Why should philanthropy be inconspicuous?
There’s also probably a good deal of Christian influence here too. Jesus calls the phariasees out more than once about the fact that they make a big show of being so charitable and kind to the poor. Not to say that other religions don’t take issue with playing up your philanthropy, but since we’ve got more than a few Christians kickin’ around this country, the fact that the Bible says so has some relevance.
I work in the philanthropic sector in Australia, and anecdotally people are much quieter about their giving here than they are in the US. I believe it’s largely a fear of the tall poppy syndrome; people don’t want to be seen to be telling everyone how good and altruistic they are, because they expect others will see it as bragging. There’s a concept that philanthropy should be above things like competition and blowing one’s own trumpet. Personally I think a little trumpet-blowing can be good; it can encourage other people to give, and publicising the work of the charity one is giving to can be a service to them. Most of the people I know who are very philanthropic aren’t really part of the conspicuous consumption set, although in many cases they do lead a somewhat different lifestyle to the rest of us. And most of them, even the very wealthy ones, do contribute quite a lot of time as well as money to the causes they support.
