If a close friend's experiencing some incredibly tough times, and he sets his goal to $125 or something reasonable like that, I'd have no issue with pitching in. I'm a totally broke college student, but that's the truth.
However, this article really hits the mark. Begging your friends and family or the internet community at large is actually the last thing you should think of doing. And if you're asking for thousands of dollars, you'd better be buying food for a homeless shelter or something. Something that benefits, I don't know, more than a single person?
It's the digital version of panhandling, and it's unfortunate that the few on there who have (in my opinion) a legitimate need are so overshadowed by those begging for a new camera or to go on a trip.
This is what bothers me most about people who can't tell the difference between wants and genuine needs: the negative effect it has on the people who do need something that could save their life but can't pay for it, or are going to perform some virtuous service for others that they won't be paid for.
One of my friends, who has done a lot of writing and I can assure you has not made much money at all from being a writer while producing a lot of content for free (and has written a couple of legit books) recently had a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body. He's now in physical therapy and geting other serious treatment. He's 48 years old and has four kids; only the eldest one is out of the house. He's not wealthy by any means, and needs help paying his medical bills. A friend put up a GoFundMe page for his family, probably unbeknownst to him, all because of compassion and people are starting to donate (he's almost up to $1000, which is like a drop in the bucket when it comes to covering medical expenses in the US).
That's the kind of situation that GoFundMe and similar sites are for. Not for vanity projects, paying for your dream wedding, funding plastic surgery, throwing parties, interior design, and springing for fripperies that are not emergencies and are not virtuous.
These people are ruining the reputation of internet-based, crowdsourced funding. They have no shame.
> That's the kind of situation that GoFundMe and similar sites are for.
GoFundMe's website would disagree with you on that. And I don't think asking for money even if it is not an emergency is necessarily bad. And if people want to make an ass of themselves, well, now they have a new avenue to do so.
The juxtaposition of all these things on one site is weird though, I agree, and it would be bad if it stained the reputation of the "better" causes. A site specialized in "emergency" funds certainly could look more respectable and potentially add more value as a community. But would process less funds and make less money...
And that's not getting in the whole "privatizing risks that should be caught by society" (or not) discussion...
Well, yes. That's one kind of situation it's for. I wouldn't want to limit it to life-or-death issues. But I'm just saying that people shouldn't be using it to get skating lessons for their kids, or to fund their "personal development journey." Those things are extras.
Honestly, I think that's the whole problem with personal appeals (even worthy ones, like your friend's). There's a reason we have a society, with organized charities, to funnel money to the most deserving causes, instead of those with the most well-networked beneficiaries.
I assume that much like people can disconnect vitriolic statements from reality when sitting behind a computer screen, so too can that screen disconnect people from the shame one would usually feel begging on the street for money.
I don't understand it, but people can be completely honest in their disconnect from shame when asking for money for completely unnecessary things.
The people asking for help with extremely difficult times, sicknesses, etc., those people that legitimately need help, probably feel enough shame for everyone.
I call it online busking. I live in SF and I'll often see fairly well dressed people sparechanging on corners. One guy, in his late 20s, would be out near O'Farrell and Mason listening to his iPod everyday as I went in for work. I never got his story, but he probably wasn't living on the streets - just "working" there.
I don't really have a problem with that, or people busking online. But before you plug in those credit card digits, you should ask yourself: "If I met this person on the street and they asked me to fund their {pet's surgery, vacation, novel}, would I do it?"
I had my "a-ha" moment for crowdfunding about 8 years ago. A friend-of-a-friend who was a promoter/bartender, whom I had just met, asked me to fund his Jewish contemporary art show. He seemed very passionate about getting it going. The total sum required was a few thousand dollars, so it seemed like an honest pitch. He friended me on Facebook and sent me the link to Kickstater. Later that night I was about to make a donation, but I stopped. "I don't even know his guy. Why am I giving him $50?" And that's when I linked the two behaviors.
Just because there's a nicely designed UI between you and the beggar doesn't make it something other than begging. I call it "busking" as opposed to "begging" because they are actually performing - they're (both the website and the person; they work in tandem) trying to make you believe they're not a beggar.
Disclosure - I published an award winning street paper and eventually received an award for my contributions to progressive politics for my work. I know many many panhandlers across the country and am deeply biased in their favour.
That said, panhandling is one of the more impressive sales accomplishments in our modern world. Good panhandlers understand the math - about 15% of people give, 15% of people call you a bum/tell you to get a job/otherwise insult you, about 25% just walk by and the remaining 40% say no. Consequently, they have learned that the only way to make enough money is to be relentless and keep asking, even if the last person threatened to kick your ass. Good panhandlers will make 200-300 contacts a day...
As a sales problem, panhandling has almost no compare. Your only 'product' is your humanity. And, unfortunately, since many of the people who panhandle have some rough years behind them they don't always look very good.
As a startup type, I have way more in common with panhandlers than people who work for the government. Their hustle both amuses and inspires me.
That's all a long, roundabout way of saying, "Seriously, don't use the word beggar. With all due respect, you don't know how much pain that word causes."
As for the well dressed fellow with the iPod, he may not live on the streets - truth is that many panhandlers have homes. But, I assure you that his clothing and iPod are part of his pitch. People are nicer to folks who look like them.
I would like to understand why the word beggar is not equivalent to the word pan handler..
for some reason my brain is not making the jump here.
Is the word bum equally offensive?
Is pan handler preferred because it sounds like more skill is required? what about if there is no tact or pitch and someone is just begging for food?
my brain seems to think all variations of this act are not things you would want to be called, despite if your engaged in it. but is it not calling an apple an apple?
just curious, not disagreeing and would like to know more, thanks
And GoFundMe, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Patreon are both the street corners AND the cups for the avant-garde beggar. An astute hustler would actively have pitches on all of them. I mean: a panhandler can only cover one physical street corner at any given time. It's better to cover all possible bases.
> That's all a long, roundabout way of saying, "Seriously, don't use the word beggar. With all due respect, you don't know how much pain that word causes."
Yes, I know how much pain it causes; so much pain that people are begging from behind technology now. Those people on Patreon/GoFundMe would never stand out on the street with a cup, because it's too painful for them. That's why I call it busking, which is begging with a performance.
Ok..Ok. Question. Although it seems some people are on there for the wrong reasons, will it be fair to say they are exercising their first amendment rights base on this article? http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/26/when-we... I know the key word here is "poor" but how do we know people asking for money for camera's aren't poor?
Exercising your first amendment rights doesn't mean it's a good thing to do, it just means it doesn't violate the most basic principles of our society.
I don't think anybody is claiming that asking for money online should be illegal.
The reason this is a problem is because needs should be fulfilled collectively by our society and unfortunately they're largely not so people are forced to beg for money to save the lives of people in their family on the same platform as college graduates who want to buy a new gadget.
However, this article really hits the mark. Begging your friends and family or the internet community at large is actually the last thing you should think of doing. And if you're asking for thousands of dollars, you'd better be buying food for a homeless shelter or something. Something that benefits, I don't know, more than a single person?