Over educated middle class to upper middle class people crowdfund. Fuck 'em. You know they do this because they're just used to asking for money and getting it. There is some stupid notion in this country that we should support each others dreams.

If it was a poor kid or individual wanting to start their own business I'd look into their ideas. You know some real solid shit to get them out of poverty. But they don't ask.

You know third world women are really good at starting their own businesses. Educated upper middle class women are real good at bullshit projects. They used to come into my parents business and have shit talent, but damn it did they have someone's financial backing for their pet projects. It's so damn commonplace.

I wanna help poor people, despite how unlikeable they are.

Ppen, you're absolutely right about who asks for money. It's usually for some vanity project, too, not some project to help a person get on their feet. (It's a project to help a person stay off their feet -- the feet they'd be on if they worked to fund their own vanity project.)

I grew up poor, and I didn't even like asking people for money in exchange for something I was giving them--girl scout cookie sale time, back when we had to go door to door, was a nightmare. I can't imagine asking for hundreds or thousands of dollars to fund a hobby on the assumption that people would just give it to me. It seriously makes me cringe to think about it.

"I should explain that I don't mind when friends send me requests. " Actually, I'm the opposite, strangers and friends of friends asking are easier to ignore, or evaluate if truly a good investment. When it's friends the friendship gets in the way.

But the part that gets me is when rich and famous people ask for money. They just don't want to risk any of their own money.

Relatives of mine have been trying to have a baby. They recently let it be known that they have subscribed to one of those sites in which they ask for money and it keeps a tally of who donated and how much. I had one thought about that: If they can't afford to MAKE a baby, they won't be able to afford to RAISE one. I can see what's coming there. I couldn't afford to buy my own daughter a prom dress, car, wedding dress or pay for her college - she did it all herself. So, sorry baby-makers, I wish you well, but I can't raise your family for you.

No matter how worthwhile the project, it is just poor manners to beg

I have a friend who is a medical professional who volunteers overseas. She sends emails out for one do gooder project after another.

Many of them seem to be of questionable value, where it seems there is about a 500 percent markup in the project, just because the locals know that Americans must be good for it.
Latest one,
5000 dollars to build a house for a widow in Rwanda where the average income is about a dollar a day.

There seems to be an American impulse to throw money at every problem, and then ignore the real unintended consciences when it becomes a graft magnet.

The Internetz equivalent of the cardboard signs on every off-ramp. Delete. Ignore. Even complaining to/about them gives them beggar-sustaining attention.

Relatives of mine . . . have subscribed to one of those sites in which they ask for money. I had one thought about that: If they can't afford to MAKE a baby, they won't be able to afford to RAISE one.

I have friends doing the same looking to adopt a baby

I have a friend who is a medical professional who volunteers overseas. She sends emails out for one do gooder project after another.

Many of them seem to be of questionable value, where it seems there is about a 500 percent markup in the project

Send her a link to UNICEF, they do it for $0.50 cents a day, and ask her why her projects are so damn expensive

What Amy said in the last comment.

I've given Kickstarter money to a friend, a talented artist who was looking to self-publish a book. In exchange, I got a copy of the finished book.

Same with some other acquaintances who were trying to open a larger theater than the one they ran. They were hardworking and had already built something substantial out of almost nothing. I contributed money and got tickets to shows in their new place.

The musician I enjoy? Sure, I kicked in $10 so she could record a new album, and I got a download link when it was ready.

But the acquaintance looking for money to publish a book of essays? Talented writer, but I know his drinking problem. I ignored the request. (It got funded and he hasn't done a thing on the project.)

And total strangers soliciting their crowdfunding projects is no different to me than coming up to my car in traffic, shaking a can for donations. Get away from me.

Overall, I like the idea of Kickstarter. It gives me the chance to directly support artists whose work I enjoy, and we both benefit.

I play around in an area of music where crowd-sourcing to develop instruments is becoming fairly common. You have to watch what you're doing, and be prepared to lose your money if things go south, which they might do even in a well-run program. Some years ago I invested a non-trivial amount of money in one such project. The person doing it did not solicit me (heck, he didn't even know who I was). He advertised the project in a mailing list for like-minded musicians, and I signed up. He was well known and reputable in the field; even so, there were a few moments when it looked like the project was dead. But eventually it did succeed, and I got a valuable instrument out of the deal.

But I would never contribute to a crowd-sourced project where the person running spammed me. I'll go through proposals in the areas I care about, and if I'm interested and the terms are right, I'll go to them.

I don't understand the depth of Amy's annoyance here.

The difference... Er, arithmetically speaking:

"Capital markets" - "Crowdfunding" = Zilch-de-la-Mundo.

I wish Andy Grove had given me a shot at some Intel stock before launching the 8086 series.

If people aren't allowed to make come-ons, nobody gets laid. Who'd want to live in a world like that?

I don't understand the depth of Amy's annoyance here.

Me neither. Give money or don't. If you like the project, yay. Fork over some cash. If you don't, roll your eyes and move on.

My husband and I have funded some intriguing projects on Kickstarter. We didn't do it out of the kindness of our hearts. We did it because the appealed to us, and most of the time we got something tangible in return. These business owners aren't standing in my driveway begging for cash.

> does not entitle you to take their
> time to beg for money from them.

> to interrupt the life of a total
> stranger to beg

No electronic communication from a stranger can be regarded as intimate until you've sucked on their nipples.

And even then, the Seipp principle applies: The fact that you've transmitted a seemingly personal communiqué to me means zilch: I owe you nothing.

Of COURSE I don't... Amy, we've never seen you get quite this upset about inheritance scammers from Nigeria, or Viagara hucksters from Cleveland, or lonely Tiffany all alone in her college dorm room, with no one to talk to on her Skype account.

I worry you're less offended by the idea that you might be interested these casual appeals than that other investors almost certainly will be.

"I don't understand the depth of Amy's annoyance here."

Whoa! I totally get her annoyance. It seems like everywhere I go someone is asking for a handout.

I cannot walk out of my local supermarket without someone annoyingly asking for money for their project (usually kid's sports league of some sort)

At work, it is the same - donate money through the United Way (which I despise!) and the company will match your contribution. And if you do NOT give they come to "talk to you" stating that they want 100% to contribute. "Why aren't you giving?"

Also, at work they ask for "volunteers" to do community work around the city. Granted it is during work hours so you are paid for "volunteering." But, then you are expected to work over time (without overtime pay) to make up for the office work not done while you were out earning the company a good name.

Then there are the fuckers who come knocking door to door. I had someone start kicking and pounding my door after I closed it because I cut his spiel short when I saw that he was trying to sell me flashy "ghetto" lithographs of unicorns and such shit. I had to threaten to call the cops.

And then there is all the crap being sold by nieces, nephews, friends and coworkers kids for their school projects. I do NOT need wrapping paper nor a huge tub of cookie dough nor any other overpriced crap. But to keep the peace I buy it. I usually throw out the cookie dough. Although once I did try to bake some cookies, they never browned in the oven and when I offered one to the dog (who eats anything) he spit it out!

And lastly, there are the politicians who beg for money - "I need your help to keep away the other evil guy. Send me money now" Of course, they will find a way of taking your money once they get elected anyway.

All this so easily annoys me so I can imagine how easy it is for Amy to be annoyed when others think that her column, her writings, her work, etc. should be for THEM to get free money.

Amy,

I am curious, did you have any thoughts about the Reading Rainbow crowd-funding that was done a few months back?

I got on the indiegogo list because a couple of combat vets were trying to fund a movie about coming back to the states and trying to adapt back to the U.S.

But the thing about it is that when you donate, it is part of a "fair" trade. Like getting a copy of the movie when it's done.

Here's one I saw in the weekly mailer. You get the first ones, at a discount, for the funding.

some of these crowdfunding requests are for noble causes or--occasionally--ventures that might someday turn a profit for those who invest.

As I understand it, ventures funded by Kickstarter aren't allowed to return a profit to investors. If they did, they'd have to conform to the full panoply of SEC rules which apply to companies seeking investment capital.

Got to agree with those who wonder why Amy is getting this upset. How much time does it take to hit the Delete button?

Sorry, Amy, it was all over my FB feed and such, but I forget that I'm a special type of nerd :)

Here's a link:
http://www.today.com/tech/reading-rainbow-finishes-kickstarter-campaign-strong-5-4-million-1D79878607

My understanding is the idea was to bring back the old Reading Rainbow, but get it into classrooms, make apps, etc. The goal being to support childhood literacy and increase access to books and reading material for children. They met their original goal in 11 hours. Mind, Reading Rainbow's host was a Star Trek actor, so there's a cult following to being with... :)

Anyway, it was much more area-specific (literacy) philanthropic project than vanity. I was curious how you feel about those sorts of crowd-funding.

Although once I did try to bake some cookies, they never browned in the oven and when I offered one to the dog (who eats anything) he spit it out!

Posted by: Charles at August 2, 2014 5:38 AM
____________________________________

I trust it didn't have chocolate chips in it, or you wouldn't have offered it?

I wonder why vets didn't used to know about chocolate being potentially deadly to dogs - and when they started issuing warnings. My guess is that Americans didn't used to be so decadent and wasteful with their food dollars - at least not until after the Depression and WWII - and certainly not with their pets, if they could afford a pet in the first place. So vets just didn't come across as many cases of pet owners ignorantly feeding bad foods to their beloved pets.

And the late Donald J. Sobol, author of the "Encyclopedia Brown" series, didn't know in 1966 about dogs and chocolate, BUT...he knew that cheese is very bad for mice (it overheats their blood)!

Predictably, Charles Schulz was also unaware about dogs and chocolate when he wrote "Happiness is a Warm Puppy" in 1962. (I wonder if there was a time when the public pressured him to stop having the human characters offer Snoopy ANYTHING other than dog food - probably pre-1980, in the days when Snoopy still occasionally walked on four legs.)