I wrote this yesterday for the student textbook blog, Everyday Politics.

On January 12th, a massive 7.0
earthquake hit Haiti. Most of you watched the devastation on TV or read
about the news on the Internet. We saw dead bodies on the street. We
heard heart-wrenching tales of children trapped under the rubble crying
for help. We saw people lying on stretchers with hacksaw amputations of
their limbs.

And we responded. Fueled by social media,
including Twitter, people called the Red Cross at 90999 and texted
"haiti." To date, the Red Cross was able to bring in $8 million dollars
through that effort. Overall, individual Americans donated $150 million in four days.
That number marks a record for individual donations responding to a
particular crisis, and social media no doubt played a large role in
gathering funds.

With the ease of online donation forms and text donations, people
are able to give easier than in the past with a checkbook, letter and
stamp. Also, traditional donors are able to reach out to their less
eager donor friends on Facebook and Twitter and urge them to give. 

While we have set new records for philanthropy, philanthropy is not
that unusual for Americans. In fact, giving to others has long been
considered a facet of American political culture.

Political culture is a set of widespread beliefs or values that are
shared by a community. These values are passed down from parent to
child and are taken on by immigrants as they assimilate.

American
political culture is often defined as a commitment to individualism,
capitalism, and freedom. Some have said that America's political
culture is unique or exceptional, due to the common belief in Lockean
liberalism among America's founders. Some scholars believe that
American's exceptional political culture helps to explain why we have
never had a strong Marxist or socialist party in our country. It may
also explain why the United States has been so reluctant to establish a
national health care system, while European nations have one for years.

Others have pointed to our roots as a Puritan nation and noted how that early religiosity helped shape our nation's history.

Another aspect of American political culture is our historic commitment to philanthropy. Alexis de Tocqueville noted the large number of charitable organizations in our country in the 1820s. According to the National Philanthropic Trust, 86 percent of American give to various charities and the average annual contribution was $1,620.

In a time where public morale may be at a low point, due to well
publicized indiscretions of public figures, a flagging economy, and
protracted wars abroad, Americans should take great pride in our
willingness to open our pockets to help out a people on an island to
our south.