Tuesday, December 20, 2005

The Persons of the Year

Over the weekend, Michelle Malkin blasted the choice of Time to select Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono as their persons of the year. I have no quibble that Bono has not used his celebrity to advance the causes he cares about--and from all reports his campaign is not about advancing his already considerable world celebrity--he really is knowledgeable about African issues. The Gates' have funded dozens of high profile charitable efforts, including forays in to my personal favorite--education reform.

But here is my question, if Time's criteria for Person of the Year for 2005 was the charity of these three people, when then were Americans as a whole snubbed. Between billions in private donations to relief funds for the Asian tsunami, the several billion dollars donated to hurricane relief this year, the flood of in-kind gifts of food, clothing, shelter and supplies that cannot be easily valued, and the fact that even now Americans continue to donate to charities at an ever increasing rate, surely the giving spirit of the American people would top the list of "charitable people."

Sure, highlighting the generosity of the American people doesn't make for as attractive a cover photo, but it makes Bono and the Gates look like absolute pikers in comparison. America is the most generous nation in the world, and we should be given we are the wealthiest nation in the world. For all the talk of capitalist greed, that capitalism has saved the world--go figure.

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