In a free democracy you have an absolute moral obligation to help the less fortunate. The reality is as a percentage of our total net worth and the pure real values donated Americans are easily the most giving people on the planet. It is a proven fact however that as income taxes rise the donation levels decrease. This could be for two reasons: (i) the citizenry believes they are giving through the blind procedures on government and the lower classes are some how a third party's problem (ii) because the tax rates are higher people don't have enough money to spend on donations to charities. I actually believe it is the former. NYC residents are the cheapest when it comes to donating to private charities and helping the less fortunate. This in my opinion is because they feel that responsibility falls to government and since they feel they do the due dilligence through exorbanent taxes they've done their share. I personally feel that is bogus and high tax rates are simply self serving ways to make one self feel good without giving a damn about the people in need.
