Dear Friends:
I don’t know whether you are familiar with Philanthropy Daily, an online newsletter edited by Jeffrey Cain, who, with Jeremy Beer, founded American Philanthropic, LLC. Below is a fine short article from Scott Walter, one that ties private philanthropy to private property. The hero of this piece is none other than Pat Moynihan, who needs no introduction. One of the unsaid points in the article is that philanthropy in America, in general, is far more centered in the private sector than the public sector. Consequently, America often gets criticized because the government itself often doesn’t seem as generous as some others on a ratio of gift-to-GDP. That’s because the PEOPLE of America are so much more generous than our European counterparts. That’s because Europeans realize that it’s their money that is being given by their government, and they stop being generous themselves. This is evident, for example, in the paltry private donations to state churches everywhere.
The Philanthropy Daily newsletter in general is well worth a look.
Best,
Bruce
I do not remember where I heard it or exactly when. I do remember that it was just after the tsunami in Asia, but that’s all, except that the figures were stunning. By far (how I wish I could remember the stats), the most charitable people in the world are middle-class private American citizens. This demographic group gives more to charity than any other group, including all governments, in the entire world–and always has, ever since someone starting keeping records.