I recently found an Indiegogo campaign for a former D.I.Y. haunt of mine asking for dough to expand their business, in exchange for potential goods and services if the endeavor pans out.
This seems especially ironic since all the dirty work of cultivating their business was done by us establishing the venue, practically free of the hardships we faced to exist there ... Must be nice to have a ready-made nest to move in to.... Can anyone say magpies! I'm not sure of the direction business funding is taking but it does seem like many are opting out of the normal loan seeking methods of yore....
I also witnessed the husband of a well-known local pop star who was seeking funding to continue his education by advertising his Indiegogo plea on Twitter... His well known pop star wife retweeted!... This does seem like a slap in the face to every other student in the history of the 'Y' generations who had to either work two jobs and/or borrow from the fabulous student loan system to further themselves....
Now I could see if their lives were fraught with tragedy and absolute devastation that someone would be seeking funds to help them persevere in life.... But these are normal people most would consider fortunate.... They have homes ... jobs ... families ... and enough technological devices to keep up with the status quo on social media... They've taken vacations to Mexico ... went on tour.... posted pictures of scrumptious food with Instagram and Twitpics.... Hardly hard done by...
Since when has charity become applicable to everyone with the audacity to set up a gimme-free-dough account...
It also seems the one-percenters have actually forced some governmental policy changes in the United States so they can participate in something Hollywood has come up with called 'equity crowdfunding’.... Holy shit! I can’t imagine what sort of tax-evading loopholes this will lead to being discovered....
I know this all started with a few bands trying to fund their music projects because the music industry pay scale has been totally decimated... These were realistic understandable needs.... It's not easy paying the real life bills and then the other expenses that it takes to do what you love ... Unless your band has an incredible draw, you rarely get paid what you need doing gigs to adequately take care of your needs ... I believe I touched on it last column about the amount of peeps available to attend the multitude of shows out there is akin to table scraps... I can understand how many arts organizations have taken to Kickstarter to finance themselves seeing as how arts funding and grants have pretty much been eradicated...
I've organized many fundraisers for many people and organizations that have been fucked by the universe in one way or another ... That's the whole point.... Help when help is needed ... Fires ...Thefts ... Accidents ... Deaths ... Philanthropic causes ... I even had some done for me when the Cobes was robbed and again when usurped.... I still have every cent, minus what I've had to pay in storage fees for the chattels of the bar.... I still have the hope for a D.I.Y. Hellhole again ... someday ... somehow ... I was my own kickstarter.
-wendythirteen
