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The larger theme is "Technology makes it easier for individuals to beg strangers for money". I can't open social media without seeing kickstarter/indiegogo th
by ryanmercer 7y ago
The larger theme is
"Technology makes it easier for individuals to beg strangers for money".
I can't open social media without seeing kickstarter/indiegogo this, gofundme that, need money quick, can someone paypal/venmo me money for thing, etc. Then a day, week, month later you see pictures of their brand new cabinets or of their vacation or they are hitting people up for money again for something else because people gave last time so now they expect regular handouts.
Instead of getting creative, people now just go "hey, stranger, you have it better than me, give me your hard earned money!"
- komali2 7y agoI'm having trouble figuring what you're actually saying here. Do you not like that people can beg? Or that they have to at all?
- ryanmercer 7y ago>I'm having trouble figuring what you're actually saying here. I'm saying the internet, specifically social media and payment apps/crowd funding sites, allow people to unabashedly give their (true or otherwise) sob story and beg complete strangers for money, I imagine the vast majority of people on sites like gofundme would hesitate to even phone family for financial assistance and I suspect nearly all of the people begging on social media simply wouldn't ask if they had to walk up to random strangers in person and ask. Keep in mind, I say this while my nephew currently has a gofundme trying to raise 260,000 USD (!!!) for his mother for some experimental, questionable (cryotherapy for her kidney cancer, when it's usually used for skin cancer for example), cancer treatment in China. I think these sites/methods serve a useful purpose, I think however trying to get gas money to give to your mother to go see your undocumented step-father in another state because he was drink driving and is likely to be deported or remain incarcerated... or hitting people up for beer money... is not a valid use of such sites/methods.
- viraptor 7y ago> gas money to give to your mother to go see your undocumented step-father in another state because he was drink driving and is likely to be deported or remain incarcerated... [...] is not a valid use of such sites/methods. Why not?
- yakshaving_jgt 7y ago> Instead of getting creative, people now just go "hey, stranger, you have it better than me, give me your hard earned money!" This isn't new. This is the basis of some rather infamous socio-economic systems which have resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoDidn't think I'd see panhandlers get equated to Nazis today.
- sp332 7y agoI think yakshaving_jgt meant communism. Or socialism? Hard to tell since all the major systems have killed a lot of people.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoMaybe. Equating panhandlers to Stalin is just as weird, though.
- antepodius 7y agoIt's more like deKulakisation.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoEither way, it's pretty damn weird to try to connect begging for money with mass slaughter.
- kjsbfkjbf 7y agoAlso straight up ignoring the millions of people who die under capitalism.
- matz1 7y agoBut that is creative, utilizing a medium/tools outside its usual purpose.
- the_watcher 7y agoI think both of these themes are equally true. Informal (and formal) community organizations have long supported those they feel are most in need, and people have long begged strangers for money. The internet simply makes it easier to do both.