The charitable American

Are Americans savages? That question has been hinted at on many editorial pages by various writers and readers. It is either posed as a question, or in statements that go something along the lines of, "Americans are so wonderful, but how come they don't give away more money and stop bombing innocent people?" You would have to think that Americans are drooling morons rather than "wonderful" human beings.\nThe critics of America say that we have the strongest economy, yet too much of our money is spent on fighter jets, bombs and aircraft carriers, and not enough on humanitarian aid. \nI agree with these critics. Our country does spend billions on defense, and you can never be too charitable. However, I think there are logical arguments against the idea that Americans are heartless warmongers.\nThe United States spends an incredible amount of money on defense because it has to. Why? We'll use critics from Western Europe as an example.\nWestern European nations have become socialistic democracies. They are able to provide universal health care, welfare safety nets and other programs through higher tax rates. However, the high taxation rates are only part of the way European nations finance socialism: because of guaranteed U. S. military production, they have been able to drastically reduce their defense spending budgets because the Americans will "foot the bill."\nThe United States has protected Europe since the end of World War II. American airbases were established throughout the European continent in order to contain the Soviet Union. Now that that threat has vanished, France, Germany and the rest have been able to reduce their defense budgets even more. As Robert Kagan points out in his newest book, Western European nations spend less than half of what the United States does on defense in terms of Gross Domestic Product percentage. \nThat saves billions and billions of dollars in tax revenue.\nSo, to the critic who says that the Americans are not kindhearted, I am letting you know you can thank the average American taxpayer for funding your socialist welfare programs. The average American taxpayer "donates" substantial income so that you can sleep safely at night and wake up to free health care.\nUnfortunately for us, that is money we could be spending here. Our schools in Indiana could use the money. We could build more homeless shelters. Families could donate to organizations that are actually grateful for their charity. \nWhat's ironic is that the European community that criticizes the United States for being too militaristic then asks us why we don't spend more on making sure "no one gets left behind" -- it seems either making a joke at our expense or being painfully ignorant. Not only do we fund European socialism, we are unable to initiate more socialist programs or tax rebates here because that money is spent on them.\nAside from military spending, the United States is responsible for billions of dollars in charity throughout the world. What critics fail to realize is that much of our charity is donated through private organizations and not through our government. Since Americans are allowed to keep more of their money, they are able to give more while the government is forced to give less. \nProbably the least acknowledged "charity" given by Americans is foreign investment. Plenty of critics gripe that investing doesn't count: "You're not trying to help; you're just trying to make a buck." Well, like it or not, American dollars create stronger economies, which in turn raises the local standard of living. The profits these investors make then allow them to increase their investments in other foreign countries. The cycle keeps repeating and the global economy continues to rise. \nAll in all, Americans are pretty generous if you look at the whole spectrum.