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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News The charitable rich? Pleez
Posted By John Grooms on Wed, May 20, 2009 at 1:59 PM
Here's the myth we've all heard: in hard times, the rich step up to the plate and fork over what's needed to help the less fortunate. Here's the reality: low-income people give twice as big a share of their income to charity than the wealthy. McClatchy newspapers report a revealing new survey of charitable giving that shows that the wealthiest fifth of Americans, although they donate more total dollars to charities, give less than half the percentage of income that's donated by the poorest fifth of Americans. For those of us who pay attention, and don't live in the shiny, rah-rah mythological view of American life, which we've referred to in the past as "Sunday School Land," the results of the study come as no surprise whatsoever. And, to quote singer Jolie Holland, "That's nothin' but a goddamn shame is what it is." For a fuller look at other possible contributions by the rich, check out a column from December '08:
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