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I don't want to help you pay for your inevitable tragedies, either; that's what emergency funds and life insurance policies are for. Personal responsibility, anyone?
I read the obituaries in my home town newspaper everyday. Lately, maybe the last year or so I have been seeing people being told to go to gofundme. People that seem to have had successful lives, good jobs, are now doing what many would consider begging. Asking to pay for the funeral, educate their children, pay bills. Am I the only one having a problem with this? I have donated to fundraisers, bought tickets to fundraisers, and donated prizes to fundraisers but this seems so much different to me. Gives me a weird feeling especially when I know the family.
Any thoughts? Is this just a changing of the times?
I no longer donate except to causes where they help others out of poverty and feed families/children.
I have paid for my own funeral (Cremation, cardboard casket) and my sister can decide to keep the ashes or toss them in the gutter.
All this for $780 (Plus tax) going to GoFundme just says "We're too cheap to pay for it ourselves"
There was this one time that a relative went around asking for donations from family members at a family gathering to pay for her daughters prom dress. I avoided her completely. What an a$$.
Not long ago one of my husband relatives died and someone set something like this up on facebook just a couple thousand dollars for simple cremation. Well that goal was reached in about 10 minutes so they raised the goal amount, and then did it again. The money just came in too easily so they had to keep asking for more. What I really find in bad taste is that the cremation was only a couple grand or so. Can't the family just find this among themselves, especially because it was someone with 3 children and numerous grand children? Why go outside the family?
MOST of ones I have seen (from my community at least) are all just regular people in a really crappy situations, like a kid with cancer, or really poor people who had a sudden death/illness/something tragic.
I did see one gofundme to help pay for an attorney to defend a girl who threw her baby in a trash can on her college campus. Nobody was donating to that one.. It just pissed a lot of people off.
I think it could be a good thing, but so many people try to abuse it.
The assumption is that no one has any other resources -- either personal (like savings or family support) or bureaucratic (if you're truly "poor," the government will pay for everything you need and most of what you want). And does everyone really have all this disposable income all of a sudden to hand out to everyone else dozens of times every day? I thought everyone was struggling economically themselves these days. It's making the redistribution of wealth not only voluntary, but also socially acceptable and something people "expect."
The assumption is that no one has any other resources -- either personal (like savings or family support) or bureaucratic (if you're truly "poor," the government will pay for everything you need and most of what you want). And does everyone really have all this disposable income all of a sudden to hand out to everyone else dozens of times every day? I thought everyone was struggling economically themselves these days. It's making the redistribution of wealth not only voluntary, but also socially acceptable and something people "expect."
This discussion has gotten far afield, but I'm not sure what universe you live in.
The government does not pay for everything a person needs or most of what he/she wants. A serious accident or illness can land someone in the hospital, causing them to miss work or lose their job. At that point the big ol' government doesn't pop in and say "Let me make that rent or mortgage payment for you for a couple of months." Yes, the government does sometimes provide housing for people, but that generally involves voluminous applications and years on a waiting list. In the meantime, a family can lose their home and all their possessions and find themselves on the street in fairly short order.
Who is asking for people to hand over their income dozens of times a day? This thread started with a question about people asking for help with funeral expenses, presumably a one-time request. And if you don't have any disposable income, don't worry about it. No one is making you donate.
Surely you want any redistribution of wealth to be voluntary in the same way it's always been? People have always been free to donate to whatever cause they wish, or to share their wealth with family, friends or strangers. Or not to share it with anyone. All such decisions have always been socially acceptable.
It seems strange that the same people who often say the government shouldn't help people are now saying that private parties shouldn't help anyone either. I guess if bad luck strikes you're just SOL.
As far as helping with a wedding, vacation, or prom for a healthy person, I'd never do that. But no one is forcing me to do that, so all is well.
When (not if) "bad luck" strikes -- you know, inevitable things like DEATH -- hopefully you've prepared for this; responsible adults do.
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