You’re right, the rich are different
While it’s laudable that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have been able to convince 40 billionaires to donate at least half of their fortunes to worthy causes, don’t expect every wealthy magnate to jump on board.
It’s not in their nature, maintains Paul Piff, a psychology researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. According to his research, poor people are actually more charitable than the rich.
Piff and his team had participants fill out an online questionnaire asking them to outline their socio-economic status. He then brought them into the lab, explaining that they were each going to receive 10 credits, which would be worth cash at the end of the experiment.
The question: How many of those credits are you willing to give, if any, to a partner that you'll never meet and who'll never meet you.
Piff found that people who saw themselves as relative high in terms of socio-economic status were less inclined to give points away than those who were of more modest means.
The relatively lower-class individuals were inclined to give away 44% more of their credits, even when the effects of age, sex, ethnicity and religiousness had been accounted for, he explains.
And when quizzed as to what might be a reasonable amount to donate, lower-class participants, on average, thought that 5.6% of a person's income should go to charity whereas the more affluent put that figure at just 2.1%.
Piff suggests that the increased compassion which seems to exist among the poor increases generosity and helpfulness, largely because they rely less on economic resources and more on other people in their communities.
Others might suggest that those who have spent some time near the bottom know what it’s like and have empathy for others.
What do you think? Although the absolute dollar amounts will vary, are poorer people actually more generous than those with money?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Steve | Aug 12, 2021 10:05:44 AM
The rich are rich because they don't like to share their money (hence they become richer). The most apparent example of this was the recent economic hiccup we experienced where we saw paid for politicians guarantee socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor (God Bless America). Show me a rich person who donates to charity WITHOUT getting a Tax Receipt and I will show you someone who's camel can pass through the eye of a needle with ease. (a little Bible humour for our friends to the south)
Posted by: walter | Aug 12, 2021 12:54:42 PM
steve you have your opion but, I know you have it wrong..
Posted by: Lisa | Aug 12, 2021 12:57:17 PM
"Steve"...the rich are rich because they worked very hard to get there. Donald Trump is an excellent example. Read up on him. (No, I'm NOT going to explain the history of Donald Trump right now.) However, as much as people like to hate him, he's brilliant, wise, and he works hard. That is how he got to where he is today.
That all being said, the second problem is, our north american "system" categorizes jobs. For example, if you are a doctor (on either side of the border) you make ALOT of money. However, I"m sure if you are a cashier at the local deli, you don't make NEAR as much.
So, the rich in this country got rich because they were wise enough to pick careers (jobs) that made a good salary/wage, when they were picking their careers in high school. (generally speaking) The rest of us weren't that smart in our 20's. All that, I'm afraid to say is OUR fault "Steve." So sad.
Now...to answer the question...I DON'T believe poor people are more generous with money...maybe with time.
Posted by: Zionist media control | Aug 12, 2021 1:59:44 PM
Sure a lot of "the rich" work hard, but a lot of them are there because they are better at working the system. And Donald Trump is a PERFECT example. Like many BILLIONAIRES, he's claimed bankruptcy several times, each time keeping millions and screwing over the hard working creditors he basically STOLE from.
Steve has it right! The rich "give" money to politicians so they can help them get and keep more money. That's exactly what Reagan and Bush Jr. cut taxes much more for the very rich and ignored the poor. Thankfully, between the economic policy of Reagan and Bush Jr. as well as the military spending of EVERY President, the US economy has been run into the ground and they should be completely financially bankrupt (just as they are morally) withing 30 years. And the world will be a cleaner and safer place for it.
Stop terrorism : BOYCOTT israel and USA
Posted by: Duster | Aug 12, 2021 2:18:23 PM
I heard that Paul McCartney used to sneak cans of beer into the pub. If that's not cheap, I don't know what is!
Posted by: Ann | Aug 12, 2021 2:22:06 PM
@Lisa - You know that Donald Trump was bankrolled by his billionaire father, right? Trump always said that he would be richer than his father one day. We're still waiting for that to happen.
Posted by: Marg | Aug 12, 2021 3:25:50 PM
I think there is an obvious flaw that needs to be pointed out in this article. They say that the lower-class believes 5.6% of personal income should go to charity whereas those who are richer believe it should be 2.1%. That is not an accurate assessment of how much people are willing to give up. If someone makes $40,000 a year and they donate 5.6% of that to charity, that is $2240. If someone makes $2 million a year, 2.1% of that is $42,000. That is more than what most relatively lower-class individuals make and almost 19 times what the person making $40,000 would donate.
Posted by: Jennifer - Burlington, ON | Aug 12, 2021 3:30:22 PM
Statistics have demonstrated for years that - on average - the working poor give the highest percentage of their income to others. That does not mean, however, that all rich people are greedy cutthroat bastards who don't care about others. Yes, some are (and some poor people are too, BTW!) Many of the richest people, especially those like Jack Canfield and others who make their money 'inspiring' others, emphasize over and over the importance of tithing one's income. Canfield and Proctor go so far as to say that if you don't tithe, you stop the flow of wealth towards you (Wallace Wattles, the guy who inspired Dale Carnegie and all the other "think and grow rich" types back at the turn of the 20th century) said exactly the same thing.
I think the most encouraging thing is that there seems to be a snowballing, worldwide transformation in the way wealthy people view their money, such that everyone from billionnaire industrialists to movie stars are increasingly focussed on doing good things with their wealth rather than just amassing it. Many 'stars' still buy mansions and go on extravagent cruises, but in between that they found orphanages or associations to rid the world of land mines. That is something the world has never seen before, at least on this scale. The phenomenon is a much bigger revolution than most people realize.
Posted by: Shar | Aug 12, 2021 3:41:49 PM
I have canvassed door to door for many years for charity work and have always found that it is the lower to middle income earners who donate the most. The poor give very little as do the rich - at least according to the parts of town they live in. If you look at it more globally and the percentage of income people give - the poorest countries and people in the world give the highest when needed. They actually go without themselves to help others. I seldom see evidence of that in North America.
Posted by: Maureen | Aug 12, 2021 3:43:16 PM
I agree with most of this article and for many reasons. Yes it is true that the wealthy chose jobs or business that would give them wealth , yet it is also true that many had the luxury to get into good colleges (US) and Universities as well, thus not only getting a higher education but also getting into a network of other ambitious people wanting to climb the ladder of success .
It is also true for a large majority of wealthy people that the more they have , the less they want to part with it. I see this for myself day in and day out, in the high end retail trade and also working for a property management company where the landlords do not have a high regard for their tenants. Not that they look at this personally, its just business to them. Saving money becomes a bit of a game
The more you game, the more you want to win or not lose
Even people who have inherited their wealth or have been in the right place at the right time feel entitled
Posted by: Brett | Aug 12, 2021 3:54:22 PM
I believe what matters most is how rich people ended up that way. The ones who didn't start out with a silver spoon in their mouth are much different, usually much more charitable, like the aforementioned Gates and Buffet. These people worked hard to get where they are, but nonetheless remember it wasn't always that way.
Those who were born into it or easily walked into it tend to think of themselves as "better" and feel those who need charity are beneath them and even see them as a "disease" that they might catch were they to stoop down and interact with them through charity.
Posted by: kenu | Aug 12, 2021 5:13:27 PM
i have personally experienced privation, partly self-inflicted, partly circumstantial, &, as we all know, we can confidently say that poverty stinks. It sucks big time. It is true that many poor folks give out of their lack rather than any abundance, like the poor widow with her two mites. Yet chronic poverty still often leads to a plethora of miserable problems--malnutrition, exposure, infection, tooth loss, alienation, neglect, abuse, discrimination, violent crime, etc. Begrudging, slandering or disrespecting the wealthy, self-made or not, will not help us to rise out of our own ashes. It is scandalous to assume that all the rich got that way by scamming everyone else. My uncle was raised in abject poverty by a single mother of 7 during the Great Depression. He did not rook any other soul to become a multimillionaire by age 40. He had a definite goal and a plan how to attain it. And of course he worked his head off to get there. He designed his own line of affordable, stylish sportswear and created up to 1000 jobs to produce it. Before he died he said to me, "If you want a successful businessman to open up to you with advice, then invite him out to a fine meal--and you pick up the tab."
Posted by: kenu | Aug 12, 2021 5:16:28 PM
Addendum: my uncle gave vast sums of money to every registered charity he believed in. First & foremost he helped the poor in his own ethnic community. He also built a hospital, a fine art museum and organisations to research preventions and cures for the ailments that afflicted him & his loved ones.
Posted by: Zionist media control | Aug 12, 2021 6:36:27 PM
When jews ONLY give to each other (their own community not in this country but in APARTHEID israel), that's not generosity, it's racism.
Posted by: Paul | Aug 12, 2021 6:59:32 PM
There's a reason a lot of rich people are rich, they know how to manage their money. Perhaps poor people would be so poor if they didn't give all their money away.
Posted by: Canadian Too | Aug 12, 2021 9:50:04 PM
It's cute how some totally miss points made here. Read up on Donald Trump in the early 1990's and you will see 'Rich' charity in action (Trump Sr to Trump Jr) or how 'poor' Gates and Buffet started out (What university did Gates drop out of again?). A Rich westerner is as much self made as a hand picked American Olympic athlete. Rich people's assets are protected with the blood of the poor as GWB's fellow draftee's can attest. To calculate the charity of the poor, pick one of your children to die in Iraq & I am sure that the 'rich' of Exxon will contribute an 'equal' amount to 'charity'. People are 'rich' because they value money more than the sanctity of others lives. Money is amoral, people shouldn't be.
Posted by: jet | Aug 13, 2021 12:37:48 AM
The poor often do not take responsibility & leach of the rich i.e., smoke cigarettes while they wait in the food line. They do not save thier money but spend it as fast as they can. If they win a few million most blow it. They are the majority & the trend setters the goverment follows by not valuing money & spending it foolishly. Sure a lot of middle class have the toys but thier flat broke.
Posted by: Jay | Aug 13, 2021 3:44:05 PM
Everyone is arguing dollar amounts and %'s .
Let this story clarify the differences between the rich and the poor. and the charitably of both groups
This is a time where a lot of people have been hurt economically both the rich and poor, a lot of people went from haves to have nots in a very short period of time. This is a time where local food banks need extra help to fill the growing needs of the people. A local well known charity went around collecting food for the food bank door to door, during the Christmas season.
The stop off at sub complex in the middle of the poorest neighborhood, this immigrant family who is being supported by two working parents who have been working HARD at minimum wadge jobs with 4 kid answers the door. The two well dress gentleman with the charity explain briefly why they were there. The family motions to wait one second and go back into their "housing unit" and quickly return with boxes, cans and jars of unopened food. The men overwhelmed with the generosity of this family with very little were speechless. The father of the family steps forward and in broken english, choaking back tears of pride explains that when he and his family really needed help, the charity and the food bank were there for his family so they could get on their feet and support them selves. That they wanted to give back, and to help other families like their own. The family also offered up small baggies of fresh holiday baked sweets for the men doing the collecting. Similar acts of kindness happened threw out that community.
The same two men approach a wealthy neighborhood, mansions as big as places. Most did not open their doors to the two men. Finally one women opens the door, middle aged and well taken care of. The men politely greet her and explain what they were asking for. the women roles her eyes and shuts the door rather abruptly. The two men look at each other confused. The door reopens and the women hands the men, a single can of Lima beans saying "No one around here is gonna eat this anyway!" Then shutting the door and locking 3 sets of dead bolts.
One family practically invited these men into their home, and opened their hearts and gave of themselves, even tho they had very little.
The second an inconvenience women hands a single can of something that wasn't even good enough for her family...
That's the difference between the charity of a poor person, and the charity of a person who lived like a queen.
Posted by: Rick S | Aug 13, 2021 3:45:37 PM
I know a few rich people that the almighty buck is the most important thing in their lives.
I also know some that are very fair and do help out people that run into problems in life.
Me being one of them. It's not fair to paint them all with the same brush.
The ones that p*ss me off are the ones that will screw a poor guy out of a few hundred bucks.
Why do they bother? They should be shot with little balls of their own sh*t.
One fellow I knew was on top of the world with money to burn and thought the working class were a bunch of useless people and treated them that way. Ten years later I ran into him, homeless, broke and starving. I bought him a meal and walked away. There is justice in this world sometimes.
Posted by: Voice of Reason | Aug 13, 2021 9:48:25 PM
Rich capitalists only donate to get tax breaks and/or to trick their conscience into believing that they did something good. Poorer people have no knowledge of economics therefore they believe they are doing something good by donating. By donating you are factually helping keep this barbaric capitalist system which is based on wage slavery and requires big gulfs in social class. Donating is a temporary solution for a few... if you want to help the world then help counter western capitalist propaganda and enlighten people (just as I did with this post) en route to the destruction of the barbaric current system of global capitalism.