Again…any evidence to support that notion…especially since all the distribution decisions are made at the local level?
The initial point I was responding to had to do with excluding my money from a certain agency. If I don’t want my x # of dollars to go to Planned Parenthood (or the Boy Scouts…or whoever) , then my x # of dollars do not go that agency, but go somewhere else. The fact that other people’s money may go to Planned Parenthood or the Boy Scouts is irrelevant to me.
Looks to me like the moral high ground on this sucker is a fairly narrow ridge.
First, never give money to a charity that you thing is not worthy of your charitable impulse.
Second, never let anyone know what charity you have performed.
Third, never let your own gain be a part of a charitable act.
So, you have to find a charity you do find acceptable, and give twice as much to that as you would to the jeans bribe charity, no matter what that is. And you must never wear jeans to work again, no matter what charity is being pimped. (Although you may freely support those charities when it happens that you agree with their charitable impulse, but you must do so privately, away from work.) Then you have to make sure you never mention any of this to anyone at work.
Does that help?
Tris
By the way, this particular moral high ground is also not one of those with a terrific view of all the land below. We are talking about a couple of bucks here, not a gift of time, or an investment of emotional significance.
So, keep your spare change, and screw those little Christian kids. In July, while you are out in the weeds, in Afghanistan feeding the starving children of Muslims you can bask in the glow of your moral superiority. It’ll be great.
Tris
I’m not sure what the distributions being made on the local level has to do with anything, and certainly am confused as to why it is important enough to be bolded.
As I said, last time I checked, the distributions are not designated as a percentage of total collected, but as fixed dollar amounts to be taken from the money specifically designated and generally contributed.
AYE!
beagledave - Sorry that I didn’t respond - not much Doping over the weekend. The basis for my post was the way it’s been explained to me for my local UW, United Way of Middle Tennessee. Your mileage may vary, of course. Also, the time I tried to designate my donation away from a UW agency (which was allowed, according the the UW pitch. UW said they’d take a 10% handling fee out and forward the rest to my charity of choice, the Nasville Humane Society) I had deductions taken from each check. When the time for the next pledge drive came, I checked with the Humane Society to verify that they’d been receiving thier donations, as I hadn’t heard from them. They hadn’t received anything from UW. When I asked UW for an explanation, it took three queries before I got a response, which was “We couldn’t find your pledge card so we put the money in the General Fund.” They had my pledge card to make the deductions, but not to disperse it as promised. And they didn’t offer to make it good and send the Nashville Humane the pledged money. That was the last time I donated to UW.
StG
Well the fact that you had a bad experience with your local is too bad. However, as I’ve stated, several times…that has nothing to do with a **different ** local United Way agency. So, saying that “They are going to distribute the money as they see fit. It’s fooling yourself if you think they know which dollar is yours.” is simply without foundation for MY local UW agency.
BTW, just for shits and giggles, i went to the UW-Nashville website (which i assume is yours?) …
Notice what they say?
and
It’s a bit unclear if THIS local UW allows you to specifically EXCLUDE a certain agency (as my local UW does)
To re-cap: You had a (one?) bad experience with some local UW volunteers or staff members. From this, you extrapolated that “They are going to distribute the money as they see fit. It’s fooling yourself if you think they know which dollar is yours.”
The posted policies of my UW (and the Nashville UW) state otherwise…so again, not enough to make a sweeping generalization about the funding practices of all the various local UW agencies.
beagledave - Do you understand my analogy at all? What I mean is, they are going to give a certain amount of money to each designated UW agency. I don’t see anything that says that PP (or Boy Scouts or anyone else) will get less money, or that my charity of choice will get more money if I specifically designate it that way. So whether it’s my money or someone else’s, a dollar is a dollar is a dollar. I honestly don’t see the difference with the my money/your money thing. To me, once it’s in their hands, they disperse it. It’s as featureless as one spoon of water versus another.
StG
Ok, although this is off topic, I wanted to address this. The problem with your statement is that gives into the conspicuous consumerism model that is reaffiriming the mentality and mores that have gone awry. Children DON’T need toys for the holidays. They do however require toys and books and food and shelter that are going to help growth. The ideals that you are proposing are quasi-proselytizing by means that “since everyone else is Christian, you’re a pariah and either better stop thinking for yourself or start fitting in the mold”. If one’s raising a kid to blend in with society, I feel sorry for that child. Teach a child to understand how society works and then teach them to transcend it into a more ethical realm instead of pacifying their whims by buying them whatever they want.
That’s cold, man. Really cold.