damon

You want to know why liberals love to raise taxes? because they are too cheap to write checks themselves. "support the poor, support xyz, but ahem, just don't ask me to write a check..."

btw, the professor who did the study is a liberal...

Philanthropy Expert: Conservatives Are More Generous



Philanthropy Expert: Conservatives Are More Generous


SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University professor Arthur C. Brooks is about to become the darling of the religious right in America -- and it's making him nervous.

The child of academics, raised in a liberal household and educated in the liberal arts, Brooks has written a book that concludes religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities, irrespective of income.

In the book, he cites extensive data analysis to demonstrate that values advocated by conservatives -- from church attendance and two-parent families to the Protestant work ethic and a distaste for government-funded social services -- make conservatives more generous than liberals.

The book, titled "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism" (Basic Books, $26), is due for release Nov. 24.

When it comes to helping the needy, Brooks writes: "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."

For the record, Brooks, 42, has been registered in the past as a Democrat, then a Republican, but now lists himself as independent, explaining, "I have no comfortable political home."

Since 2003 he has been director of nonprofit studies for Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Outside professional circles, he's best known for his regular op-ed columns in The Wall Street Journal (13 over the past 18 months) on topics that stray a bit from his philanthropy expertise.

One noted that people who drink alcohol moderately are more successful and charitable than those who don't (like him). Another observed that liberals are having fewer babies than conservatives, which will reduce liberals' impact on politics over time because children generally mimic their parents.

Brooks is a behavioral economist by training who researches the relationship between what people do -- aside from their paid work -- why they do it, and its economic impact.

He's a number cruncher who relied primarily on 10 databases assembled over the past decade, mostly from scientific surveys. The data are adjusted for variables such as age, gender, race and income to draw fine-point conclusions.

His Wall Street Journal pieces are researched, but a little light.

His book, he says, is carefully documented to withstand the scrutiny of other academics, which he said he encourages.

The book's basic findings are that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans, by any measure.

Conversely, secular liberals who believe fervently in government entitlement programs give far less to charity. They want everyone's tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don't provide them with enough money.

Such an attitude, he writes, not only shortchanges the nonprofits but also diminishes the positive fallout of giving, including personal health, wealth and happiness for the donor and overall economic growth.
All of this, he said, he backs up with statistical analysis.

"These are not the sort of conclusions I ever thought I would reach when I started looking at charitable giving in graduate school, 10 years ago," he writes in the introduction. "I have to admit I probably would have hated what I have to say in this book."

Still, he says it forcefully, pointing out that liberals give less than conservatives in every way imaginable, including volunteer hours and donated blood.

In an interview, Brooks said he recognizes the need for government entitlement programs, such as welfare. But in the book he finds fault with all sorts of government social spending, including entitlements.

Repeatedly he cites and disputes a line from a Ralph Nader speech to the NAACP in 2000: "A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity."

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."

Brooks says he started the book as an academic treatise, then tightened the documentation and punched up the prose when his colleagues and editor convinced him it would sell better and generate more discussion if he did.

To make his point forcefully, Brooks admits he cut out a lot of qualifying information.

"I know I'm going to get yelled at a lot with this book," he said. "But when you say something big and new, you're going to get yelled at."

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Ned

fvck yea id say thats true, from what i read(which was not all of it, its early (late) haha). But i'm conservative and id say im fairly generous

drought_buster

I dropped 800 to the United Way through my company. A far cry from what the unionized liberals did, which is donate 5 bucks a month. :clap:

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PrivateSoftcore

Something about this whole story makes me snicker and go


I dunno what, it just seems silly

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Love you Joey....

devil

conservatives>liberals.

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Profit is the key to competition. Anyone who claims to favor competition but looks down at profit has no idea what he is talking about.

Snatch98

Agreed. If it makes the conservative population of MW feel better about their recent loss in the house and the senate so be it. I've always been by the vast marjoity of the "politically savy" MW crowd.

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PSN:Rorbotron

91_5ohgt

.

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Y2KSILVERSTANG

i know one rich dude who created some kind of charitable organization and gave all his friends management positions with salaries in to work for it. he said that way he can give his money to his friends instead of the government.

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Ryan L

Stuff like this shouldn't be political, but is indeed interesting.

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EW

Typically, liberals are good at spending YOUR money.

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YES, REMOTE START IS SAFE FOR MANUAL TRANSMISSION CARS WHEN USING PROPER EQUIPMENT

phat azz ride

oh lookie here...a conservative circle jerk. Throw some paiges in and you have a fully disfunctional government.

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2008 Mazda CX-7-6K HID's, TurboXS BOV

jrsy5oh

this is some professor justifying his grant from some "liberal think tank" (as cons like to call universities these days) to justify getting payed 90K a year. Seems like a liberal donation to this guy from the get go. You see they are more charitable even when it come sto coming up with propoganda against them

By the way, the NE gives more taxes than anyone in the country (lib country) and it goes to the south and midwest (cons country) every year. So we already contribute far more than any cons donation fund would ever. Those same areas generate most of the charitable contributions when it comes to disasters here and abroad.

Cons make their constituents poorer every year when it comes to the middle class and poor with their fiscal decision so shove your study up your azz

CGSVT

Gerry Studds is dead now.

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CGSVT

Yes, but not willingly.

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