2008 Woodie Awards
On The Goodness of Humanity
People look for what they want to find, and there are plenty of good people in the world.
Tom Trasente
Issue date: 4/14/06 Section: Opinions
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It is a common belief that people; men, women, and all of humanity are bad. I assert, which I hope to prove though anecdotal stories and substantive analysis, that this theory is incorrect and that humanity is filled with goodness.
There are a whole range of issues which I will show to prove the goodness, open-mindedness, intelligence, capabilities, and quality of humanity.
According to a 2005 study by the Department of Labor, more than 65 million Americans volunteered at least once during that year. Married people, those with children under 18, and employed people all had higher rates of volunteering than singles, those of children not of that age, and the unemployed. In other words, those with greater demands and responsibilities had higher, not lower philanthropic activity than their counterparts with less demands upon their time.
What about money; would not most people make Gordon Gekko proud? According to the Wall Street Journal, the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University calculated that Americans gave $3.12 billion in a mere 3 and a half months in response to hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Yet, this "aid is only a little more than 1/100th of what Americans donate to charities and churches every year." But are these donations selfishly driven to earn tax deductions? Not a chance. "In the 1980s, as tax-rate reductions reduced the value of the charitable tax deduction by about half, the level of charitable giving nearly doubled." A co-worker of mine and his wife donate 15% of their income, $10,000, because the money is not theirs, "it is the Lord's money."
Generosity is not an American monopoly. A director of an Indonesian aid group wrote, "I believe that people in New Orleans - victims of Katrina - must have ... supported victims of Tsunami in Aceh - through many kinds of supports." In response to this letter, an American aid group offered funding to bring this director's Indonesian aid group to the Gulf Coast. "It makes me really happy to help people who suffered the way I did," says one of the Indonesians.
There are a whole range of issues which I will show to prove the goodness, open-mindedness, intelligence, capabilities, and quality of humanity.
According to a 2005 study by the Department of Labor, more than 65 million Americans volunteered at least once during that year. Married people, those with children under 18, and employed people all had higher rates of volunteering than singles, those of children not of that age, and the unemployed. In other words, those with greater demands and responsibilities had higher, not lower philanthropic activity than their counterparts with less demands upon their time.
What about money; would not most people make Gordon Gekko proud? According to the Wall Street Journal, the Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University calculated that Americans gave $3.12 billion in a mere 3 and a half months in response to hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Yet, this "aid is only a little more than 1/100th of what Americans donate to charities and churches every year." But are these donations selfishly driven to earn tax deductions? Not a chance. "In the 1980s, as tax-rate reductions reduced the value of the charitable tax deduction by about half, the level of charitable giving nearly doubled." A co-worker of mine and his wife donate 15% of their income, $10,000, because the money is not theirs, "it is the Lord's money."
Generosity is not an American monopoly. A director of an Indonesian aid group wrote, "I believe that people in New Orleans - victims of Katrina - must have ... supported victims of Tsunami in Aceh - through many kinds of supports." In response to this letter, an American aid group offered funding to bring this director's Indonesian aid group to the Gulf Coast. "It makes me really happy to help people who suffered the way I did," says one of the Indonesians.