The richest are the most generous? I think not.

[Creed of Heresy]

And reality doesn't think so, either...nor do the number.

Rich peoples' idea of charity: Giving to elite schools and opera houses.

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.

[Lemonvariable72]

And reality doesn't think so, either...nor do the number.

Rich peoples' idea of charity: Giving to elite schools and opera houses.

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

[Jackalope]

I'm not sure you can draw that sort it of conclusion, Creed. Lots of charities have enormous overhead, which certainly accounts for a fair amount of that 2/3.

However, on the whole, I agree with you on the folly of expecting private charity to do what government services can for the needy. Realizing that was the largest contributor to me abandoning most libertarian ideology many years ago - I still maintain that one of government's primary roles is protecting the rights of the people - all of the people, and all of their rights - and I disagree very much with many self-described libertarians on how that ought to be accomplished.

[Jackalope]

People tend to give to things that play a part in who they are or what they do.

I'm sure that factors into it. I cannot afford to give to every worthy cause - so I tend to give to causes that I most empathize with, usually ones that service the needs of the homeless and poor in my local community.

[Creed of Heresy]

That's the charity amount GIVEN to wealthy institutions. It says right there that only a third goes to institutions that help the poor. A THIRD. 2/3 goes to shit like opera houses and fucking Ivy League. It also pokes a hole in the argument that raising the taxes on the rich means they'll contribute less, to which I say; GOOD. Let their donations to their fucking 90210 art museums dry up, the fuck would I care? The ones actually giving to the poor will keep giving what they give, and the ones who actually weren't will donate less to their little vanity projects; won't hurt me none, but it will help us clear our deficit.

[Jackalope]

That's the charity amount GIVEN to wealthy institutions. It says right there that only a third goes to institutions that help the poor. A THIRD. 2/3 goes to shit like opera houses and fucking Ivy League. It also pokes a hole in the argument that raising the taxes on the rich means they'll contribute less, to which I say; GOOD. Let their donations to their fucking 90210 art museums dry up, the fuck would I care? The ones actually giving to the poor will keep giving what they give, and the ones who actually weren't will donate less to their little vanity projects; won't hurt me none, but it will help us clear our deficit.

Ah, I hadn't read the link - I was going on your summary.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

Great article.

But does the 2/3 include donations to disease research and things like that? I know a lot of people donate to cancer, AIDS, and a lot of other types of research. I'm ok with those, donating to Harvard isn't really a donation, it's kind of like paying your way in.

[Minimalist]

And let's not forget Mitt Romney dodging his tax bill by making huge donations to his fucking mormon shit.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-29...tions.html

Sleazy fuck.

[là bạn điên]

Sergey Brin has just pledged half a billion dollars to Parkinsons, Bill gates has vowed to eradicate malaria,Warren Buffet gives half of his wealth to charity.

[Creed of Heresy]

And notice those three are also the ones who state that higher taxes on the rich are a necessary thing...and Gates and Buffet are the 1st and 2nd most richest people, respectively.

They're the exception, however, and not the rule.