American greed is disgusting!

[allisnow]

US donations to Africa outstrip Europe by 15 to 1

Private American citizens donated almost 15 times more to the developing world than their European counterparts, research reveals this weekend ahead of the G8 summit. Private US donors also handed over far more aid than the federal government in Washington, revealing that America is much more generous to Africa and poor countries than is claimed by the Make Poverty History and Live 8 campaigns.

Church collections, philanthropists and company-giving amounted to $22bn a year, according to a study by the Hudson Institute think-tank, easily more than the $16.3bn in overseas development sent by the US government. American churches, synagogues and mosques alone gave $7.5bn in 2003 - a figure which exceeds the government totals for France ($7.2bn) and Britain ($6.3bn) - according to numbers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which deal a blow to those who claim moral superiority over the US on aid.

Carole Adelman, the author of the Hudson Institute report, has discovered that a further $6.2bn a year is donated by independent US organisations, $2.7bn by US companies and $2.3bn by US universities and colleges, mainly through scholarships, to reach an overall private US donations total of $22bn.

In stark contrast, in separate exploratory work for the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Adelman found that the maximum EU figure was a mere $1.5bn in private sector donations, 14.6 times less than the comparable US figure.

Of course the typical wankers will come back and say that we can afford to give more, that European countries give a larger percentage of their GNP than does the US.

But this model ignores the private donations made possible by the lower tax burden in the US of 31.8%, against the eurozone's 45.6%.

Lee points out:

I think this highlights a fundamental difference between the American and European people.  Americans are problem solvers by nature.  We are a nation of rugged individualists.  Therefore when an American sees someone starving in Africa he opens his wallet, calls an aid organization (often run by religious groups), and makes a donation.  When a European sees someone starving in Africa he turns to his government to “do something” about the problem.  This attitude is prevalent in so many other areas as well:  self defense, health care, use of property, and so on.  Americans would rather solve problems on an individual basis, whereas Europeans follow their typical collectivized model and expect the government to solve the problem for them.

Also, note the way that Europeans discount the astonishing levels of private giving on the part of the American people, and only compare the amount of aid pledged by individual governments.  “Well, France gives a higher percentage of GDP than the US does.” This is despite the fact that the US is able to give more money than France while giving a smaller percentage of GDP.  And now we find that Americans give 15 times more to charities than Europeans, due to (a) their natural generosity, (b) their tendency towards individual solutions, and (c) a tax system which gives them the means to do so.  Europeans are so used to looking for government solutions to everything that they have totally forgotten the concept of individual people being able to make a huge difference when they act on their own.

Comments

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

Was this really necessary?

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Was Live 8? ;)

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

I don't recall Live 8 being a contest. I don't think charity should be.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

No, it wasn't a contest. It was a big pat on the back.

This isn't a contest either. It is, however, reaction from being told (in a general sense) that Americans are stingy and need to be told by Bono and the like that we're not giving enough.

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

Feels more like, woohoo look at us. We deserve a pat on the back, too.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Damn right we do.

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

Whether we do or don't, I don't think we should ask for the pat on the back number one and number two I don't think it should be about my country is better then your country. This is about generosity which shouldn't be used to prove who is better then whom.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Who is asking? I don't think acknowledging the fantastic generosity of the country is somehow mean-spirited, especially right now when Americans are being blasted abroad for not giving enough.

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

Whoever wrote the article is asking. Because it's not about saying that America gave. They're pointing out that America gave more then everybody else. They're asking for brownie points.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm sure the Scots are very interested in America getting brownie points.

They're pointing out that America gave more then everybody else.

Which is a fact... so what's the argument?

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

No, I think you posted the article because you want the US to get brownie points. And it feels very much like you want to point out that Europeans gave less.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Wait -- first it was the person who wrote it, and now it's me for posting it? I guess we can be partners in crime ;)

Obviously if one group gave more it means another group gave less. But the point of the post had more to do with tactics and motivations between America and Europe when it comes to charitable giving.

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

If there was a crime committed...

I just think that you didn't have to post this particular article. I think you could have pointed out America's generosity without making it seem like an us vs them sort of thing. And I'm not altogether convinced that you didn't want it to be an us vs them thing.

I think that by doing it this way, it only makes it look like Americans give because we think we're better then everybody else. It's supposed to be about charity.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

I just think that you didn't have to post this particular article.

Well of course I didn't HAVE to. I wanted to because I thought it, along with Lee's comments about it, were interesting and highlighted some differences in mindset, not about who's the better person.

I think you could have pointed out America's generosity without making it seem like an us vs them sort of thing.

So... "America is really generous, but let's not compare them to anyone else because that might make someone look bad"? Yipes.

I think that by doing it this way, it only makes it look like Americans give because we think we're better then everybody else. It's supposed to be about charity.

I guess you'd have to talk to the Scots about that one.

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

Differences in mindset. Riiiiight.

So... "America is really generous, but let's not compare them to anyone else because that might make someone look bad"? Yipes.

Yeah. Comparing them makes Americans look bad.

I guess you'd have to talk to the Scots about that one.

Nope. I'm talking to you.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Comparing them makes Americans look bad.

Ahh, that's what the writer probably had in mind the entire time.

Nope. I'm talking to you.

I didn't write the thing... just committed the crime of thinking it was interesting.

[yamadara.livejournal.com]

I didn't write the thing... just committed the crime of thinking it was interesting.

Aha! We agree.

[mylo1012.livejournal.com]

*thinks of a hallmark quote*

"whatever, Alli"

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

"Black and white, yadda yadda", right? ;)

[mylo1012.livejournal.com]

personally i think its sad that you refuse to take other people's point of view seriously

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Well we can have a serious conversation about it if you want, but at the end of the day it's not going to change my own point of view.

[mylo1012.livejournal.com]

no thats just it, I cant have a serious conversation with you about this or anything else, coz as soon as its not your point of you its open for mocking, conversations arent about trying to change other peoples point of view, its about accepting that others might see it different and different isnt wrong.

why do i have to take what you say serious if you dont give me the same courtesy?

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Nobody has to take me seriously... that's not what it's about. I find something of interest online and/or on blogs, I post it, I give my two cents, and that's where my major contribution ends. I can't have a serious conversation if the response is something like "well not everything is black and white". I 100% accept that other people have different opinions; I would have to be living under a rock to think otherwise. And I know, to them, their opinions are very much correct. To me, they aren't. If that means I don't have an open mind, so be it.

[mylo1012.livejournal.com]

this is not about the black and white thing, alli, this is about being open to a friends (coz last time i checked i was a friend) opinion without getting all mocking about

why cant you just disagree with someone without making the other look like an idiot for having a different opinion?

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Well I apologize if you thought that I was making you look like an idiot by kidding around. I tend to forget that there are people I can do that with and people I can't.

[mylo1012.livejournal.com]

Even when you apologize you find the need to mock me, which makes it hard to believe that you mean it

[chiroho.livejournal.com]

The weird thing is that if you watch the news, you see minimal international coverage. It's like Americans are generous, but don't like to hear foreign news too much. ;)

Interesting numbers though.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

It's like Americans are generous, but don't like to hear foreign news too much.

What's your point? ;)

[distant-cord.livejournal.com]

I'm inherently wary of anything that claims Americans are "naturally" more generous/productive/smarter/better/ect than other people. Certainly some individual Americans might be more generous than some individual Europeans, but to make the kind of generalization that they all are, and that it's some kind of innate quality? It kinda reeks of xenophobic, self-congratulatory b.s.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

1) The article is dealing with numbers. Sure, there are undoubtably some Europeans who are more generous to charity than some Americans, but in general terms that isn't the case.

2) This article comes from a Scottish news organization.

[lydkami.livejournal.com]

I won't deny those numbers are right but have you wondered the differences between both places? the blatant poorness in the east of Europe? Probably. But well the fact is that you're comparing pears and potatoes (not even apples). Of course if you want to keep comparing then so be it, go ahead and be my guest.

Americans are problem solvers by nature

Okay, that is the best joke I ever heard, and I'm talking seriously. I so have to quote that man there. By the way, Americans is supposed to mean US' people? Because it's wrongly used.

Therefore when an American sees someone starving in Africa he opens his wallet, calls an aid organization (often run by religious groups), and makes a donation. When a European sees someone starving in Africa he turns to his government to “do something” about the problem

Not always true but the fact is that we trust our governs because we choose to give them the power freely and we expect that they do something with our money more than to waste it around. I guess we care more for the so called 3rd world since we expect that as a whole the country does more than to produce weapons and sell them illegally, but hey! that’s how our minds work – we prefer usually peace over war.

This attitude is prevalent in so many other areas as well: self defence, health care, use of property, and so on.

Bingo! We actually think that those areas should be basic for everyone in our countries and hey we’re doing damn fine, at least we don’t have a country and citizens that live in a world of terror, dominated by fear and the need of self protection because you can’t trust your shadow. What type of quality of life do you actually have if you have to live like that, I wonder. Because I can assure you it’s lot nicer to be able to live with one’s security and freedom to be able to live your life without worrying that someone is going to attack you because you looked at them with an angry face.

But if you want to live in a place where you have to pay millions for your own healthcare because the state doesn’t cover a minimums; if you want to stop having a secure because you lost your job –of course because there wasn’t any type of security regarding unemploying and letting you know with certain time in advance-; if you want to be able to kill anyone because the way they look at you and be killed in return because of some other petty reason instead of talking or just accepting differences; stay happily ever after in US with many close minded people who believe they’re the best when in fact they only can be the best in their fantasy world –which for them seems to be the so called ‘real’ world-.

Europeans follow their typical collectivized model and expect the government to solve the problem for them.

It’s not a matter of expecting the govern to solve the problem for ourselves, is the difference that we do know that the govern works for us, citizens, they’re not some kind of god or whatever they’re like any other person working for the state and they have to do what they promised to and they have to do what’s good for our country and the citizens because that’s their job.

(a) their natural generosity

shit, this guy is extremely funny! While there may be some US people that are generous I don’t believe that as a whole many can have this so “famed” ‘natural generosity’.

Europeans are so used to looking for government solutions to everything that they have totally forgotten the concept of individual people being able to make a huge difference when they act on their own.

I know we haven’t, but go ahead and criticize us, where would you find the fun in your live if you didn’t? What I wonder is how much your so called natural generosity works for day to day, to the different associations that are fighting poverty/… each day and don’t have this big ‘boom’, I really wonder how much the average citizen gives.


And to finish this comment I have to say that I have no problem whatsoever with US people as a whole, just too many closeminded ones -sadly it seems they're the ones to talk more.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

I won't deny those numbers are right but have you wondered the differences between both places? the blatant poorness in the east of Europe?

Was the article comparing American charity only to European charity from poor places? I didn't notice.

The U.S. has its poor areas too.

By the way, Americans is supposed to mean US' people? Because it's wrongly used.

Well, the country is called the United States of America. Thus, citizens are Americans. Yes, I'm aware that there are two continents also with the name America in them, but if you want to talk about those citizens you refer to them in the same way, by their citizenship: Mexicans, Brazilians, Puerto Ricans, Canadians, etc. Or you can say someone is a North American or South American regardless of nationality. But pretty much everyone in the world knows that when you're talking about "Americans" in the nationalistic sense, you mean US people.

we trust our governs because we choose to give them the power freely and we expect that they do something with our money more than to waste it around

I guess that American trust in government is a very different thing. I can't honestly say that I trust the government with my money. That's why Americans (well, most) demand that the government take as little of our money as possible and let us spend the rest how we deem fit.

that’s how our minds work – we prefer usually peace over war.

Yup... Americans loooove war. Down with peace!

a country and citizens that live in a world of terror, dominated by fear and the need of self protection because you can’t trust your shadow

And which country would you be describing there?

But if you want to live in a place where you have to pay millions for your own healthcare

I don't.

because the state doesn’t cover a minimums;

We have Medicare, Medicaid. We don't have a state-run system for everyone because by and large we don't WANT one.

if you want to stop having a secure because you lost your job

Yes, we do sort of like it when people work.

if you want to be able to kill anyone because the way they look at you and be killed in return because of some other petty reason instead of talking or just accepting differences

Um, that's sort of illegal here.

stay happily ever after in US with many close minded people who believe they’re the best

I plan on it.

they’re like any other person working for the state and they have to do what they promised to and they have to do what’s good for our country and the citizens because that’s their job.

And I would say that that's a rather naive statement, but then I don't know your country any better than you know mine.

I really wonder how much the average citizen gives.

Well if you break down the numbers, US average per capita private giving = $74.39, vs the EU's $3.28.

And to finish this comment I have to say that I have no problem whatsoever with US people as a whole, just too many closeminded ones

I see the 'closeminded' thing a lot with Europeans... what exactly is a closeminded person?