New Englanders aren’t taking kindly to a new national index on generosity (covered in an AP story posted here and elsewhere). It turns out that New Hampshire and Massachusetts ranked at the very bottom of the index for generosity. That’s fairly embarrassing on its own, but becomes insufferably so when the top three states are Mississippi, Arkansas, and South Dakota (leading many Bostonians to question the math).
The index determines generosity by measuring what the taxpayers of each state contribute to charity against what they earn (with data from tax returns). So the math is rigged against states with wealthier populations, and biased by the individuals who itemize their charitable giving. Of course, as with almost all published indices, the forced perspective of the Generosity Index is designed to make a point:
We do this to illuminate a fact: that nationwide, giving is not consistently related to income; rather, giving is shaped more by cultures, which tend to be regional, and by religion (not politics). If all Americans were equally ”generous” (in relating giving to income), those differences in rank would be zero — all states would be giving at the same rank as their income. But the Bible Belt and Utah are, with generally low incomes, giving so much (as tithing evangelical Protestants), that in effect they set a high example, which suggests that the wealthiest taxpayers in the wealthy states can afford to give significantly more.
So, pony up, Massachusetts, or Mississippi will whup you again next year.
