Believe it! The welfare state lulls people into a sense that big government will take care of everything. It poisons the soul and relinquishes individuals from a sense of responsibility for taking care of others. Period.

From GlobalIssues.org
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/USAid.asp

While Adelman admits that "there are no complete figures for international private giving" she still says that Americans are "clearly the most generous on earth in public-but especially in private-giving".

From taemag.com
http://www.taemag.com/issues/articleID.18404/article_detail.asp

Americans donate like no other people, the researchers note, whether you look at total donations, per capita giving, size of gifts, or types of giving. "The European country with the greatest tradition of giving, Britain, gave approximately $14 billion in 2003. Even after adjusting for population differences, British giving constitutes less than one third of American philanthropy. And Britain's levels are not matched in the European Union. France follows with just over $4 billion, and then Germany with approximately $3.5 billion."


I will have a Belikin -- put it on klcman's tab.