis was extremely good, especially for an economist. He thinks very well about the reason for this and reflects about politics and morals in a way most economists do their best to avoid.”
Brad Miner interviews brooks at CompassPoints.
Sista Toldjah: Wha??? You mean we’re not uncharitable greedmongers afterall?
Blogs for Bush: So, for all the Democrats rhetoric about helping the little guy and blasting Republicans for not caring about the less fortunate, it turns out there’s proof that conservatives give more than liberals.
Free Republic:The stereotype is that Liberals are more caring and generous because they want to “help the poor”. But they don’t really. They want to pass the responsibility of the poor from their own shoulders to the government’s. That way, when people continue to live in poverty, they can sit back and say its not their fault, its the government’s. So not only do they have to do nothing for the poor, they also get to feel smugly self-righteous because they ascribe to the “compassionate” philosophy of liberalism.
The Volokh Conspiracy: Last fall and winter, I circulated a paper on the relationship of people’s views on income redistribution and capitalism to traditional racism and to intolerance for unpopular groups. I presented it to Gary Becker’s and Dick Posner’s Rational Choice Workshop at the University of Chicago and to the Law, Economics, and Organization Workshop at Yale. With the publication of Arthur C. Brooks’ new book Who Really Cares (tip for the news story to Instapundit), which presents data showing that conservatives tend to be more generous than non-conservatives, I decided to put a full PDF copy of my paper on SSRN. It appears that our analyses directly overlap only slightly, though they are certainly generally complementary.
American Conservative Daily: The only problem with the book that I see right now however is that he is misusing the term “compassionate conservatism”. Voluntary charitable donations are not what “compassionate conservatism” is about. “Compassionate Conservatism” is about would-be conservatives who act like social liberals, tax the crud out of Americans and throw government money at every social problem in violation of the federal constitution.
Backyard Conservative: Only liberals are surprised by this one.
The Truth About Everything: Who do you suppose give more money and time to charity? Democrats who are always talking about needing to help those less fortunate, or Republicans who are saying charity should come from the heart. Republicans, those right wing bigots, Bible-thumping numbskulls, who can’t get it through their thick skulls that God isn’t in charge, even give more blood than the Dems.
Power Line: Liberals tend to specialize in giving away other peoples’ money.
From the Left:
Sunbeams from Cucumbers: I would have hoped that mainstream journalists would have either gotten borded of this subject by now, or would have wised up and realized just how dishonest the people peddling it are. But sadly, that’s not the case.
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November 30th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
According to CNN cost of living calculator:
Salary in New York (Manhattan) NY: $100,000
Comparable salary in Marshall County AL: $43,046.48
If you move from New York (Manhattan) NY to Marshall County AL…
Groceries will cost: 28.77% less
Housing will cost: 78.669% less
Utilities will cost: 41.379% less
Transportation will cost: 20.983% less
Healthcare will cost: 39.198% less
Nearly 50% of all liberals live in (more expensive) urban areas, while nearly 50% of all conservatives live in the (less expensive) south. So what I want to know is, did the writer compare apples to apples? Are his income groups set up to account for cost of living? When calculating percentage of income given to charity does he use income after taxes and cost of living? If he does, then he needs to compare New York liberals who make $100,000 with Alabama conservatives who make closer to $40,000. I think we’ll see a much different picture. Otherwise, he is just lying with statistics.
Also, when a a guy who works at the American Enterprise Institute says he is shocked that conservatives come out looking better in his study than liberals, I’m skeptical.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:03 pm
Response to Sid -
Everything is relative regarding income and the cost of living. If the cost of living is higher in major cities, so is the amount of income and vise versa for the more rural areas. There was a study done with 2 Salvation Army buckets in 2 very different locations. One was in wealthy San Francisco and the other in a poor rural town, I can’t recall which state. The bucket in the more rural town pulled in twice the amount of money and the people there gave a higher percentage of their income than the wealthy people of San Francisco, a very liberal city.
I think what you forgot to mention in all your percentages is if one moved from NYC to Alabama, how much less income one would be making? Pease answer that. Bottom line, liberals are always pawning their responsibilities off one someone else and pointing the finger of blame.
January 5th, 2008 at 3:58 am
Liberals seriously misunderstand conservatism. Conservatism is about free choice. If you can’t make a free choice to give your money to a worthy cause, then it has no value.
If you follow the liberal prescription than you have the Soviet Union, with government responsible for everything. You have no choice, no ability to make a decision between right or wrong. Such a society is Godless, but it’s not even about religion, it’s about morality. Are you free to make a choice on right and wrong?