Mr. Obama encouraged us to all be part of making America better. I can get behind that because I am a compassionate conservative, and that’s what we do. Liberal-minded Arthur Brooks, in his 2006 book Who Really Cares, documents that conservatives, from sea to shining sea, give more than liberals in volunteer time and charitable contributions. Here is a review of the book.
Mr. Brooks begins by “discussing and dismissing the implicit notion that you are ‘more or less compassionate simply because [you] support taxing wealthy people’ or are ‘dissatisfied with the adequacy of government social programs’.”
He then draws his conclusion from 10 data sets, making four main points:
1 - The four forces in American life primarily responsible for making people charitable are “religion, skepticism about the government in economic life, strong families, and personal entrepreneurism”.
2 - Conservative principles are most congenial to the four forces of charity.
3 - Liberals, who often claim to care more about others than conservatives do, are personally less charitable.
4 - Policies that displace (crowd out) personal charity are harmful to the nation because charity is good for the giver.
The next time someone wants to demonize or criticize a conservative, remember these facts about compassionate conservatism and helping others.
So yes Mr. President, I will support you by continuing to offer my time and resources to help others.