In an effort to maintain the factual, informative nature of this forum, I will try to avoid the messiness of the political world as often as possible. However, I did read an article the other day that grabbed my attention, and I am compelled to share its substance.

The Charity Case, by Zak Moore (Dartmouth ‘09)

Zak Moore ‘09 wrote the article cited above for The Dartmouth (Dartmouth College’s daily newspaper). It was published on January 23rd. In the piece, Moore responds to the common accusation that “‘liberals are charitable and conservatives selfish.’” While I will not delve into any deep discussion of my own political persuasions (indeed, they are underdeveloped), I do find Moore’s assessment of the actual state of affairs to be spot on.

The foundation of his argument is that, in fact, young ‘conservatives,’ and especially young religious conservatives, are significantly more likely to participate in charitable activites (time, monetary donations) than their self-defined ‘liberal’ counterparts. More surprisingly, conservative philanthropy surpasses liberal philanthropy for both religious and secular organizations. He makes the subtle observation that charity, if institutionalized in the form of tax hikes and a welfare state, is not charity at all. Charity must always be a voluntary act, and Moore states that charitable organizations actually do a far better job than government bureaucracy at stretching the value of a donated dollar.

As I don’t want to merely repeat his argument, I’ll stop here, and let you read the article for yourself.

Comments welcome.