r/askanything • u/SignificantCrow • 3h ago
Political Question Are Republicans inherently selfish?
Not referring to every individual obviously but as a whole, compared to democrats/independents they seem to really only care about themselves or their immediate family and pretty much have a “f**k em” attitude towards literally everyone else. Does anyone else feel this way?
This would explain why so many are against social policies but have no issue dumping much more money into the military instead, for example.
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u/scatteredsprinkles 3h ago
Yes. They are sadistic and self-serving.
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u/Initial-Addendum-167 3h ago
Sadistic didn’t used to be so obvious…but recently, I’d agree.
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u/OrneryError1 3h ago
They oppose free school lunch for hungry children to punish them for being poor. It's absolutely sadism at this point.
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u/LivingOk7270 3h ago edited 3h ago
Studies have shown that those with more empathy toward others are on the political left and those with less on the political right. It’s not necessarily that Republicans are selfish as much as the lack empathy for those who they do not know.
Baseline empathy levels for those they know are the same. So people love and care for their kids and families basically the same. The big difference is what empathy people have towards those they do not know. Democrats have high levels of empathy and Republican generally don’t.
That is why you can sometimes see Republican politicians make drastic changes on their positions on trans and lgbtq+ issues when their kids comes out. “Oh, now I understand and care about this.”
So it’s not simply selfishness, it’s that they simply don’t care.
The easiest way to find where on the political spectrum someone is to to ask them “what does society owe to those unhoused and sick people they will never meet.”
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u/Troy242426 3h ago
Yeah Republicans have cognitive empathy, the ability to see someone in pain or that is distraught and intellectually understand that they’re suffering.
Affective empathy is the ability to literally put yourselves in their shoes, and feel what they’re feeling. That’s what they’re much less likely to do.
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u/postanarchism 3h ago
What study are you referencing? I would like to see it.
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u/Character-Degree-636 3h ago edited 2h ago
Let me Google that for you.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10281241/
In this study they had a problem with studies done by other groups showing lower rates of empathy in conservatives because they relied on self reporting. So this study used neuroimaging. To quote the findings in the abstract,“The findings revealed a typical rhythmic alpha-band ‘empathy response’ in the temporal–parietal junction. This neural empathy response was significantly stronger in the leftist than in the rightist group. In addition to this dichotomous division, the neural response was parametrically associated with both self-reported political inclination and right-wing ideological values.”
Edit: To be clear, this study was only for SOCIAL suffering, losing a house, not having food, emotional suffering, and was conducted on Israeli citizens.
The same group did a follow up study on both Israeli and Finnish citizens showing PHYSICAL suffering and it showed no difference in that. So it really depends on the type of pain the groups are witnessing.
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u/LivingOk7270 3h ago edited 3h ago
Here is a good summary of a variety of studies.
https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/5209/5209.pdf
There are some brain scan studies which show that the regions of the brain for empathy do react as much for conservatives. Maybe, to quote Lady Gaga, they were born that way.
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u/Vast_Counter_207 2h ago
Usually what I see with conservatives is # 1 they don’t want anyone they don’t like/agree with to have any voice in setting policy or regulation.
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u/Desertbird25 3h ago
This exactly, and here’s the thing- most identify as Christians, but it’s my understanding that Jesus would, in fact, care about these marginalized people. They do not give a shit. So what’s the deal??? How do they even justify this disconnect???
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u/Funny_w0lf 3h ago
Christianity (and religion as a whole) has been built on societal traditional values, which naturally limits women's rights, choice and free will. But yeah it contradicts what Jesus stood for as a whole. He fed the hungry, healed the sick and cared for the sinners. Modern Christians oppose social programs to feed the hungry, have universal Healthcare thats accessable, and shame sinners or talk down to them.
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u/O_o-22 3h ago
“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
John Kenneth Galbraith
As a matter of inherent political identity republicans display this attitude in spades. Some more centrist or conservative democrats may also display this attitude to a smaller degree but overall democrats see the value in social programs and often display a kinder attitude towards their fellow citizens who are poor or financially less well off than the upper class. They also subscribe to the adage that a rising tide lifts all boats. Conservatives don’t want the lower classes to have safety nets or livable wages because then they less power to exploit them. I’m pretty sure this is why republicans as have attacked the ACA so incessantly, it gave people an option for health coverage not tied to having to have a full time job with employer provided health insurance. So they are less exploitable by the business class as a result.
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u/Upper-Contract9119 3h ago edited 3h ago
People are going to get so mad but I work at a charity and a lot of the volunteers/donators who I work are republican. A lot of democrats as well. Do not talk about politics too much but I overhear somethings and it’s seems pretty even on who helps out. A lot of church going Republicans are really into giving (and actually giving like voluteering 20+ hours, working with immigrants, coming up with innovative ways to help, creating a better environment m, etc). Not saying it is all republicans/Maga but if some people are really into religion that does translate to helping others.
Of course the democrats are there as well and they get along well with the others as well . People need to log off of social media
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u/2guns1holster 3h ago
So, why do tax returns show that Republicans overwhelmingly donate more to charities and churches than Democrats?
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u/pizzapit 3h ago
Tax write offs dont count. Church is an immediate community so id argue the same. Not to mention tithing
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u/elyfantman 3h ago
Republicans are only more charitable when religion is taken into account. Republicans give far more to religion because they are sheep.
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u/ThrowAway3000Delux 3h ago
Because they confuse tithing with charity. Giving to churches isn't charity.
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u/batman-i 2h ago
The Catholic Church is considered one of, if not the largest, charitable organizations in the world. The local church where I live operates a food bank and offers bill payment assistance. They also work with a couple of local business to provide reduced cost maintenance for elderly and low income residence.
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u/LivingOk7270 1h ago
Ah yes, the charity where the leader lives in a 1,000 room palace in his own country with billions of dollars in art including a bathtub previously owned by Nero which is worth $2 billion.
Maybe they can part with the bathtub and house a couple more unhoused people.
Not particularly picking on the Catholics, my religion requires us to give directly to the poor, so we don’t have the overhead that other religions do.
But can they just sell the bathtub maybe?
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u/HuntedByAll 2h ago
Even if that were the case, it isn't like you are actually refuting anything. The point is that they are donating their money, which is the furthest thing from being selfish. It doesn't make a different who they are donating that money to.
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u/dgc137 1h ago
Donation to your local church which you attend on a regular basis and which uses that money on community resources (facilities, events, celebrations, social services like daycare, etc.) that you directly benefit from is not the same as charity.
Yes, many churches use a portion of their donations for charitable work, but most churches use the bulk of donations for their own operational costs. Some churches are very focused on spending their money only in their own congregation. The most well intentioned churches often find their budgets dominated by operations and struggle to fund things like missions. My parents are their (small, Baptist) church's treasurers and estimate that about 10-15% of their revenue ends up in the charity bucket.
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u/Xenikovia 3h ago
Very easy if you bother to look beneath the surface for context. Many tax‑return comparisons showing Republicans donating more are heavily distorted by ultra‑wealthy conservative megadonors, whose very large contributions to churches, foundations, and donor‑advised funds inflate the averages far beyond what typical households give, and when you remove these top‑end outliers the difference between ordinary Republican and Democratic giving becomes much smaller; in fact, among middle‑ and lower‑income households, Democrats often give more to secular charities, while Republicans’ higher totals mostly come from religious giving, which is counted as “charity” on tax returns even though it often functions more like funding a religious institution than supporting public‑facing social services.
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u/Jaded_Hold_1342 3h ago edited 3h ago
There is a real philosophical difference between conservatives and liberals. A difference in how far the moral circle extends.
Conservatives feel strong moral duty to people close to them.. close within their network and community, and feel less duty to others outside this circle. Liberals feel moral duty extends further to people outside of their network and community.
Liberals will accept restrictions and inconvenience imposed upon them so that there can be fairness to people they dont know. Conservatives wont.
This is why Liberals think Conservatives are 'selfish', and why Conservatives think Liberals are 'overly controlling'... Its a different philosophy about the extent of moral duty.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6763434/
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u/targz254 3h ago
Yes, a better word is in-group preference as selfish is strictly only caring about oneself.
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u/No-Carrot4267 3h ago
So based on what you said:
Conservatives feel strong moral duty to people close to them.. close within their network and community, and feel less duty to others outside this circle. Liberals feel moral duty extends further to people outside of their network and community.
And based on merriem Webster:
concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself : seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others
Looks like conservatives are selfish 😂
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u/ImprovementPutrid441 3h ago
But it’s not really one’s own advantage, it’s more of a family/tribe advantage. That’s why, for example, they endorse sending ICE to blue cities and freak out when ICE nabs a member of their own community.
That person was “on their team” so they weren’t supposed to get touched.
It’s not that it’s selfish so much as utterly incompatible with the concept of equality under the law.
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u/ShackbaggeredSluber 3h ago
One can make the argument that the foundation of family/tribe advantage is specifically focused on one’s own advantage. It’s a quid pro quo mentality. A zero-sum concept. I give you, but you HAVE to give me, otherwise no. It’s why their moral circle doesn’t extend beyond their tribe. They can’t extrapolate beyond an immediate benefit and complex solutions aren’t comprehensible. It has to be, if I help you, I get something out of this. It goes even further when you understand that’s where their entitlement comes from and how they can justify things like taking government money without supporting legislation that does the same thing. Or that it’s ok that they commit voter fraud while crying about it being an illegal immigrant thing. They did something so THEY’RE entitled to benefit, but not you. They’re entitled to break the rules, but not you. Because they earned it.
It’s all coming from an entirely selfish perspective. They would not help the family/tribe at all if they don’t see some benefit to themselves. Ask anyone who grew up in a conservative environment. They’ll give you examples how family/tribe denied help within the circle for one reason or another. Either because they don’t see an immediate benefit to themselves, or because they’re being petty because they feel slighted for some past transgression.
They’re all toddlers.
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u/23-1-20-3-8-5-18 3h ago
All conservatives are or they wouldnt confuse collective bargaining (its what single payer is in essense) for being stolen from.
Their small minded selfishness makes them dumb lol.
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u/powerbug80 3h ago
People are inherently selfish. Just look at the great toilet paper shortage of 2020.
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u/Character-Degree-636 2h ago
"Every statement about humanity is a statement about the speaker."
Carl Jung
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u/postanarchism 3h ago
Maybe it's time to look at their platform on your own and stop trusting media, especially social media, to form an opinion. Media will always skew opinions to believe what I believe. If you don't believe what they say then you are labeled as ignorant.
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u/Training-Trick-8704 3h ago
Democrats are all pure of heart and republicans are all evil /s
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u/SilverPhilosopher46 3h ago
Imagine you are poor or middle class and voting for a dude that gives more money to billionaires and helps them extracting the most out of the people. Couldnt be more selfless !
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u/UnordinaryFlyGirl 3h ago
My own biases aside, literally yes.
Conservative policy tends to focus on the voters own short-term self interests: lower taxes, anti-gun control (don't want their firearms taken), anti-public transit (they're mostly car drivers), anti-DEI (as they tend to be white men), anti-social issues that they can't personally relate with.
Whereas left of centre ideologies tend to focus on the well-being of the collective and a focus on equity over strict equality.
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u/downlowmann 3h ago edited 2h ago
No, it's just that Republicans understand that the more you subsidize something, the more of it you get. For example, if you reward people with endless unemployment benefits you will get more unemployment because why work if you can get "free" money from the government. A great example is the welfare state started in the 60s, since then the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed.
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u/I_make_poor_decisons 3h ago
Humans are inherently selfish.
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u/Ok-Incident8440 3h ago
Not at all. Humans being communal is what allowed us to progress as a species
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u/Financial_Molasses67 3h ago
This isn’t really helpful for answering OP’s question
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u/Altheajackstraw 3h ago
Yep, no one group is more selfish than another. If we can even call people “groups” humans are humans no matter how people “group” them
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u/Darth-Taytor 3h ago
This is probably the worst platform to look for a fair answer to this question.
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u/Quietrebellion11 3h ago
I think it depends on how you define selfish. Republicans generally seem to voluntarily give more to non government entities to help others. Democrats seem to want it to be done thru the government, which is inherently wasteful and arbitrary. Ironically its also only done thru the threat of violence (taxes) when its government based.
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u/Whitewater-Fan 3h ago
Voting to take money from one group of people at gunpoint (let's be honest, taxes are paid under threat of force) to give to another group of people is not being selfless, charitable, giving, or caring. You can tell yourself that all day long, but it doesn't make it true. If you're not giving of yourself or your own resources, you're not being charitable.
Government subsiding a thing gets you more of a thing and drives prices higher, especially when government is borrowing money to do it. You can pretend that's not true either, but it doesn't make it so.
Go ahead, brigade this post into oblivion so you can keep believing your own nonsense.
Still won't be the truth.
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u/LazyCatRocks 3h ago
Not any more selfish than Democrats. Everyone is pursuing their own interests.
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u/AnymooseProphet 3h ago
Capitalism is inherently selfish. That's why the love of money is described as being at the root of all sorts of evil, not just at the root of conservative evil.
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u/Ok_Currency_617 3h ago
I mean, we have many examples of communists and socialists being selfish. Saying that any one system is bad is ridiculous.
People like to label what they support as "good" and what others support as "bad" and then assign negative moral values.
I do find it funny that Republicans get compared to Epstein when Epstein was a registered Democrat. The Trump family were also strong Democrats before Trump joined the presidential ticket. More billionaires also vote Dem.
I do want to note, this isn't an endorsement of the Rep party. My point is only that people tend to say everything good or bad these days without considering that both sides of any issue tend to be extremely close together with only a small difference in benefit between them. If you are deciding quickly on one side, then you are mistaken.
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u/GeneralQuinthope 3h ago
It is, but what you send your time (which is money) or money on is different. And companies can skew to betterment instead of greed. It's a choice you make early on in the company's values and how you choose who gets the stock power later on
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u/ElectricalPublic1304 3h ago
Capitalism is an abstract idea. It cannot be selfish.
Capitalism observes that people act in their self-interest. And that government officials do that too--and they mix their political power with economic issue. Using the former to control the latter, usually to direct benefits to themselves, at the expense of the people. And Capitalism says they ought not do that.
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u/MediumRareNation 3h ago
Every difference between political left and right is explained by their order of operations.
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u/Tattie_Shapper 3h ago
Compassion/empathy has been shown to be a "high IQ" trait. Find your answer in that.
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u/WillyDaC 3h ago
Not a Republican, but I'd like to think everyone should have a somewhat fuck 'em attitude. Worry about your own life before you tell me how to live mine.
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u/radomed 3h ago
Have you ever been involved in politics? In a small town, most of the business is done by elected volunteers who serve on boards and commissions? Board of finance, board of assessment appeals, planning and zoning. My goal is to try to keep taxes low so people can afford to live in town. How did you come up with these views?
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u/Sometimes_Stutters 2h ago
I don’t think so. I do think they hold other people to a higher standard of accountability
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u/Practical-Event-7583 2h ago
I'm the most giving person you can meet, to a fault. I think republican s are nicer people.
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u/Wanderer3823 2h ago
Trump supporters and conservatives are not the same, so it depends who you’re talking about. Conservatives do not think “fuck them” about anybody. Conservatives believe in getting the government out of the way so individuals are more empowered to make choices that make sense to them. That’s not the same thing as “get the government out and leave people defenseless.”
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u/Impressive_Review 2h ago
The federal government must follow strict statutory frameworks, and the President or the military cannot simply "take" money from one pocket to pay for another. The Pentagon cannot touch funds allocated to the Department of Health and Human Services, or vice versa. Social program spending is determined automatically by the number of eligible citizens who qualify. Congress cannot take money from Social Security to fund a new fighter jet without passing a major, standalone bill to change the law itself.
Military and defense as a share of GDP is 4.1%. Social programs account for 19% of the GDP which would be substantially higher if not for Employer-sponsored health and pension benefits paying what amounts to 10% of GDP in private social provisions.
It doesn’t matter how you “feel” A quick Google search shows the data supports that supposition that Republicans are more generous with their money, though conservatives of whatever party, and especially religious people, give disproportionate to their means, in both time and money. Democrats/ the left have a strong tendency to see problems including the costs of their own child care and life choices as the government's problem; income is discretionary.
Conservative households gave, on average, 30% more money to charity than liberal households, within every income class, from poor to rich.
Conservatives were more likely to donate blood each year, and did so more often, than liberals. If liberals gave blood at the same rate as conservatives, the blood supply in the United States would jump by 45%
Compared to liberals, conservatives were more than twice as likely to volunteer to help the poor.
How about ‘social policies’ in the racist 1994 crime bill authored by then-Senator Joe Biden signed by President Clinton? The bill imprisoned primarily Blacks and threw away the keys. It took a Republican administration in 2018 to work together for a bipartisan bill to release upwards of 4,000 Black men sentenced unfairly under the 1994 bill for crack VS powder cocaine. In addition, re-entry programs were initiated to decrease repeat offenses by tackling the fundamental disruptions of life after lockup. They provide structured timelines, financial literacy, job placement assistance, and counseling and have been highly successful in reducing recidivism. In 2025 Trump created the position of “Pardon Czar” and appointed Alice Johnson, a widowed Black mother who served over 20 years of a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug and money laundering conspiracy conviction before receiving a full pardon from President Trump in 2018. Johnson is tasked with reviewing federal cases and recommending individuals for presidential pardons and sentence commutations.
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u/IneffableF-er 2h ago
This isn’t really a legitimate question. It’s yet another invitation to an ‘I blindly hate republicans!’ circle jerk. Anyone who breaks from the pre approved group think will be downvoted into oblivion and silenced. Now bring on the downvotes because I dared to say the obvious out loud!
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u/Traditional-Motor711 2h ago
I'll just leave this here ... maybe you should be asking the same question about Dems
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u/OutlandishnessLimp25 3h ago
Reddit is an extremely left leaning platform so you’re probably going to get a pretty skewed response.
That said, when it comes to tipping, republicans seem to be far less generous—to put it kindly.
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u/No_Somewhere3288 3h ago
Wanting to keep what was rightfully earned is not selfish.
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u/GapProfessional6573 3h ago
Is it not also selfish to demand other people’s hard earned money be given to you just for existing without working for it?
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u/Mystic_Wunder 3h ago
Some are for sure, but selfish people cross all political lines. I think Republicans are more aligned with the mentality that each person needs to make their own way in life and each person should be autonomous and be allowed to act the way they want to within reason (not running red lights because they like to). They believe the money they earn, they should be able to keep and do what they want with. They also measure the success of a society by financial markers.
Democrats are more of the mindset that people who are part of a society should act not only for the good of themselves but for the good of others. They will measure the success of a society by the overall health, happiness, and wellbeing of that society. Individual success is important too, and the freedom to pursue that success, but the success of the society as a whole holds equal importance.
There are extreme ends to both sides but most people fall closer to the middle.
You could call Republicans inherently selfish, but they will say it is selfish for someone to want their hard earned money to be given to them for the sole reason that they have less. It's just a difference in mentality.
The trick is to find a comfortable compromise between both sides, but our government lost the ability to have both sides come to the table and talk things out calmly and rationally.
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u/LabPowerful9983 3h ago
They’re just myopic. I’ll illustrate:
I’m going to save you $10 in taxes. I’ll accomplish this by cutting social services in your neighborhood so badly you’ll have to fork out for a $1000 security system to sleep at night. My buddy runs the only alarm company in town, by the way, and I get a crisp $100 bill for every new installation. This will keep the trans people from hiding in your garbage cans.
Conservatives only process the first and last sentences, because the first specifically involves them and the last specifically involves a group that they despise. The rest of it blurs together and gets hand-waved away as “I don’t do politics.”
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u/Sea_Low879 3h ago
Rather than talk about people, I’ll talk about ideology. As far as I’m concerned, the current ideology of the democrat party is one of selfishness and envy. They try to appeal to voters with promises of government provided healthcare, college loan forgiveness, government run grocery stores, pitting rich against not rich. That’s greed and selfishness when people want or promise something for nothing and then say the ones we’re demonizing will be made to pay for it.
To be perfectly honest, the Republican Party is only marginally better. Their handouts may come in different forms, but promising money or benefits to people didn’t earn it is theft no matter how it’s branded. Oh we’re giving out child tax credits? Unfair and theft. We’re going to give this energy company $100 million to subsidize a project? Also theft from taxpayers.
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u/GapProfessional6573 3h ago
100%. Democrat socialism is also terrible. Let’s not respond to radicals getting power and screwing us over by putting the other radicals in power to screw us harder. House and senate ideally are purple to force compromise and actually good policies
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u/Destrina 3h ago
Their world view is hyper individualist and hyper capitalist. It's all about winning at any cost, fuck the consequences to the group as a whole.
Humans only managed to continue existing for as long as we have through cooperation. Capitalism has only existed for a tiny fraction of human existence, but it is rapidly destroying our environment and our ability to continue as a species.
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u/Chemical_Nature9940 3h ago
Pretty sure statistically conservatives are more charitable.
From the Conservative view point, Liberals are only charitable and unselfish when they're using other people's money. 🤷♂️
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u/The_Deadly_Tikka 3h ago
I always see democrats as insanely selfish “take from those people and give it to me” is basically their whole motto
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u/Ty1198 3h ago
My take? Republicans crave money, democrats crave power. Once you look at the parties through that lens it starts to make sense on how they act as a whole
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u/AdventurousRoad7277 3h ago
I would amend this to state that most Republicans just want to keep most of the money they earn.
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u/YikesManGetWithIt 2h ago
No. Being unable to see the other side's point is a sign of a weak mind, weak morals and/or poor education. In the vast majority of issues, the other side has a point. If you have to pretend they don't, you're probably not that convinced of your own opinion.
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u/Disastrous-Award-649 2h ago
Oh yea, the left is so nice and generous. They only wish death on those that disagree with them and want to steal everyone's wealth and redistribute it. So nice and caring as long as its someone else's resources.
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u/BlotMutt 3h ago
To my understanding, they are moreso focused on themselves and their loved ones, than thinking about some person named George or Treshawn or Carlos in Seattle who might be suffering due to some kind of injustice.
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u/CorpusAlienum_89 3h ago
Which, is quite possibly, certainly covered by many understandings of selfishness?
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u/AmazingRefrigerator4 3h ago
Yes. Its very common for Republicans to utilize benefits and then try to pull the ladder up behind them so others cant enjoy the same perks. The "fuck you, I got mine" or "do as I say not as I do" mentality.
The pandemic exposed Republicans selfishness. Many simply could not or would not wear masks to prevent others from getting sick. They were too worried about themselves.
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u/rankincooter 3h ago
I would argue it's the other way around. Those who aren't willing to do for themselves expect others to do for them. And they expect their benefits without regard to the needs of those whose taxpayer funds they're getting.
Studies have shown that Republicans are more generous with their money when it's an autonomous decision. Largely through religious organizations.
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u/chaosangelzine 3h ago
Donating to churches is not the same aa donating through churches.
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u/ImprovementPutrid441 3h ago
Right, republicans donate to religious organizations because charity is a privilege.
You understand that difference, right? If the federal government has programs to help people get food, for example, they have to treat everyone the same. The crackhead has the same right to federal programs as the kindergarten teacher. When charity is distributed through the church they have greater control over who gets help and what kind of help they get.
So when you say a person is generous when it’s an autonomous decision, no kidding. That’s why it’s considered controlling because either you believe it’s immoral to deny people food, OR you believe it’s only immoral to deny some people food and fine to let others starve because they aren’t “deserving” in your view.
Right?
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u/rankincooter 3h ago
Another reddit "top 1% commenter" who thinks she's the smartest lady in the room.
One is given by force, there is no say in how that money is distributed. The other is by choice, where there is a say in how that money is distributed. If I don't like the way my money is spent by a certain entity, tough. I'll be forced to do it again & I have no say. The other way, when I choose to donate more, I can choose to do it how I want.
Or would you prefer that I buy a new Tesla with the extra money?
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u/Icy-Emu1610 3h ago edited 3h ago
Is it because republicans would like everyone to earn their own living, not make excuses, and hate to see people abuse the systems put in place for people who actually need them, not for people who self diagnose with a list they found on the internet?
We want to be able to support our own families not the ones not willing to TRY, there are people out there with cancer going through chemo still working, yet those with “anxiety” can’t work and want other to support them.. so if that makes republicans “selfish” sure I would call it accountability..
Isn’t the thought process of being entitled to someone else’s taxes sort of selfish?
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u/JoesCageKeys 3h ago
No. This is such a stupid post. Selfishness isn’t greater in one party than the other.
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u/potat0f4rmer 3h ago
Absolutely. We learned this during the pandemic when they acted like selfish pieces of shit who don't care about anyone but themselves.
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u/maroonalberich27 3h ago edited 3h ago
Given that research has shown Republicans tend to donate more to charities than Democrats do? Unlikely.
Edit: anybody responding, feel free to justify your dismissive takes with facts or citations?
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u/Jeepers-H-Cripes 3h ago
Performative donations to your own church don’t really count as “charitable”, amigo.
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u/iommiworshipper 3h ago
Yeah charities they founded themselves? I don’t think you understand anything about how charities work, or you wouldn’t equate donating to charity with seflessness.
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u/DNathanHilliard 3h ago
A lot of them can be kind on the individual level, they just don't want the government using their money and being kind for them.
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u/__tothex__ 3h ago
Yep, it’s why they like socialism when it’s their candidate that is giving it out, but loses their shit when Dems do it. Majority are giddy at the thought of a free $5000 from Trump. They also never take accountability for their own actions and blame everyone else for their problems.
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u/TheRandomestPerson33 3h ago
I believe in character and merit. If you work hard and make the right choices then you will earn what you deserve. High paying jobs require education, hard skills, and soft skills that not everyone wants to work for. The people who complain about people earning more than them have never worked in these stressful positions.
Using myself as an example. I am in my low 30s, have 2 undergraduate degrees, and a masters degree. I work remotely in tech leadership (director level) from a LCOL/MCOL area earning ~$260k. I consistently accept opportunities to network and present at various conferences. I put in the work academically, grew my hard skills to move up IC positions, grew my soft skills to move up leadership positions, and continually build a network to rely on for future opportunities. This all takes tremendous effort that many are not willing to put in but then complain about people like myself earning too much money.
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u/ibugppl 3h ago
It's not so much that you earn too much it's important jobs that keep society moving don't earn enough to even survive.
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u/TheRandomestPerson33 3h ago
I agree with this point. Not where I was trying to go with my comment, but there are certainly important positions in society that do not earn what they're worth.
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u/Alfrasco 3h ago
I think there is a difference between being selfish and wanting people to just take care of their own stuff. Democrats are very good at telling others what they should do with their money, then accusing people of being selfish if they don’t agree.
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u/Particular-Ad2748 3h ago
lol supporting high taxes and a cradle to grave welfare states does not make you morally superior to those who don't.
You'll never get solidarity though shame tactics.
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u/Downtown-Drawing-825 3h ago
you can't be labeled selfish if you worked hard and earn a good salary.
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u/Creepy_Shakespeare 3h ago
Conservatives give the most to charity and also give more frequently. I’m saying that as a non-conservative
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u/ThengaPodii 3h ago edited 2h ago
All humans are inherently selfish. It's nothing to do with Dems or Republicans. How many democrats do you think would give away money to ensure free healthcare for all if they could afford the best healthcare themselves anyway?
At some level, everybody chooses to identify with the policy that they believe they would benefit the most from. It takes an immense amount of effort and practice to not be selfish and to change your outlook to benefit humanity and very few achieve that
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u/Inkqueen12 3h ago
Yes they will vote against their own self interest every time just so they can pull one over on those they hate. It’s disgusting and they aren’t evolving.
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u/drink-beer-and-fight 3h ago
The most selfish and self centered people I’ve met, tended to be democrats.
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u/Own_Mycologist_4900 3h ago
All people are selfish. Reddit members are profoundly left leaning and asks loaded questions especially in these subreddits to dehumanize the people who might disagree.
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u/dragonfilebox 3h ago
So why do democrats need the force of government taxation to fund these “social policies”?
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u/DrClairvoyant 2h ago
i don't remember the last time republicans wanted to dox girls and shame the girls or kill a girl at a college function because she was traumatized by lia thompson in the woman's locker room.
i don't recall republicans having a meltdown because Sydney Sweeney was in a sports add and that was bad for feminism even though feminist love to defend porn stars and sex workers.
i dont remember republicans being tarot card readers and being sexist to Patrick Clancy and saying Patrick killed his 3 kids all because he had a penis making it impossible for Lindsey clancy to do it.
i don't know of any republicans marching to black neighborhoods and destroying it to teach white people a lesson because a cop shot a black drug dealer so by liberal logic they must oppress black people by destroying thier areas and making them lose capital and revenue so that they wont thrive and all the autistic white liberals with rainbow hair and men tears tattoo march back to the nice, white, suburbs, laughing.
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u/Barnabas_77 2h ago
I would say no and my reasoning is that classical conservative viewpoint is that it shouldn’t be the governments job to take care of people. It should be the people’s job to take care of people. So no, as a political stance it’s more about small government than self serving interests because it puts the responsibility on the local community and not the government. Sure a lot of people are selfish, but that’s not inherent to a political ideology
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u/HippoProject 3h ago
They cut funding for pediatric cancer research. That’s enough evidence for me.
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u/ElectricalPublic1304 3h ago edited 3h ago
Are Republicans inherently selfish?
People are inherently selfish, to a degree. Baked in the basic psychology of most complex mammals.
Don't pretend you are not.
compared to democrats/independents they seem to really only care about themselves..
"Seem"? I mean, I don't see a lot of Republicans out there constantly an loudly clamoring for "free" benefits, free healthcare, free tuition, free monthly income, student loan forgiveness for themselves...
What you think "seems" to be, seems largely insulated by a chunk of reality of what many Democrats care about for themselves. Though, often masked as "it's good for everyone". Trying to convert selfishness--and at the actual expense of others--into a virtue.
themselves or their immediate family and pretty much have a “f**k em” attitude towards literally everyone else
They just have a better, internal conceptualization of how society is divided up and how things get done. Similar to the way that Springfield shouldn't be trying to manage the water or bus schedules in Ogdenville. Life is easier when you put more of your attention and efforts on the things that you can directly effect and improve.
This would explain why so many are against social policies but have no issue
dumping much more money into the military instead
If we construct that social hierarchy from the ground up, we end up with a large collections of communities (with different interests), and local communities, bound together by state governments (with different, sometimes conflicting interests)... and likewise, those states bound together by a document which states what the common interests are for that large government to do.
The legitimate actions are spelled out. Military provisioning is one of them. "Social programs" is not on the list.
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u/slippery_hippo 3h ago
I think people clamoring for healthcare understand that it comes from taxes and not from thin air.
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u/Iamapartofthisworld 3h ago
We see lots of Republican farmers hoping for handouts.
Pretending both sides are the same is obviously not true.
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u/slippery_hippo 3h ago
Funny to say republicans are better at focusing on things they can improve when that’s not the case with healthcare, mental health, school shootings, childcare. What exactly are republicans improving besides the bottom line for the 1%?
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u/Data_chunky 3h ago
Also, a lot of the religious framing tells them that if they were born white in the US, and they have any means, they were blessed by their god. They believe that they deserve any advantages that they have, and anyone who was born less privileged must have done something wrong or wasn't blessed by a god.
I always think about how easily I could be in a different situation and have empathy for others who aren't as privileged as I am. They don't think it could ever happen to them because their god has blessed them for being "good" and has cursed others for being bad.
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u/RBUL13 3h ago
If you ever lived in the country or very rural areas you would know this is not true.
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u/Fit-Perception-2243 3h ago
Really? I have. Those are some of the meanest, selfish, tribal, coldest people on earth.
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u/AggressiveTopic9977 3h ago
Republicans are more likely to donate to charities than Democrats.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X21000752?utm_source=perplexity
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u/haveblue23 3h ago
Republicans donate more money to charity than Democrats
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u/willscuba4food 3h ago
Do churches count as charity? And if so, does it matter how the church spends the money? Do we discount the mega-preachers who use the money for private jets like Osteen and Kenneth Copeland?
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u/KungFuBucket 3h ago
The numbers are significantly different if you exclude churches from the list of charities.
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u/TheTokist 3h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/b08kqcz6a0bvVbwEq7
The Trump family stole from a children’s cancer charity.
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u/Nitrofox2 3h ago
1) Doubt that 2) Republicans are the reason charity is needed
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u/Liljoker30 3h ago
Just because you donate doesn't make you a good person or any less selfish.
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u/VoraciousReader59 3h ago
I read an article about this – there is a psychology behind the donations, like it makes them feel good, but it doesn’t make them any less selfish. It’s all a show.
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u/TheSmartassYouNeed 3h ago
Always a fun stat to see. Total amount? Yes. Total number of donors? No. Writing a check for a write off is one thing. Donating your time and money, especially when you aren’t wealthy, is another. Wan to guess which party dominates the altruistic ways?
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u/RicRacer 3h ago
Only if you consider churches to be 'charity'. Republicans give more to Religious causes, Democrats donate more to Secular causes.
https://www.michelemargolis.com/uploads/2/0/2/0/20207607/giving.pdf
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u/Lord_Dingus83 3h ago
The only thing they do more of than democrats, is children.
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u/Explorers_bub 3h ago
Make them, rape them, abuse them, kill them.
Everything but feed and educate them really.
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u/wtfboomers 3h ago
You forgot the part where the majority of their donations are to tax deductible organizations. Democrats tend to give to local and smaller organizations that aren’t tax deductible.
An Econ professor I had one time said that conservatives would stop giving if it wasn’t deductible. Their motives are both good and selfish. He was a small government conservative but a very fact driven professor.
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u/Explorers_bub 3h ago
Republicans claiming more charitable donations on their taxes and actually being charitable are two different things.
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u/Troy242426 3h ago
Yeah, they do. That’s a fact.
They also advocate policies that make charity necessary because they let the top 1% completely ransack our economy.
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u/i_kill_plants2 3h ago
Donating for self aggrandizement is still selfish. And donating to organizations that actively hurt other people is abhorrent.
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u/Odd-Consequence-5795 3h ago
Another controversial post from someone who needs to hide their comments.
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u/Money_Signature_5957 3h ago
yes just like democrats, different belief systems, both self interested
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u/zedkyuu 3h ago
I think everyone has a bit of inbuilt selfishness in the sense that there is no true altruism; even someone who acts purely altruistically is doing so because it’s a philosophy they agree with, and in that sense, it is satisfying an internal need of theirs.
Now, the real question to me is if everyone can admit that they are selfish to a degree. It seems to me the loudest and the noisiest can’t. At least not publicly.
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u/sly69guy69 3h ago
There are inherently different definitions of things like fairness.
Progressive types will ask “Is this society working for everyone?”
Conservative types will ask “Is everyone working for this society?”
Both questions do have value in creating a genuinely functional system.
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u/Particular_Dingo_659 3h ago
The debate is really how much responsibility should the government have for taking care of a whole range of issues.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with looking out for yourself, your family and community before trying to help other people you don’t know.
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u/Glittering-Collar712 3h ago
My point is that the left’s moral standards should not overstep legal boundaries, and that the right’s commitment to the rule of law should be guided by compassion.
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u/IneffableF-er 3h ago
No. Every person is selfish to some extent and it’s perfectly normal although some people refuse to admit it to themselves. It’s not unique to any political party or more prevalent in one over the other. Avoid the stereotypes. Yes, there is a bit of truth behind every stereotype, but that tiny fraction of people that actually fit the stereotype are not representative of the entire, massive group. This applies to every situation, not just politics.
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u/AdOk8555 3h ago
Data related to charitable giving by political party does not support your opinion.
https://apply.surveymonkey.com/resources/partisanship-influence-charitable-giving/
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u/DeltaEdge03 3h ago
Conservatives are about keeping the in-group in while devastating out-groups
Liberals view both groups as at least equally, though can lean more towards out-group support
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u/Inside_Following_472 3h ago
I think common republicans would like to see more focus on domestic issues. That is what this administration ran on, an "america first" agenda. Though, as usual, many unfulfilled promises. The political leaders of the party act in self-interest with little regard to their constituents.
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u/DickSugar80 2h ago
A lot of Republicans live in rural areas. They are usually very generous when it comes to helping their own community, but less so when it comes to the outside world.
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u/davis214512 2h ago
I think people are selfish, including Democrats. Society is in a hurry with a me-first attitude. Main character syndrome. I blame capitalism. It’s about getting as much as you can and screwing everyone else.
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u/Wise_Quality_5083 1h ago
No we’re all inherently selfish. They don’t understand that every child being fed, every person educated, and people having security actually makes the society better. They’ve been told it’s a zero sum game and believe it. I think they’re stupidly tactical, no strategy. Others are truly libertarian or fiscal conservatives but those threads are dwindling.
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u/ohhowcanthatbe 1h ago
PEOPLE are inherently selfish. How far that sense of self extends is often the question.
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u/ProChoiceAtheist15 1h ago
Yes. 100%. I can tell you the party divide right now in one sentence:
1) You are ok with being satisfied and content and want others to be equally such (at the least)
or
2) You have an insatiable greed for money and power and the only way you can be sure you have “a lot” is if you can see other people without it, so much so that you can feel like you have MORE by TAKING from those people. If I have a dollar, and you have a dime, that’s one thing. But if I can take nine cents from you, I feel better because my “more than you” went up. Even better? If you can die from your poverty.
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u/Pretend-Stay-1460 1h ago
Just leaving this here for everyone who thinks republicans donate more. Study shows that liberals donate more to nonprofits, while conservatives donate more to churches. In other words, the study found that there was a direct correlation between church attendance and giving to actual charities.
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u/Beauvoir_R 3h ago
I push back on the inherent part. I think cultural influences are at play. But if you live in a culture where people behave selfishly, you learn to behave the same way and see it as being inherent to people in general. Once you see everyone as selfish, it becomes easy to follow the logic that says you have to keep being selfish, or else all the other selfish people will take advantage of you. It's why Ayn Rand is so popular amongst the political right.