In Pauls opinion, high taxes and inflation deprive Americans of money that they would otherwise give to charity. Programs like Medicare, he says, brought about the demise of “voluntary charities and organizations, such as friendly societies, that devoted themselves to helping those in need” during the early 20th century. These civic groups, he claims, “flourished in the days before the welfare state turned charity into a government function.”<\/p>\n
But according to Dr. Leslie Lenkowsky of Indiana Universitys Center on Philanthropy, data on decades of American philanthropy squarely contradicts Pauls opinion. “All things being equal, Americans today give more than twice as much of our GDP to charity than they did in 1930,” he told The Huffington Post. “And Mr. Pauls notion that private donors could ever wholly replace government social welfare programs? Well, its a fantasy.”<\/p>\n
Lenkowsky served in three presidential administrations, most recently that of George W. Bush, where he was CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “No one, not even Herbert Hoover, ever seriously advocated for the idea that government has no role to play in providing social services,” he added.<\/p>\n
Like much of his economic libertarianism, Pauls theory on charity relies on proving a negative, namely that if only the government would cease to aid the poor, then private philanthropy could finally achieve its full potential — something thats never been proven in the real world. A spokesman for Paul declined to respond to questions from HuffPost.<\/p>\n