"Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world. It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of it's GNP to the starving nations. Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if re-forming for this concert will help focus attention then it's go to be worthwhile." - David Gilmour (Emphasis mine)
So the Live 8 concerts are ending, and the numbers are coming in. I can't say I'm suprised who handed Africa the most money. Those damn, greedy, apathetic Americans. By a long shot. (And the article is from a Scottish news source, so American-media-haters beware).
PRIVATE American citizens donated almost 15 times more to the developing world than their European counterparts, research reveals this weekend ahead of the G8 summit. Private US donors also handed over far more aid than the federal government in Washington, revealing that America is much more generous to Africa and poor countries than is claimed by the Make Poverty History and Live 8 campaigns.
Church collections, philanthropists and company-giving amounted to $22bn a year, according to a study by the Hudson Institute think-tank, easily more than the $16.3bn in overseas development sent by the US government. American churches, synagogues and mosques alone gave $7.5bn in 2003 - a figure which exceeds the government totals for France ($7.2bn) and Britain ($6.3bn) - according to numbers from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which deal a blow to those who claim moral superiority over the US on aid.
Ouch. Don't give me that do goody good bullshit. 15 times more? Of course, most Europeans like to spin it, and talk about "GNP" and exclude private donations. When you don't tax the shit out of your citizenry, they're able to donate their own money. Lee over at Right-Thinking shares my sentiments, and I got the link to the article from there.
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