Thursday, September 20, 2007

"Creating a culture of giving"

An article by Andres Oppenheimer discusses just how much the wealthy throughout the world, and especially in Latin America, give back. In Latin America, it seems that charitable gifts from the wealthy in regard to their earnings are relatively small. Oppenheimer mentions that a lack of giving could be a result of fear of gaining attention, less incentive in the tax laws, and protection of people's estates from the government. Wojtek Sokolowski, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins' Center for Civil Society Studies, cites the donation deficit as a result of a culture where giving is not a sign of social status. In my opinion, those who can give should, regardless of the culture or situation, people should not be afraid or not need to be enticed to help those that are less fortunate See the rest of the article here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is an interesting study, and so true, too, at least that's what I noticed in the case of Ecuador. The rich generally don't have "pet charities" or "favorite charities," and I was not aware of any fancy fundraising events where the wealthy would be able to flaunt their ability to give. It seems that a more common way they demonstrate their wealth is through big SUVs and designer clothes, as well as what schools their children attend.