#277 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday February 17)
Good morning,
WHY DO AMERICANS GIVE?
Last month a number of people responded to my commentary on the charitable nature of Americans, in terms of percentage who give, the magnitude of giving and the significantly greater percentage of people giving than in European countries. Mark Farrell has a different take on why Americans might give more, namely, that the “social safety net” here is broken. He rationalizes the lower giving levels in Europe:
“Perhaps there is less poverty in France, Italy, and Germany. Perhaps there's less need in Scandinavian countries because of social services provided the general population. As well as higher taxes and less discretionary income. No research here, just top of my head thoughts. The wealth gap is huge in the United States and the number one reason for bankruptcy is medical bills... 60% of bankruptcies. Perhaps there's more need here and more money to give.”
Expressed another way, perhaps our tax structure and state-supported services are less generous than in Europe, causing Americans to give more charity as a sort of “off-set” to societal indifference. But then Mark hits a chord even more devastating:
“The Greatest Generation seemed to have the Greatest Empathy, having lived through the Great Depression and having sacrificed for World War II. They understood, viscerally, what it was like to "do without." Then they created the "me generation" because they wanted us to have a better life. And we do, but the side-effect is selfishness, it would seem.”
BUT WHO’S REALLY GIVING?
“I believe that this has led to the attraction of Trumpism, FOX News and other far-right, selfish, whiny, unforgiving, unsympathetic reporting, which panders to the same kind of audience. Rush Limbaugh made $50 MM/year pandering to these people. I wonder to what charities Rush gave? Yet, when I've looked up philanthropic celebrities, the preponderance of givers are typically more liberal — very few conservatives.”: https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity
“Trumpism (and Trump), in my view, was the result of the slippery slope started by Rove and Gingrich during the Reagan era when they gave birth to the strategy of demonizing Democrats and paralyze government (https://archive.org/stream/286852-stolberg/286852-stolberg_djvu.txt)(https://newrepublic.com/article/134983/newt-gingrich-laid-groundwork-donald-trump-rise#). They epitomize the worst of The Baby Boom's yuppie, “me generation,” spoiled brat attitudes that have now lead to January 6th, Anti-Vax, Q-anon, and equating the Holocaust with wearing a face mask.”
I agree with Mark that our generation’s self-centeredness and inability to save money for the future or look to the effects of our excesses on the future, is our worst legacy. Whether it’s global climate change, politics, bloated federal deficits, or myriad other problems, we haven’t left the world better for coming generations.
BOOK BANNING FROM ALL SIDES
From Toby Waldorf:
Glenn, I agree with you on the insanity of banning Maus in Tennessee. I do want to point out that the Left is into banning as well. You’re probably familiar with the Seattle school district that banned To Kill a Mockingbird.
The teachers’ objections to the book included criticism that Black characters are not fully realized and that the book romanticizes the idea of a “white savior.” As Toby points out, “The teachers also cited concerns that characters in the book frequently use the N-word while no character explains that the slur is derogatory, and that the word and the portrayal of Black characters cause harm to students of color.” It would seem that children already understand the offensiveness of this word and need not be reminded each and every time it is used.
What are people so afraid of? People of varying ideologies seem hell-bent on limiting what it is that we can read. Either things are too sensitive for children (children, I might add, who live with access to endless amounts of inappropriate content on the Internet), too critical of our society, utilizing words in prior times, or written by people with flaws in their backgrounds. School boards that should be focused on the necessity of creating a literate, math-proficient, critical thinking, employable generation of scholars and citizens are afraid of what brilliant minds throughout history have to teach us about history, society, difficult challenges, and who we are and what we can be.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
From Ed Casal: “Donald Trump is an excrescence and America could cease to be a liberal democracy if he becomes president again.”
Have a good day,
Glenn
From the archives: