Charities Aid Foundation has done a huge survey to find out which nations are best at giving to charity, and New Zealand is in top. Sweden, on the other hand, is number 45 among the 153 listed countries.
This is something that I noticed after only a couple of weeks in New Zealand. People actually do go up to the people with the charity buckets, people do buy tickets for raffles and people do buy those little pins and things to support all sorts of organizations.
So, what's up with the big difference between the countries?
This is my theory. Sweden is a country with taxes among the highest in the world. We don't have to give money to children's hospitals or helicopter rescue services. Our taxes take care of that. (This is something that the survey seems to have missed completely.)
But therefore, we think that the government pays for all trouble in the world. Or at least, we see taxpaying as a way of clearing our own conscious. The phrases "You don't have to be homeless in Sweden" and "But I pay my taxes" are very common.
Sweden isn't in as much need of charity as other countries, true. But that makes us Swedes forget that we actually have to open our own wallets sometimes.
A place that need a dollar or two right now:
Pakistan (NZ) Pakistan (Swe)
Or for the long term:
Greenpeace NZ Greenpeace Sweden
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