November 23, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservativism
by Arthur C. Brooks
“When it comes to charity, America is two nations — one charitable, and the other selfish,” writes Arthur C. Brooks, a professor of public administration at Syracuse University. “America the Selfish threatens our prosperity as a nation through the policies it supports and the culture it builds.”
Mr. Brooks reviews data on charitable giving to determine what characterizes “givers” versus “nongivers,” how government policy influences philanthropy, and how charity affects American culture. He argues that conservatives give much more to charity than liberals, who are often considered more compassionate.
“The worldview and lifestyle of charitable people is usually just more in sync with the right than it is with the left,” he writes.
In a chapter titled “Income, Welfare, and Charity,” Mr. Brooks discusses the negative effects of a federal welfare system on philanthropy, especially among the recipients and advocates of government assistance, who are on average more politically liberal. “It is not poverty per se that makes people uncharitable,” he writes, “but rather the government’s conventional policies for eradicating it.”
Mr. Brooks also looks at religion, family structure, wealth, and international aid to determine who gives and how those charitable-giving patterns affect American society.
Publisher: Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016; (212) 340-8100; fax (212) 340-8115; http://www.basicbooks.com/; 256 pages; $25; ISBN 0-465-00821-6.
