Thomas Sowell reports on a new book, Who Really Cares, by Arthur C. Brooks. The book looks at what liberals and conservatives actually do, in terms of giving of their own money and time, in order to see who cares. Among the book’s conclusions, according to Sowell, are these:
"People who identify themselves as conservatives donate money to charity more often than people who identify themselves as liberals. They donate more money and a higher percentage of their incomes.
It is not that conservatives have more money. Liberal families average 6 percent higher incomes than conservative families. …
Conservatives not only donate more money to charity than liberals do, conservatives volunteer more time as well. More conservatives than liberals also donate blood.
According to Professor Brooks: ‘If liberals and moderates gave blood at the same rate as conservatives, the blood supply of the United States would jump about 45 percent.’"
Why the difference? Let me suggest one possibility. If you think, as liberals do, that it is government’s job to take care of the poor, provide for the sick, etc., then you do not need to do it yourself. You can take the view that you pay your taxes. Now it is up to the government.
Conservatives, however, either think it is not the government’s job to do all of this or they realize that government so often fails at what it tries to do. Therefore, conservatives know they have to help – because government programs can’t and won’t get the job done.
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