Do Liberals think with their Heart?

[Reverend Rick]

Most of my very best friends are Liberals mostly because we have the ability to agree to disagree on most things.

While discussing many issues, I have found them to be compassionate and caring about our fellow man kind. Actually, I agree in principle with many of their concepts but where we part company is how we actually accomplish these noble ideals.

Many of my answers come from the same sources which is the rich need to pony up the resources. I want folks to give freely in the private sector where they like to tax the rich while side stepping any responsibility for themselves.

Why is it most Liberals do not contribute as much to charities as their counterparts do? When I say as much, I mean a percentage of their income.

While I believe to much is given much is expected, I also believe we all need to contribute a portion of our bounty to the less fortunate.

Why is it Liberals support the wasteful government taking on these challenges and turn a blind eye to fraud and abuse?

It is one thing to want everyone to have something, it is another thing to figure out how we are going to pay for it.

 

[Me Myself]

Do liberals think?

(sorry, I don´t even sure what a liberal is, but the temptation was too great )

 

[Reverend Rick]

Do liberals think?

Yes, they think the other guy should pay for everything.

They are generous to a fault with other folk's money.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think liberals over-generalize too much.

They're very much like conservatives that way.

 

[waitasec]

Why is it most Liberals do not contribute as much to charities as their counterparts do? When I say as much, I mean a percentage of their income.

because they occupy the 95% who can't?
:sarcastic

can you provide evidence of this...?

 

[waitasec]

personally
i would prefer to think with my heart than with my wallet.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

I am not sure I would recognise an American Liberal as being distinguishable from a British Conservative. Perhaps the American would be a bit further to the right.....and talk funny....

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Yes liberals think with their hearts, but conservatives don't have a heart which is why they don't think with it. For objective review and analysis of any situation it requires a moderate, like me.

 

[Draka]

Yes, they think the other guy should pay for everything.

They are generous to a fault with other folk's money.

Not so and not fair Rick. I would describe myself as a Liberal and I make a point to give what I can when I can. What we may not be able to afford to give monetarily, we give through material goods donations. Food drives, clothing, even toys and such for the local women and children's shelter. When I can spare money here and there I give to local charities and I actually rather enjoy going to give blood as well. Perhaps the reason for the perceived discrepancy between what Liberals give and what Conservatives give is that Liberals are more likely to give of themselves and don't take receipts to track their good works. In fact...I've given quite a bit and I've never taken a receipt for anything or claimed it on my taxes ever. Maybe we just give in different ways. Ever think of that?

It's not that Liberals want someone else to pay for them, we work hard and make do on our own just like Conservatives. However, Liberal and Conservative goes much further than just economics. It's also about society. If my wanting everyone to be equal and have equal rights and privileges means I think with my heart, then I guess I can be proud to have a good heart.

 

[T-Dawg]

Most of my very best friends are Liberals mostly because we have the ability to agree to disagree on most things.

While discussing many issues, I have found them to be compassionate and caring about our fellow man kind. Actually, I agree in principle with many of their concepts but where we part company is how we actually accomplish these noble ideals.

Many of my answers come from the same sources which is the rich need to pony up the resources. I want folks to give freely in the private sector where they like to tax the rich while side stepping any responsibility for themselves.

Why is it most Liberals do not contribute as much to charities as their counterparts do? When I say as much, I mean a percentage of their income.

While I believe to much is given much is expected, I also believe we all need to contribute a portion of our bounty to the less fortunate.

Why is it Liberals support the wasteful government taking on these challenges and turn a blind eye to fraud and abuse?

It is one thing to want everyone to have something, it is another thing to figure out how we are going to pay for it.

Well, I'm a bit too totalitarian to be a "liberal" (except to conservatives who can't distinguish liberals from people like me), but so far, all of my employment has been volunteer work, and for a while I've been trying to figure out who to donate money to (I was originally going to tithe my income to the US Federal Government, but then they passed this year's NDAA).


The statistics behind liberals donating less to private charities than conservatives are skewed, from what I've heard (on the thread dedicated to this very subject, no less), because "donations" include tithing to churches.

Whether or not you agree with me that churches are institutions of Evil, churches are not synonymous with charities, and you have to factor in the fact that these people do NOT care about any human beings except as potential converts. I've actually interacted with a few people from Samaritan's Purse, a Christian volunteer organization, and they're pretty explicit about the fact that spreading religious propaganda is the main goal of their program, and helping others is just a means to do that. It's just sad that the government is so ineffective at doing it's job (probably because of low taxes) that institutions like these come in and use disaster relief as leverage to convince people to worship their god.

 

[Reptillian]

Most of my very best friends are Liberals mostly because we have the ability to agree to disagree on most things.

While discussing many issues, I have found them to be compassionate and caring about our fellow man kind. Actually, I agree in principle with many of their concepts but where we part company is how we actually accomplish these noble ideals.

Many of my answers come from the same sources which is the rich need to pony up the resources. I want folks to give freely in the private sector where they like to tax the rich while side stepping any responsibility for themselves.

Why is it most Liberals do not contribute as much to charities as their counterparts do? When I say as much, I mean a percentage of their income.

While I believe to much is given much is expected, I also believe we all need to contribute a portion of our bounty to the less fortunate.

Why is it Liberals support the wasteful government taking on these challenges and turn a blind eye to fraud and abuse?

It is one thing to want everyone to have something, it is another thing to figure out how we are going to pay for it.

Its a difference in philosophy. Conservatives tend to be the "Nothing is broken, no need to fix it" types. Liberals tend to be the "Its all broken, so lets mix things up" types. I suppose they don't donate as much money because they feel they're working to change society as a whole. You can either give a man a fish (conservatives donating money) or teach a man to fish (liberals changing the system). Personally, I'm an independent moderate in that I think some things should be changed and others should remain the same. You can give a man a fish for today and teach him to fish at the same time. I don't think anyone supports a wasteful government, I think they just disagree on what constitutes wastefulness.

 

[Valjean]

Most of my very best friends are Liberals mostly because we have the ability to agree to disagree on most things.

While discussing many issues, I have found them to be compassionate and caring about our fellow man kind. Actually, I agree in principle with many of their concepts but where we part company is how we actually accomplish these noble ideals.

Many of my answers come from the same sources which is the rich need to pony up the resources. I want folks to give freely in the private sector where they like to tax the rich while side stepping any responsibility for themselves.

Why is it most Liberals do not contribute as much to charities as their counterparts do? When I say as much, I mean a percentage of their income.

While I believe to much is given much is expected, I also believe we all need to contribute a portion of our bounty to the less fortunate.

Why is it Liberals support the wasteful government taking on these challenges and turn a blind eye to fraud and abuse?

It is one thing to want everyone to have something, it is another thing to figure out how we are going to pay for it.

We may be motivated by our hearts, but we think with our left brains.
We're incensed by fraud and abuse, and support government because it can provide services much more cheaply and openly than private enterprise can. Government is much more transparent than private enterprise.

 

[Reverend Rick]

We're incensed by fraud and abuse, and support government because it can provide services much more cheaply and openly than private enterprise can.

Can you support this with documentation? If this is true, why does the government outsource so many things?

My personal opinion is, the bigger a company is or the government is, more things slip through the cracks. Big companies have rigid policies that take mounds of paperwork to make necessary changes. There is less checks and balances and the end result is less performance for more expense.

People who work for the government go with the flow and rarely jump on problem issues because they are met with opposition instead of cooperation.

Small companies keep their eye on the bottom line more and can make changes fast to improve productivity and service.

I'm sorry Seyorni, I have to cry B.S. You need to provide some kind of source that the government is more productive the the private sector.

From what I have seen, the government is over paid, under staffed, and grossly unmotivated.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

As a long-time DC area resident who has worked as a government contractor in tandem with various agencies and departments, I can tell you that it nearly always costs the government 10 times as much to do 1/10 the work as it does for the private sector. Bureaucracy is the diametric opposite of efficiency.

 

[Father Heathen]

I am not sure I would recognise an American Liberal as being distinguishable from a British Conservative. Perhaps the American would be a bit further to the right.....and talk funny....

Elaborate.

 

[Songbird]

Many of my answers come from the same sources which is the rich need to pony up the resources. I want folks to give freely in the private sector where they like to tax the rich while side stepping any responsibility for themselves.

Why is it most Liberals do not contribute as much to charities as their counterparts do? When I say as much, I mean a percentage of their income.

While I believe to much is given much is expected, I also believe we all need to contribute a portion of our bounty to the less fortunate.

Why is it Liberals support the wasteful government taking on these challenges and turn a blind eye to fraud and abuse?

It is one thing to want everyone to have something, it is another thing to figure out how we are going to pay for it.

I think this is a common stereotype or caricature of liberals and conservatives that we start believing because we hear it so often. Or maybe this stereotype is true of extreme liberals and conservatives, but the rest of us have mixed views on most things.

From what I've read the single biggest factor in charitable giving is religious connection - which is one of the things I like most about religion. Like someone else mentioned, I've also read that the numbers are hard to compare, because more conservatives than liberals give to churches in the form of a commanded (or strongly encouraged) tithe. Some people think of tithe as a form of dues. If you go to church, you pay dues to keep the church running.

I don't know what the comparison is if church donations aren't considered. One article I read said that removing church donations puts liberals ahead, another article still placed conservatives ahead.

 

[Reverend Rick]

Songbird, I don't want to make it a contest, but some folks don't give anything at all.

I realise money is tight, but any one of us could skip lunch and send the money to Haiti once a month.

The poorest among us look rich to them.

My charity of choice is the eliminate project to stamp out neonatal-tetanus where a $!.60 will save a mother and child. Thats a nice bang for the buck.

My other charities are the local food bank and battered women's shelter. This is on and beyond the 10% I give to the church.

I also give of my time to local children's needs like the back pack program and making teddy bears and dolls for children at the hospital and we give them to the police to hand out as well.

 

[Draka]

I would still like to know how it is being compared. It's quite easy for richer people to say "look how much I gave" when they can give in higher amounts and they keep records of it in order to claim on their taxes. More middle-class people don't even tend to keep those types of records as we don't always contribute monetarily and even if we do, a lot of us don't bother with keeping records for tax purposes. So it may look like we give less if the basis is tax claimed charitable donations, but that doesn't really mean anything. I have never tried to write off my charitable actions/donations. It's charity, I'm not looking for any reward for being charitable. It doesn't even occur to me to track the monetary amount of food and clothing and toys and coats and so on that I've given to shelters and the Salvation Army and so on. I simply hear that someone has lost their home and the SA is accepting donations of household goods and such and I pack up what I can spare and go give it. I've given away a bed before and never tracked that anywhere. How many more people like me do you think there are? That just give without keeping track of how much? So the assertion that Liberals are somehow less generous than Conservatives based upon taxable charitable donations I find more than just a bit off.

 

[Father Heathen]

What sort of charities in particular are conservatives "giving more" to? I suspect the answer will be telling.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

Songbird, I don't want to make it a contest, but some folks don't give anything at all.

I realise money is tight, but any one of us could skip lunch and send the money to Haiti once a month.

Your charity efforts are great but when you talk about conservative charity giving, I wonder how much of it falls under United Way type bullying? I give to my church and other local organizations when I can and avoid the super charities like United Way. But they are built into corporate America. Every Friday I have the option to pay 5 bucks just to be allowed the privledge of wearing jeans. I refuse. If I have an extra 5 bucks it will go to an organization that doesn't spend 60 cents on the dollar for overhead and then try to hide all their advertising cost to make themselves look better.