<This is silly. Measuring charity by "per capita" is facetious at best.

Not silly at all. Per capita statistics (my willfully obtuse friend) tell you exactly what per capita statistics tell you. Gross number statistics (like the one you quoted) have their place as well. Neither type is useless, wrong, or "silly".

Per capita statistics tend to tell you [forgive the lecture, but you begged for it] how much the average citizen partakes of whatever the statistic is about. In this case, the statistic tells you how much the Average American is likely to give to charity compared to the average Swede (for instance). It is a measurement that tells you how much each citizen is willing to sacrifice.

And as for education, the elderly, homeless, etc. we do a damn good job on all of these, considering a population greater than that of Britain, France and Germany combined, and one considerably less homogenous and more open to poor immigrants than most other advanced countries. Only 7 percent of the population of Denmark is not Danish, and they've tightened immigration. Hell, we have almost twice as many illegal immigrants in America as the entire population of Denmark.

That seems to be a strange list of excuses, where no excuse is required.

Have you examined why you feel a reflexive need to put the U.S. in a bad light?

I do not have such a reflexive need. I do have a healthy dose of devil's-advocate rebelliousness. And it sometimes pulls me into taking positions in arguements that I don't support whole-heartedly.

This is not one of those cases, however. There was a huge dose of "we're number one!" hubris in that article you linked to. I strongly feel that's a bad thing. I strongly feel that the powerful should be humble, should not brag, should not threaten the weak. I really don't get why the Christian right doesn't lobby for the humility that their religion requires. I don't get why folks like you who preach morality at the drop of a hat think this is appropriate behavior. I just don't get it.

Further in the editorial you linked to there was a severe trashing of anyone who might come up with an argument against the definition of America as the Sir Galahad of the planet. Some of those emailers deserve a bit of criticism for the views they espoused, I agree. The attitude (that you share) that these folks are beneath contempt tends to set me off.

And last: about your "reflexive need" to say everything good and nothing bad about your country, your inability to find any fault in her, no matter what: as this is a democracy and you are a citizen, you are responsible. America's behavior reflects on you. America needs watchdogs not sheep for her citizens.