As a candidate in 2016, Trump made promises about the people he would appoint if elected, even supplying lists of potential Supreme Court justices. But there was little in his background to suggest an abiding commitment to constitutional originalism. Yet, unlike conventional politicians, he has kept his promises and made outstanding appointments.
The benefits of Trump’s rock-solid commitment to constitutional liberty are not just economic. Improbable as it may have seemed, the thrice-married star of tabloid gossip pages has become the stalwart champion of Catholic nuns seeking to preserve their core First Amendment right to religious exercise. The Little Sisters of the Poor is a nonprofit religious order that runs homes for the elderly poor across the country. The Obama administration threatened to impose fines of tens of millions of dollars upon the Little Sisters if the nuns would not agree to violate their beliefs and pay for contraceptive services in their health plan. After taking office, President Trump used an executive order and then two federal rules to ensure that the Little Sisters of the Poor could continue their mission without having to sacrifice their faith. It’s safe to say the nuns wouldn’t approve of a lot of Trump’s comments, but many of them no doubt recognize that he has proven to be an important defender of their God-given rights.
Speaking of enjoying the freedom to live according to the dictates of one’s own conscience, it is very much related to economics. U.S. prosperity enabled American individuals, foundations, and corporations to give an estimated $449.64 billion to U.S. charities in 2019, according to Giving USA 2020: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2019. The report is compiled each year by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
“The solid growth of giving in 2019 brought total giving close to the record level set in 2017, which means that the past three years are the three highest years on record. Clearly, Americans prioritize generosity as a key part of their lives,” said Rick Dunham, Giving USA Foundation chairman, as his organization released the new findings in June of 2020. “Giving increased substantially in 2019, ending the decade on a high note,” he added.18
Americans’ capacity and willingness to help others doesn’t end at the water’s edge. The simple fact is that a prosperous United States is one of the best things that’s ever happened to the world. Billions of people around the planet are better off today because America defeated the twin terrors of the bloody twentieth century, national socialism and communism. And America has never stopped lending a helping hand to the world. The uniquely American entrepreneurial culture that created places like Silicon Valley has generated unprecedented prosperity, which among many other benefits enables historic levels of charitable activity and foreign aid.
A 2016 report from the Hudson Institute found, not surprisingly, that the U.S. government gives far more to developing countries than any other government in the world. But what may have come as a surprise was that Washington’s official development assistance was dwarfed by the amount of money flowing from other sources in the United States to the poor countries of the world. Private philanthropy, private investment, and remittances from relatives and friends in the U.S. to the developing world added up to roughly ten times the amount of U.S. government development assistance.19
Our point is to highlight the contributions Americans make as taxpayers as well as donors, and as always they are making a lot of them in the fight against infectious disease. “For more than a half century, the United States has been the largest contributor to global health security and humanitarian assistance, saving lives all over the planet. The United States led the fight against Ebola, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infectious diseases, as well as humanitarian responses around the globe, including the current crises in Venezuela and Syria,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in May.
Pompeo was announcing the latest round of U.S. government assistance, but he also recognized the contributions made by U.S. private citizens: “Even while battling the virus on the homefront, the American people remain the world’s greatest humanitarians. Together, private American businesses, nonprofits, charities, and individuals have provided nearly $4 billion in donations and assistance, in addition to government aid. All together, Americans have provided nearly $6.5 billion in government and non-government assistance and donations to the global COVID-19 response, accounting for nearly 60% of global totals.”20
And of course American charity goes far beyond medicine. The Charities Aid Foundation, based in the United Kingdom, creates what it calls a World Giving Index. In 2019 the organization reported on ten years of research conducted by the Gallup opinion research firm, which examined the charitable habits of people around the world. The foundation says the results represent the views of more than 1.3 million people in 128 countries and is the largest such survey “ever produced and made freely available.”21
The foundation explains:
In order to ensure that giving is understood in its various forms, the report looks at three aspects of giving behaviour. The questions that lie at the heart of the report are:
Have you done any of the following in the past month?
Helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help?
Donated money to a charity?
Volunteered your time to an organisation?22
In other words, the index is not a measurement of how much money the citizens of a country donate but rather a reading on how likely its people are to help others in one way or another. “The United States of America occupies first place over the last 10 years,” reports the foundation.23 Yes, Americans are generous with their money, but the U.S. received its highest score in the category of helping strangers, an extremely common American habit.
What about the other end of the scale? Out of the 128 countries surveyed, which one displays the least charitable activity? The foundation reports that “China has the lowest Index score over the 10 years… and in fact is the
