Who Really Cares: America's Charity Divide; Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters

Arthur C. Brooks discusses the many virtues of charity: national no less than individual, economic no less than deeply personal.

In a methodologically rigorous and richly received book, Professor Brooks writes and allows important things about American generosity like this:

“When I started doing research on charity, I expected to find that political liberals — who, I believed, genuinely cared more about others than conservatives did — would turn out to be the most privately charitable people. So when my early findings led to the opposite conclusion, I assumed I had made some sort of technical error. I re-ran analyses. I got new data. Nothing worked. In the end, I had no option but to change my views.

“I confess the prejudices of my past here to emphasize that the findings in this book — many of which may appear conservative and support a religious, hardworking, family-oriented lifestyle — are faithful to the best available evidence and contrary to my political and cultural roots.”

The intellectually honest and very interesting Dr. Brooks is professor of public administration at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.