it is. But your theory, it seems to me, is that because we buy SUVs to one-up our neighbors, we will also one-up our neighbors in charitable giving, and that the only reason we are NOT already doing so is because hippies, or JC, or Rambam, or whomever has convinced us not to talk about our charity. I disagree on two levels.

First, we talk about our charity to the same extent that we talk about our money. Which is to say, not muh. There are many, mostly bad reasons why Americans in particular are reluctant to talk about money, but tackling that issue is a very heavy lift. While this kind of competition may work among the super rich, I don't see it happening among regular folks. So good luck with that.

Second, I'm not convinced that if we were willing to talk about our charity in the way you describe that we would give more. Americans, for all of our faults, give considerably more to charity that, say, Europeans. They pay more in taxes, and have a more substantial welfare state and safety net, but they don't give much to charity. Why don't we look at what works and build on it? As I note in my comment, personal asks can be very persuasive. More so than abstract appeals to end poverty, which don't work well at all.