Quote from: Elwar on June 27, 2013, 09:01:12 PM

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Exactly...people in the US donate more. Who has the lowest tax burden?
Taxes and the government providing everything stifles charity and giving. There is an actual human need to give and it has been found that the happiest people are those that give.
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Please don't confuse charity with giving. When you give your daughter a birthday present, you're not being charitable. You may write it off as a charitable deduction, knowing your views on taxation, though i doubt that trick will get anything more than a snide giggle from the tax man. When you throw a coin at a wino -- that is charity.

Charity is an indicator of a broken society -- if not for the downtrodden, there would be no need for it. It perpetuates a culture of dependence, power and social disparity, and perpetuates status quo (Only saints give away *all* that they have, making beggars rich & themselves poor. The rest of us make sure to keep enough to not fall to the level of our charity cases.)

In a society where wealth is evenly distributed, even the thought of charity is laughable. Who, exactly, should be charitable, and towards whom? If you're talking about giving presents & helping a friend rig a sailboat -- don't worry, you'll always be able to do that -- that ain't charity.