Why aren’t these amerikanische Verhältnisse headline news in German media?
Excerpt:
“It tells you something about American culture
that is unlike any other country,” said Claire Gaudiani, a professor at
NYU’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and author of The Greater Good: How Philanthropy Drives the American Economy and Can Save Capitalism.
Gaudiani said the willingness of Americans to give cuts across income
levels, and their investments go to developing ideas, inventions and
people to the benefit of the overall economy.Gaudiani said Americans give twice as much as
the next most charitable country, according to a November 2006
comparison done by the Charities Aid Foundation. In philanthropic
giving as a percentage of gross domestic product, the U.S. ranked first
at 1.7%. No. 2 Britain gave 0.73%, while France, with a 0.14% rate,
trailed such countries as South Africa, Singapore, Turkey and Germany.”
Americans more generous than Europeans? How could this be in a land of cold, heartless Social Darwinism and predatory, dog-eat-dog capitalism? (Posted by Ray D.)
UPDATE: One of our readers points out that – remarkably – SPIEGEL ONLINE is covering the generosity of Americans – albeit in the “Economy” section (far from the top of the homepage where all the negative headlines about the US typically appear.) Just don’t expect to see this on a cover anytime soon. Still, the fact that they have chosen to cover it at all is a small sign of hope…
