The Self-Righteous Indignation of the Stingy

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
- KJMatthew 19, v20 - 24

Last week, Jan Egeland, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs stated, "Christmastime should remind many Western countries how rich we have become, and if actually the foreign assistance of many countries now is 0.1 or 0.2% of their gross national income, I think that is stingy, really."

The comment has fueled a flurry of op ed pieces, pundit commentary and activity on blogs and message boards. The overwhelming response being Americans loudly proclaiming "How dare you call us stingy!" and trumpeting that America is the most generous nation in the world.

A NYT article states most Americans believe that 24 percent of the budget goes towards foreign aid. The reality is, less than 1/4 of one percent of the budget is aimed towards foreign aid.

Rather than being upset that the amount given is nowhere near what was percieved, the response I saw across the blogosphere was outright denial of the facts and the odd call to boycot the Times. I tried entering a discussion on one forum I frequent and was pretty well shouted down for pointing out that some nations were not contributing as much as they could.

Right now the average per capita foreign aid contribution from Norway is $447. The average per capita contribution from Sweden is $235. The UK gives $93 per capita. Canada sits at $67 per capita and the US trails with a contribution of $52 per capita. (source)

The richest nation in the world is giving only $52 per capita in aid to those less fortunate. For a nation whose leader sees himself as chosen by God, and for whom three out of four consider themselves to be Christian, is $52 an amount that seems right?

If you want to be known as a generous nation, then you have to actually walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And right now all I see is a whole lot of camels slamming into the eyes of needles.