Apparently, because of our free market economic structure, Americans give alot more individually than other countries. Maybe I don't need the government letting international politics decide who they give my money to?
U.S. foundations gave more -- in money, time, goods and expertise -- than 11 of the 22 developed-country governments each gave in 2005, and U.S. private voluntary organizations totaled more than the governments of Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and France each.
Index of Global Philanthropy combines all aid from developed countries – government and private – an approach that its authors say is a more accurate measure of a nation’s generosity. According to the index, the United States is the top donor in absolute amounts and the seventh of 22 in terms of GNI percentage.
Your post is like a giant turd in Big's punch bowl.
This argument is pointless. America is also the biggest benefactor from the World's brightest minds and hardest working bodies due to immigration, globalization and work permits.
As far as I am concerned Russia is the biggest exporter of top notch wrestlers and coaches to other countries around the world.
This argument is pointless. America is also the biggest benefactor from the World's brightest minds and hardest working bodies due to immigration, globalization and work permits.
Apparently, because of our free market economic structure, Americans give alot more individually than other countries. Maybe I don't need the government letting international politics decide who they give my money to?
U.S. foundations gave more -- in money, time, goods and expertise -- than 11 of the 22 developed-country governments each gave in 2005, and U.S. private voluntary organizations totaled more than the governments of Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and France each.
Index of Global Philanthropy combines all aid from developed countries – government and private – an approach that its authors say is a more accurate measure of a nation’s generosity. According to the index, the United States is the top donor in absolute amounts and the seventh of 22 in terms of GNI percentage.
Guess what? As a whole, America is the biggest donor. But Americans do not give more individually than other nations. The point is that America leads other countries partly because of its large population. So in fact, the given statistic from the original post is very misleading. Here is the executive summary report on the Index of Global Philanthropy: http://www.hudson.org/files/publicat...iveSummary.pdf
Chart 2 has the list of donation amounts by country. The US has given about twice as much as Japan, but USA has more than 2.3 times the number of people. On a per capita basis, Japan has given slightly more (this excludes private giving which is not documented on a per country basis for the report -- stats for that are given for the US only). Then comes UK, who donated less than 1/3rd as USA, but has less than 1/6th of the population. Again, on a per capita basis, UK donated more. Then comes Germany, who donated more than 1/3rd the USA, yet they have a population which is less than 1/3rd of the usa, so again, on a per cipta basis, the German government is more generous.
The report also says:
Chart 1 on the following page shows that, as a percentage of gross national income, the U.S. ranks toward the bottom of donor nations—20th of 22.
I'm not trying to criticize the USA's philanthropy, I'm just setting the facts straight. The data from the original post is deceptive.
Guess what? As a whole, America is the biggest donor. But Americans do not give more individually than other nations. The point is that America leads other countries partly because of its large population. So in fact, the given statistic from the original post is very misleading. Here is the executive summary report on the Index of Global Philanthropy: http://www.hudson.org/files/publicat...iveSummary.pdf
Chart 2 has the list of donation amounts by country. The US has given about twice as much as Japan, but USA has more than 2.3 times the number of people. On a per capita basis, Japan has given slightly more (this excludes private giving which is not documented on a per country basis for the report -- stats for that are given for the US only). Then comes UK, who donated less than 1/3rd as USA, but has less than 1/6th of the population. Again, on a per capita basis, UK donated more. Then comes Germany, who donated more than 1/3rd the USA, yet they have a population which is less than 1/3rd of the usa, so again, on a per cipta basis, the German government is more generous.
The report also says:
Chart 1 on the following page shows that, as a percentage of gross national income, the U.S. ranks toward the bottom of donor nations—20th of 22.
I'm not trying to criticize the USA's philanthropy, I'm just setting the facts straight. The data from the original post is deceptive.
I'm happy to see that someone else on this board is looking back at th research and not just giving opinion. Anyhow, I think you have overlooked something. Chart 4 shows of the Hudson report shows total assistance in the forms of net ODA, private assistance, and remittances as a percentage of GNI, or gross national income. Basing the figure on percentage of GNI puts everyone on the same plane, regardless of population. It is a simple 0-100 (or 0-1 in this case) scale, which makes up for population sifferences. This standardized scale shows that the US has by far the largest amoutn of private giving of ANY country in the survey. It also has the largest amount of remittances and the smallest government involvement. This shows us that when government is small and less restrictive, private giving increases.
Per capita is certainly one method of looking at private giving, but I don't think it is as accurate as the standardized GNI. Standardized GNI puts everyone on the same scale. So if you only have $100, a 1% donation is $1. If you have $1,000,000, then your 1% donation is $10,000. The per capita method assumes that every individual has an equal amount that he is able to donate. But, that is not realistic. If it were, that may have been included in the report.
The report also says:
Chart 1 on the following page shows that, as a percentage of gross national income, the U.S. ranks toward the bottom of donor nations—20th of 22.
When you quote out of context, some of the meaning may be lost. Here is the context of that line:
The Index challenges the outdated and incomplete measure used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which compares developed countries solely on the basis of their government foreign aid. Chart 1 on the following page shows that, as a percentage of gross national income, the U.S. ranks toward the bottom of donor nations—20th of 22.
Remember that this thread is about individual private aid, not government aid. Chart 1 is only about government aid and disregards private giving, which the US does more than anyone else in the world. Our government allows you to give your money to whomever you want and support whatever charities you want, unlike other goverments, which keep your money in the form of taxes and distribute it how they see fit regardless of your values.
We must be carefult not to take things out of context and we must look at statistical standardization for accurate representation, not just throwing different measures around to make the US look bad.
I think the bottom line here is that the US isnt' as bad as some people want to make it out to be. As individuals, we are more generous with our money than anyone else in the world -- the data proves it.
First, charity and remittances are not so great to begin with. They create dependence just like welfare and medicaid,
Second, of course remittances will be high since many people in America are immigrants that send money back to their native countries to their families and such.
Are you saying that we shouldn't give money to people at all? If so, I guess that is you prerogative. What's so great about this country and is evident in that data presented by the Hudson report is that our free market economy allows people to make this decision on their own. We don't require you to give money to charities if you don't want to. We also don't tell people how to give their money.
US is largest donor of foreign aid 
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