Give 'Til it Hurts (or not)

Take a look at this article summarizing the 2004 Generosity Index, as recently published by the Catalogue for Philanthropy:

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Residents of Connecticut and its New England neighbors continue to earn more and give back less, according to an annual index of charitable giving.

Connecticut ranks first when it comes to making money, but joins New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in falling to the very bottom of the 2004 Generosity Index, according to the Catalogue for Philanthropy.

Mississippi held onto its title as the most giving state for the eighth consecutive year. Following right behind are Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee.

Notice any trend? Maybe this will help.

Here are the complete state rankings, #1 through #50. I color-coded the list to the electoral map as a public service to some of the slower on the uptake folks out there.

Mississippi
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Louisiana
Alabama
Tennessee
South Dakota
Utah
South Carolina
Idaho
Wyoming
Texas
West Virginia
Nebraska
North Dakota
North Carolina
Kansas
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Montana
Missouri
New Mexico
Alaska
Indiana
New York
Iowa
Ohio
California
Maryland
Illinois
Maine
Delaware
Washington
Vermont
Oregon
Hawaii
Virginia
Arizona
Nevada
Pennsylvania
Michigan
Colorado
Connecticut
Minnesota
Wisconsin
New Jersey
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
New Hampshire

Any questions?

UPDATE (11/10/04): Of course, no legitimate political discourse can take place until we get Madonna's input on the subject.

On other subjects, the singer said the recent US presidential election had illustrated how US society was "becoming very divided".

"People are becoming very polarized," she said. "We have people who don't want to think, and who just want to guard what is theirs, and they're selfish and limited in their thinking and they're very fearful in their choices."

I think she might onto something here.