Here’s an interesting cluster of factoids. You know the general perception that conservatives are hard-hearted and stingy, right? And how liberals are overflowing with largesse? The comeback in debate is usually that their largesse is largely limited to other people’s money, but we now have more than a gut feeling. Turns out there is some data on this.
The Catalogue for Philanthropy has compiled IRS data on charitable giving to analyze which states are the most generous in terms of private, voluntary giving. Guess which state came in as the most generous? That’s right, I didn’t even have to tell you — Mississippi. The tightwad states are the deep blue ones. New Hampshire is #50, and Massachusetts is #49. Connecticut is a little better at # 45. Our own dear Idaho comes in at #11. Who was number 2, right after Mississippi? I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, for I know that Arkansas was on the tip of your tongue. In fact, since I already managed to work Idaho in, let’s just count down the top ten giving states, shall we? 10. West Virginia 9. South Carolina 8. Utah 7. Louisiana 6. Alabama 5. Tennessee 4. Oklahoma 3. South Dakota 2. Arkansas 1. Mississippi.
Yeah, right — this is just because these greedy money-grubbers are angling for their tax deductions. Okay, let’s go over and look at blood donations, which are not deductible, and compare the donations of those who are opposed to government social services spending and those who support it. If all people gave at the levels of those who support government aid, the blood donation levels would drop by thirty percent. And if everyone gave at the levels of those who oppose government aid, the giving to the blood supply would increase by more than a quarter.
Harumph. Let’s try something else — donated time to non-religious community service. Well, it turns out that churchgoers outvolunteered their secularist counterparts by 48 to 22 percent. I wonder what would happen if we included “faith-based” services. HT: AEI