(January 1, 2014 at 11:27 pm)Creed of Heresy Wrote: And reality doesn't think so, either...nor do the number.
Rich peoples' idea of charity: Giving to elite schools and opera houses.
Quote:What portion of charitable giving actually goes to the poor? The Washington Post’s Dylan Matthews looked into this, and the best he could come up with was a 2005 analysis by Google and Indiana University’s Center for Philanthropy showing that even under the most generous assumptions only about a third of “charitable” donations were targeted to helping the poor.
At a time in our nation’s history when the number of poor Americans continues to rise, when government doesn’t have the money to do what’s needed, and when America’s very rich are richer than ever, this doesn’t seem right.
This kind of puts a hole in the argument-bubble of people who say that people with lots of money often give the greatest quantities to charity. Sure they do...if your definition of "charity" is extremely charitable itself in what it includes.
So less than a third of all charitable donations go towards helping the poor. How much ya wanna bet that most of that third comes from people who DON'T have hundreds of millions to tens of billions to spare?
Opera houses and Harvard...yeah, that's by and large the focus of "charity" by the wealthy.
This also ties into cutting into the Libertarian view that charity from the rich can be a viable means of replacing the services of the government, be it welfare or civic services, depending on who you talk to. The rich already finance themselves as it is.
People tend to give to things that play a part in who they are or what they do. It's not any different then one of us donating to this forum for example
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
