Liberal "Compassion"

Another “given” is that the Left is more charitable than the Right. Everybody knows that Liberals are more sympathetic, more compassionate, and in general simply more “giving” than the uncaring, unsparing, cold fish Republicans. Everyone knows this to be true; it’s practically ingrained in our political DNA. Yet, what if that assumption were completely backwards? What if the truth were something completely different than what we have been led to believe?

In his book, Who Really Cares, Arthur C. Brooks examines the data on who really does give their time, money and energy to respond to America’s social needs. When he began looking into charitable behavior a decade ago, he fully expected to confirm his long-held beliefs that political liberals “cared more about others than conservatives did,” but somewhere along the way he was mugged by reality. “These are not the sorts of conclusions that I ever thought I would reach,” he says, but admits that in the end, “I had no option but to change my views.”

Mr. Brooks used a wide range of metrics, from rates of charitable giving to hours of volunteer work donated. He also identified four distinct forces which appear to correlate to charitable behavior: religion, skepticism about the government’s role in economics, a strong family life, and personal entrepreneurship. Those Americans who have all four, or at least three of the four, are much more likely to behave charitably than those who do not.

Some numbers: People who attend church regularly are 25% more likely to donate money and 23% more likely to volunteer time; the religious give away four times more money than the secular do; Conservative households give 30% more to charity than do Liberal households; working families without welfare support give three times as much to charity than do welfare families with the same total income. Another telling statistic is that among the states George Bush carried in 2004, those he won with more than 60% of the vote gave 3.5% of their income to charity, while those states who supported John Kerry with more than 60% of their vote donated 1.9% to charity.

When confronted with facts, and logic, and reason, the true mark of intelligence is whether or not one’s opinion can change (as Mr. Brooks’ did). A common problem with so many of us is that we suffer from an almost ingrained reluctance to recognize the truth of an uncomfortable reality when it is presented to us; it is as if we have become locked into an unwavering commitment to avoid any acknowledgement of that which contradicts our long-held opinions and beliefs. I know, I know: Statistics never lie, but liars often use statistics. I’m not saying that Who Really Cares gives us a complete picture, but it certainly goes a long way toward refuting certain assumptions about “generous liberals” and “stingy conservatives.”

By the way, would you happen to know who donates more blood to the American Red Cross?

REFERENCES & ADDITIONAL READING

“Who Really Cares?” by Arthur C. Brooks
“Yes, There Are Two Americas” by Wilfred M. McClay, The Wall Street Journal