Who Gives and Who Takes?

Who knew? Back in 2006 Arthur C. Brooks published Who Really Cares? It was a study about giving to charity. Guess who gave most, as a percentage of income? Right first time. The working poor who went to church. Who gave least? Right again. Secular liberals. Conservatives? Well, conservatives give more than liberals, and not just to church, but to secular charities as well.

Now comes Peter Schweizer with Makers and Takers. It extends our understanding of Americans beyond charitable giving and paints a broader picture of conservative virtue and liberal selfishness. Dr. Paul Kengor interviewed Schweizer.

Schweizer’s idea was to find out if conservatives were really as mean-spirited as the media reports.

[T]here is a stereotype in the media about conservatives. Basically, anyone who is conservative and holds traditional values is considered greedy, angry, authoritarian, intolerant, and selfish. I wanted to look at actual research and determine whether this was true.

Short answer: it’s not true.

The research shows that conservatives are much more outward-oriented and liberals tend toward looking at themselves. There is a sense of entitlement on the left. They are concerned with rights, but not responsibilities. The data clearly shows that.

One of the things Schweizer discovered is that more liberals think it is OK to lie.

I think it goes back to the idea of absolute truth vs. relative truth. Modern liberals are much more likely to believe that truth is relative. So if you believe truth is relative, doesn’t it make sense that you would be more likely to say honesty is a subjective thing?

And of course, as we already know, conservatives give more to charity than liberals. It even applies to high-profile conservatives and liberals.

I compare the charitable giving of Rush Limbaugh with that of Nancy Pelosi. The data is quite shocking. It will surprise a lot of people to know that Rush is not only more generous but he gives to people with real needs. Pelosi gives to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and to elite prep schools.

Really though, what is so surprising? We already know all this. Still, repetition is everything. So let’s summarize all this:

I don’t believe that liberalism really does seek the collective good. I think that modern liberalism is so attractive to people because it is an emotionally satisfying belief system that really doesn’t require much from you. Modern liberalism allows you to outsource your responsibilities. The government will take care of the less fortunate. All you need to do is vote for the right candidate and support government programs. Other than that, you are off the hook.

Makes sense to me. But, excuse me for a moment while I catch up with my charitable giving!