Cheerful Giving in Troubled Times

Happiness of Conservatives vs. Liberals

Study after study [i] shows that, both in good times and bad, conservatives are generally happier than liberals. Researchers have found this is not because conservatives are better off financially, live in better neighborhoods, or have better sex lives (even though they do), but because they take more personal responsibility for their circumstances and emotional well-being. Unlike liberals, they have a more positive outlook on life and they base their decisions on transcendent moral beliefs, not the relative values of society.

Conservatives choose what to make of their lives no matter where they begin. That’s why they consider liberty and freedom more important than equality or other Constitutional rights. It’s not that they don’t believe certain rights are guaranteed to everyone, but they know their inherent rights, what the Declaration of Independence calls our “natural rights”, come from God, not the government. That means, no matter who’s in charge of the government, each of us is ultimately responsible for making the most of our circumstances.

In contrast, progressivism is based on the belief that justice derives from rational thought, not transcendent values. Whatever problem a person faces is always attributable to something wrong in society. Because society as a whole or a specific group within society is responsible for the oppression or victimization one faces, you need government to make things right. That’s true even when your particular circumstances are due to bad decisions you’ve made. How can people ever be happy when they see themselves as victims and are always looking for someone to blame?

Two Different World Views

The divide between conservatives and liberals comes down to two very different world views – you either run your own life or you give it over to someone else to run it for you.  Choosing the former always leads to a better life – one that produces greater happiness no matter what troubles you encounter.

This past week we watched the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris go up in flames, read a controversial report about the 2016 presidential election, and looked away in horror as still another terrorist rampage took the lives of over 200 people in Sri Lanka. These are indeed troubled times.  All three incidents were understandably upsetting to some portion of the public, but in each there was also a glimmer of hope. Donors from around the world quickly pledged a billion dollars to rebuild one of Western Civilization’s greatest monuments.  No matter what one thinks of the Trump presidency or the Russians’ proclivity for causing trouble, it was a relief to know that a two-year investigation produced no evidence of Americans colluding with a foreign state to undermine our electoral system.  No doubt, the bickering about this will continue, but more and more people – me included – would rather see Congress legislate than investigate.  And, although it’s still to early to assess the full extent of the tragedy in Sri Lanka, it was encouraging to see people of all religious backgrounds come together to condemn such senseless acts of violence against Christians on Easter Sunday.

Charitable Giving of Democratic Candidates

Generosity takes a variety of forms. Admittedly, some giving (e.g., Easter baskets for one’s kids or grandkids) doesn’t qualify for a federal tax deduction. However, the other story that caught my attention this week was a report about the charitable giving of those Democratic presidential candidates who voluntarily disclosed their tax returns. [ii] I wrote the first four paragraphs of this blog a while ago but never published them.  Now, I have a reason to do so.  Across the board, the tax returns of the candidates in question revealed how little they typically give to charity each year compared with Americans with comparable levels of income – regardless of political affiliation. From Beto O’Rourke’s piddling 0.3% of income in 2017 to Elizabeth Warren’s 5.5% of her 2017 income, the disconnect between progressives’ rhetoric about their empathy for the poor and their actual pattern of giving is astonishing. I suppose they think it’s enough for them to demand a mandatory living wage and other social justice reforms.  But, for some reason, they don’t seem inclined to give from their own resources to address the injustices they regularly rail against.

One commentator, Allie Beth Stuckey, points out that Republicans tend to be more generous than Democrats and progressives because they are more likely to be religious, and religion is a “major motivating factor in charitable giving.”[iii]  That makes sense but needs some context.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote:

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.[iv]

It may be that people of faith, particularly those who are politically conservative, are in fact happier and, because of that, find it easier to give cheerfully.  On the other hand, as Paul also says, the amount of happiness one reaps is directly proportionate to the amount one sows.

Here’s the take-away from this blog:  if you’re someone who feels you’ve drawn the short straw of happiness in life, regardless of your politics, stop and consider for a moment how willingly and cheerfully you’ve given to those who are truly in need. Until you do, don’t expect others to see you as a credible advocate for compulsory income redistribution. No country on earth exceeds the United States in terms of generosity.  Americans have reason to be suspicious of anyone who doesn’t exemplify that generosity.

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[i] B.R. Schlenker, J.R. Chambers, B.M. Le, “Conservatives Are Happier Than Liberals, But Why? Political Ideology, Personality, and Life Satisfaction, Journal of Research in Personality (2011) athttps://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f499/d9f0b60d3abe3c61124877532023631173b8.pdf ; P. Taylor, Pew Research, “Republicans Still Happy Campers”, at

https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2010/10/Republicans-Happiness.pdf; and C. Dewey, “Are Conservatives Happier?” Washington Post, July 23, 2013 at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/07/25/conservatives-liberals-when-it-comes-to-happiness/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fb58b8e1282f

[ii] https://www.businessinsider.com/tax-returns-show-2020-democratic-candidates-donated-little-to-charity-2019-4

[iii] A.B. Stuckey, “Democratic presidential candidates have a big charitable giving problem”, Fox News, April 21, 2019.

[iv] II Corinthians 9: 6-7 (New International Version).