Hyper Generosity?

Slate Magazine turns up again with more provocative information.

It's the week of the Slate 60 list, which ranks Americans who gave most 'charitable donations' last year. Most charitable is in quotes for a reason.

Sadly the most generous person has died and it's her bequest of $400 million which knocks Bill and Melinda Gates ($320m) into second place. Encouragingly, both she and the Gates are known for donating to causes which help people in real need.

"Giving is more about enlarging the size of their headstone than about helping people."

The disturbing observation is that when you scroll down the list, it becomes clear that American universities are the most popular kind of beneficiary.

It's these people's right to put their money where they like, but are their gifts honestly 'charitable'? Having your alma mater build a library in your name falls into a different category to the Gates' distribution of health tools across the developing world.

I suspect for many of the people on this list, giving is more about enlarging the size of their headstone than about helping people.