Charity Begins at Home

With the U.S. Presidential race in full swing, liberals and conservatives are busy trying to characterize one another with unflattering stereotypes. One stereotype that is often used against conservatives is that they're not concerned about the less fortunate in society. Conservatives respond that they are concerned about the poor, but that large government programs are not the most effective way to fight poverty. Conservatives say that such programs undermine the sense of personal responsibility that is necessary for poor people to advance in society, and actually encourage destructive behavior that perpetuates poverty. They claim that voluntary, community-based charitable activities, especially faith-based activities, are much more effective means of fighting social ills. Is this just a convenient excuse to avoid funding government social programs? Some liberals say that "Compassionate Conservatism" is a contradiction in terms.

Recent evidence suggests that conservatives practice what they preach. Conservatives households give 30% more to charity than do liberal households, in spite of the fact that income in liberal households is 6% higher on average than in conservative households. Conservative households are 18% more likely to donate blood than liberal households, and volunteer significantly more of their time to charitable activities.

None of this suggests that either conservatives or liberals are right about their policy prescriptions. Nor does it suggest that conservatives are better people than liberals, or that liberals are not charitable. It merely suggests that the so-called "stinginess" of conservatives on social programs may be motivated by a genuine, good faith difference in philosophy from liberals, rather than by hostility to the poor. It also suggests that debates on how to address poverty in America should be focused on the issues, rather than on attacking people's motives.

Just something to think about in case there is any time in between all of the name-calling during the upcoming election season.