I lived in Boston before I moved here to Dallas. I’ve never seen anyone in Boston offer chartible gifts. And though the people I know in Boston were relatively propserous (how can they not, especially when they needed to cover their high cost of living), I thought most of them were miserable and unhappy. But they seemed to be happy with their high taxes. These two things (the general unhappiness and the taxes) were some of the many reasons I left Boston.
Here in Dallas, I see people give through tithing and volunteer positions. And they are all doing well, which isn’t too hard to do because the cost of living here is relatively low. But, the people in Dallas that I know are far happier than the people I knew in Boston.
I feel you VT, it’s just different “down South”.
Not as much cynacism down South.
At least, not where I come from.