GO Fund Me... the modern way to beg.

[jssailem]

Call me old. It is ok I am.
I just get a burr in my pants when I read about the sad tales of folk who do stupid things, get in trouble, then open a "Go Fund Me" account as ask the world to bale them out.

Hey you screwed up. OK, your fault. It happens. Pick your self up. Go out and get to work. Don't screw up again.

 

[Roland5048]

WOW! Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What!? No coffee! Just kiddin'. However, I do think a lot of us would agree with you.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

I assume you are referring to the inexperienced, young (read - immature) couple here who sank their 47 year old boat shortly after leaving port enroute to some fantasy life aboard.

Parenting is a lost art.

 

[jssailem]

Thanks @Roland5048. I do have my cup to the right of my keyboard. It seems the last few years I have seen a decline in our communities. Personal pride in who you are and what you do seems to be no longer valued.
Screwing up happens. It is a part of life. Using your screw up to beg for money from strangers is just wrong. I was not around during the depression of the 30's but have read the economic history of the time. Sure folks were starving, but they grouped together. Sought work even if it was beneath their talents and made due till times improved.

Now one runs to the nearest public place and writes on a piece of cardboard. "I homeless give me your change".
A recent study by a group of economic students in Germany learned with a good story and the right look you can earn between 18,000 and 30,000 euro a year tax free.

 

[jssailem]

@Don S/V ILLusion The couple who lost their boat is just one of the recent examples. Last year there was the two women out of Hawaii. Or go on line to the Go Fund me site and browse the hard luck stories that yield money. Better yet start looking at the repeat customers...

The news article said the guy was disillusioned with the "scam" of selling Time Shares in Colorado. So he buys a boat. Takes his girl friend for a ride. They crash the boat. Nearly kill them selves. The news papers photograph them. Then he opens a GoFundMe account. And surprise they have $10K.
reminds me of the phrase... "There's a sucker born every minute."

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

It used to be embarrassing but now, dependence has become fashionable, particularly government dependence. Individual responsibility not so much.

I think there is a term 'they' use - social justice?

Me - I can catch a football and speak in semi-coherent sentences. Even while chewing gum. When's my $10 million?

 

[LeslieTroyer]

The go fund me is what prompted my somewhat insensitive or curmudgeonly remark on the other thread.

Les

 

[Justin_NSA]

Society just enables this behavior. If you have to earn it, you would hopefully be figuring out what you did wrong the last time and not repeat it.

 

[Maine Sail]

@Don S/V ILLusion They crash the boat. Nearly kill them selves. The news papers photograph them. Then he opens a GoFundMe account. And surprise they have $10K.

I'm gonna wager on this one that says they will not spend a single dime of this "free money" paying to have their mess cleaned up (boat salvaged & removed from water) and will walk away from their sunken boat & just let the taxpayers pay to clear it and move right on as if nothing happened. Just a WAG. I hope they prove me wrong and do the right thing with the money..

 

[jssailem]

I hope they prove me wrong

I as well MaineSail.

 

[thinwater]

I'm gonna wager on this one that says they will not spend a single dime of this "free money" paying to have their mess cleaned up (boat salvaged & removed from water) and will walk away from their sunken boat & just let the taxpayers pay to clear it and move right on as if nothing happened. Just a WAG. I hope they prove me wrong and do the right thing with the money..

If someone has ANY intention of funding the clean-up, they might as well contact the locality directly.

I've made mistakes. Then I got up and went to work in the morning. I've had cars without full coverage, but never anything without liability insurance. A sailboat is something you buy AFTER you have some nest egg. My first boat was an old beach cat, and it taught me how to sail. I've sailed for 40 years since then, and never had a mishap that I could not manage with my own resources, not because I am brilliant, but because I did my best to learn my way through it in steps. And I'm still learning new things that can go wrong, though few really surprise me anymore.

And if all they had was $90, their PLAN was to beg their way through life. What else could it have been?

 

[Joe]

I think the "go fund me" phenomenon was born out of good intentions.... but has opened an additional door for scammers. Just think of the fundraising process and how it applies to nearly every activity in society today. The Red Cross, Unicef, Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, Boy and Girl Scouts of America, etc.... are all dependent on fundraising. As is every political campaign, sports stadium project, civic improvement activity..... yada yada yada.
Geez, the biggest of all is the CHURCH!!!! Think of all the museums and cultural centers that exist only because someone wanted to fund them with their own, private money.............. Hey... think of the Koch brothers...

So.... mellow out... if some one wants to give their money to others... no matter what their cause... it's their decision. At least the go fund me folks don't promise outrageous returns like investment scammers do.. they're just asking for money.

 

[cb32863]

Something that "contributors" to Go Fund me programs also need to realize, those "contributions" are not tax deductible. Some folks are surprised by that but, unless you are a 501(c), you really are just giving it away. And that money you are given from your little campaign, oh yeah, very taxable.

 

[Will Gilmore]

There's a difference, as has already been touched on, between beggers, buskers and scammers. The couple left to sail the world with only $90. Maybe they were planning to beg, maybe they were planning to busk. They weren't planning to scam. The two from Hawaii were certainly in the later category.

My wife and I talk about just getting on a boat and going to see the world, no income but what we can scrounge together along the way selling art. We have met those people. My wife has some beautiful coral jewelry from a couple we meet in Horta. A piece of spray paint street art, hand made hand bags, etc. We've paid more than the cost of two Bruce Springsteen stage front tickets to listen to street corner musicians.

I gave an old man begging in Baltimore a couple of dollars once and a guy walking by commented, "it's that easy, huh?"
I responded, "I sure hope it would be for me."
There are plenty of times I ignore beggers and walk right by buskers. I have no problems with who they are or who I am. But those who scam us do far worse then just steal, they insult and abuse us and undermine our generosity towards others.

The Go Fund Me sites do what beggers in the Christian Middle Ages did for society. They give people an opportunity to be charitable. That was a recognized roll with value in the Middle Ages.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[JamesG161]

I live near casino row on the Gulf Coast. More people get excited about a Jackpot story than someone finding a great new job, a family vacation, a friends wedding, or many other personal events.

I guess it is a sign of the times that people think normal life is mundane.
Jim...

PS: Gotta get those "Burrs" out from under the saddle and what a better place to do it than Sails Call Lounge!

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Today's Tampa Bay Times quotes the couple who recently sank in John's Pass that he was "going at 2 knots". He is also quoted to say they think they have enough money to remove the boat now that they have collected $11,000 and buy a new boat too.

The tow boat they called (by telephone apparently) found when he arrived on scene the water was too shallow for his boat.

I'll leave it to the readers to consider that...

For those of you sailing here, I'd suggest you stay away from John's Pass.

 

[Roland5048]

Today's Tampa Bay Times

http://www.tbo.com/news/Couple-whos...ses-11-000-to-get-back-on-the-water_165411030

 

[jwing]

What chaps my hide is that I do not have the cajones to go online to beg for money. Even worse, I have little confidence that I would get a dollar by doing so.

What doesn't bother me is that other people do it. Doesn't hurt me, doesn't impact me; I simply ignore it. If they can get other people to willfully give them money for (whatever), why would I let that upset me? The good thing is that they are not stealing or begging the government for special consideration.

 

[Justin_NSA]

I would argue that is does affect us, regardless if we donate or not. As said several times above, we are growing a culture that has no accountability, no motivation to learn and to grow. No appreciation for work and its reward The entitlement society.
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

 

[Will Gilmore]

Justin,
I wouldn't argue with your point. It is a good one, but I've heard that same sentiment expressed about the upcoming generation, all my life. In my studies as an educator, the history of education is filled with people concerned that the young people growing into adults are not prepared or willing to work for what they get. Even ancient Greeks wrote about it.

The two young people who's accident prompted this discussion have, in fact, demonstrated a willingness to work hard for what they had. They spent a lot of time on their boat and before their accident, asked no one for help. That isn't to say they worked smart. I don't know, but when I look at the pictures of their bottom paint with patches showing thru the thin spots, I think they meant better than they executed.
Bad luck is a reality, unfortunately. We have all had it and I have the good fortune to have a strong and generous support system which I greatly appreciate everyday. I can only hope I live up to the potentials my family, who support me, see in me. For those of us less lucky, it is wonderful that others are willing to take a chance on them.

- Will (Dragonfly)