The Charitable Giving Divide

[SargeUNN]

With the battle over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy shaping up as the major political event of the fall, opponents of repeal were handed a bounteous gift this summer when Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and 38 others announced that they formed a pact to give at least half their wealth to charity. After all, what better illustration could there be of the great social good that wealthy people can do when the government lets them keep their hard-earned dollars to spend as they please?



Source: The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 2007.
The problem is that the exceptional philanthropy of the superwealthy few doesn’t apply to the many more people defined as rich in the current debate over the Bush tax cuts — individuals earning over $200,000 and couples with revenues over $250,000. For decades, surveys have shown that upper-income Americans don’t give away as much of their money as they might and are particularly undistinguished as givers when compared with the poor, who are strikingly generous. A number of other studies have shown that lower-income Americans give proportionally more of their incomes to charity than do upper-income Americans. In 2001, Independent Sector, a nonprofit organization focused on charitable giving, found that households earning less than $25,000 a year gave away an average of 4.2 percent of their incomes; those with earnings of more than $75,000 gave away 2.7 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22FOB-wwln-t.html?_r=1

[bobbolink]

1. That is NOT the Problem!

The PROBLEM is that charity is NOT the Answer!

This has been written about many times here on DU, but it doesn't seem to connect. CHARITY does NOT change the face of poverty.... it only makes those who give feel good about *themselves*.

To put it in very hard terms, since maybe that is the way it will get through...

"This then is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well. the oppressors, who oppress, exploit, and rape by virtue of their power, cannot find in the power the strength to liberate either the oppressed or themselves. Only power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both. Any attempt to "soften" the power to the oppressor in deference to the weakness of the oppressed almost always manifests itself in the form of false generosity: indeed, the attempt never goes beyond this. b]In order to have the continued opportunity to express their "generosity," the oppressors must perpetuate injustice as well. An unjust social order is the permanent fount of the "generosity" which is nourished by death, despair, and poverty. That is why the dispensers of false generosity become desperate at the slightest threat to its source."
Paolo Friere in "Pedoagogy of the Oppressed" pp28,29

And to put it more succinctly and clearly:

U.G. Krishnamurti said:
"Charity is the filthiest invention of the human mind: first you steal what belongs to everyone; then you use the policeman and the atom bomb to protect it. You give charity to prevent the have-nots from rebelling against you. It also makes you feel less guilty. All do-gooders feel 'high' when they do good." -----U.G. Krishnamurti

[lunatica]

2. A far better goal would be to use that money to create businesses and jobs

It's that old give a starving man a fish or teach him to fish solution. How about free investment capital for green businesses with incentives to grow and hire people? I'm absolutely NOT against charities because lots of people aren't able to care for themselves, but Ya know, some of those people getting charity might like getting training and jobs better.

[SargeUNN]

3. I think you are missing something here

This shows that rich people give less to help others than the poorer do. Now think for a minute about these rich people are the ones that teabaggers and repukes say will employ and take care of people. The points made are valuable but if rich people refuse to do their part the poorer one certainly can do as much as needed.

[ThomCat]

4. The rich do not help the poor.

1. They do not give generously. Poor people give more generously of their time and money than rich people do.

2. When the rich do give, they give in ways that are self serving. They give to charities they formed and named after themselves that serve their own political interests, and they call that charity. That isn't helping the poor. That is making themselves richer, and masquerading it as charity.

If we really our society to help all of us, including those of us who are poor, then we need to make sure that poor people are involved.

Talk to poor people.
Listen to poor people.
Give poor people the help that we say we need, not the help that rich people claim we need.
Give poor people the resources to help ourselves and each other.

Get involved in changing the system and infrastructure that creates poor people and keeps people poor. People don't become poor accidentally! Put resources and authority into changing the systems and privileges that make making poor people poorer so that rich people can become more rich.

Trust poor people, but doubt rich people.

Then we will start to see some change.

[Warpy]

5. Splashy donations from rich men generally enter the

foundation death spiral in which donations are transferred from foundation to foundation, most of which were set up to pay heirs handsome salaries and get around inheritance taxes, and each foundation skims off just a little bit more to pay to their executives, usually said heirs. Maybe ten cents on a foundation dollar finally trickles down to where it can do some real good; more often, most of it stays at mid level to pay for projects the world's poor didn't ask for and don't have the skills and infrastructure to utilize or maintain.

Governments, on the other hand, have to be a little more sensitive to the majority of people concentrated at the bottom if they want to survive and the best of them will spend funds more wisely on improvements people actually need as well as the high tech weapons to keep them on the bottom.

Poor folks usually know exactly what they need.

[bobbolink]

7. "Get involved in changing the system and infrastructure that creates poor people and keeps people

poor"

:applause:

What a concept!

:hug:

[LatteLibertine]

6. I'd agree

we need to reform the system that is causing oppression of the poor and decimation of the middle class. That should be our first focus.

Wall Street lackeys in our government must go regardless of party. We've got the votes to remove them. The most wealthy have got the money and we've got the raw numbers.

As far as giving making people feel good about themselves, I'd say that's immaterial next to possibly helping someone who truly needs it. Most people tend to feel good when they do charitable things.

Again, yes, we need reformation of an unjust system so charity is required less.