It sure as hell isn’t me…so I guess it’s just you.
I think it’s totally obnoxious, too, Ogre.
I read everyone’s argument. I understand them all. Hardly worth arguing about but to me it’s a little bit gauche, low-class.
I mean, I’m low-class in my own particular way, so I’m not going to lecture anyone. I just think its ugly in real life, or here on a message board when people let you know what they give to charities.
We aren’t anonymous?
You know my name in RL?
Part of the allure of this board is the fact that I don’t know any of you in RL. Maybe some of you do, or spend a lot of time trying to figure out who people are. That’s the whole point, though, isn’t it? That’s why most posters favor Ogre over Joseph Blow of 123 Fake Street (as far as I know, this is not his real name or address).
Yeah, I know that some people have links to web pages, etc. but I don’t typically follow them, and the times I have it’s usually because someone has posted a picture. I still don’t know any Dopers in RL, and will probably choose to keep it that way. For me, it’s still anonymous.
I agree with the OP. All the self-congratulations is unseemly. It’s really not that heroic to donate some money once in a while and I don’t buy for a second that blowing one’s own horn makes anyone else give money who would not have given otherwise. I was even going to quote The Gospel of Matthew but Raindog beat me to it.
I agree with Jesus. Just give your money and keep your mouth shut about it. Is it going to kill you if no one knows how wonderful you are?
I think the relative board “anonymity” is a disingenuous point. We all still have board personas and reputations onder which we interact, and we are still capable of wanting praise and pats on the back from the community here. If we were truly anonymous…if none of us had user names and all just posted as “anonymous,” you might have a point, but such is not the case.
Who cares if people want a pat on the back. I have given to plenty of SDMB causes and only the people who organised them would know… I never mention what I have given to in threads. But so what, that’s me - I can do my own back patting, if other people feel differently, so what…we should criticise them for giving? Regale us with tales of how Mother Teresa was only in it for the publicity.
I’ve no doubt you’re right about this; OTOH, we don’t know how many Dopers donated without posting to that thread, for whatever reason. As an optomist, I’d like to think that the amount of donations given by Dopers but not put in the thread more than equal the amount of bluff in same thread.
It is tacky, no doubt about it. But it’s also harmless and it cheered me up to see so many good Dopers getting together on this. I love that community sense.
Furthermore, if anyone posted in that thread just to impress the rest of us, it was pretty much wasted on me. I only remember one person’s name and I don’t think it’s substantially altered my view of that person. We all want to help.
I don’t for a second think the motives of those in the thread are anything more than good and right.I have to admit, I agree in the most part with the OP. I guess what bothers me about it is that SDMB folks I am sure give generously throughout the year to all sorts of worthy causes and if someone started a thread that was basically, “Post your Charitable Giving Here” and then folks started with, 'I gave $100 to the local Humane Society" and “I gave $500 to the local Mission” and “I gave $50 to the local food bank” it would seem a bit…unseemly… I don’t know it just wouldn’t seem right and I cannot see how that situation is different from Katrina.
I think what is most bothersome is that folks are broadcasting their amount of giving.
I found it unseemly, so I didn’t open or participate in the thread. How much I donate is nobody’s business but my own.
While I certainly want no big praise for what I might have contributed, not to say that I did, I think it’s interesting and fun to see how much money the SDMB has raised. We’ve certainly had more frivolous threads than that. So if I want to add my contribution, if any, which I’m not saying there is, to the total, in what way can I notify the board without drawing attention to myself? Sock puppet?
I’m not in to self-congratulations either, but I posted to the thread my amount and charity of choice because it was exciting.
Day in and day out most of us sit and watch the horrors unfold and feel absolutely HELPLESS as to what we can do. We read here about some folks who are going to physically help out and we still feel helpless because WE can’t physically help out. We can congratulate those who go down there and participate in those threads and offer encouragement but it still doesn’t feel like enough.
Everyone is scared and saddened, and everyone wants to help out. The amount I gave was the most I could muster and it hardly felt like enough. But seeing it as a part of a much larger sum made me feel more like I was actualy DOING something.
The OP may be right in that it’s tacky and gauche but right now isn’t really the time to go all Miss Manners on the situation. The point is that people want to help, they’re helping, and if this is how they want to show it then ok.
And it was right kind of Ogre to apologize. You don’t see that here every day.
Man, I’m glad Ogre started this thread, because as we all know, not only is unseemliness rapidly becoming the scourge of our nation, but Liberal, who usually pulls this duty, is not currently around to remind us when we are being so. Like now, when I’ve just invoked the name of a poster who can’t respond. Damn, I’m just being unseemly all over the place. Sorry.
Yeah, the donation thread’s a bit self-congratrulatory and silly. So are a lot of threads, so what’s the big deal here? A couple of days from now it’ll drop off the first page and it will be forgotten. I seriously doubt that anyone here is going to keep some sort of running mental tally rating their fellows by how much they say they’ve donated to Katrinan relief. Well, maybe a few actually would, but that would then make them complete goofballs
If the OP wishes to continue to rant about such a ridicualously trivial issue, it’s his nickel, but I suggest that pulling that coathanger out of his butthole may be more rewarding in the long run.
Whoops, missed Ogre’s apology. So, I apologize in turn. Dammit.
That’s the catch…And why doing this in a virtual community like this one makes the issue of anonymity difficult.
If the SDMB set up an account that acted like a central clearing for donations, that might be preferable for many. In that way the SDMB Management could tally the money and report back the aggregate donations. (I’m not suggesting that they should, or have such an obligation)
That may not be practicle, and more of a headache than SDMB wants to take on. But, it would not only provide anonymity, but “consolidate” the donation.
Imagine the SDMB presenting a single check for $10,000 from the members of the SDMB Community.
This much I know. When I went to that minor league baseball game they passed the duffle bags in the 5th inning. At the beginning of the 9th they announced that they had collected $8300 from that game alone. The crowd appauded tremondously. I felt proud to be an anonymous part of that community.
Oh, take it to the other thread, dude.
Anybody who donates to a cause like that has a right to be proud of themselves. I haven’t seen anybody posting anything like, “Oh, look at me, I gave 7 billion dollars, I’m better than the rest of you.” IMO, there’s nothing wrong with popping in and saying, “I just donated $X.” If anything, it’s kind of cool to be able to add it all up at the end and say, “Wow, we’ve donated over $XXXX.XX!”
First of all, thank you for the retraction and apology, Ogre. It was a very charitable thing to do – to give your fellow man the benefit of the doubt and stop passing judgment on them. Kudos.
Not that I can’t see your point of view – I admit there can be a perception of boasting in announcing one’s specific donation publicly. However, I saw that particular thread differently, as something more akin to a telethon. Telethons exist for the sole purpose of encouraging those who watch to actually get off their duffs and donate something. Although not every donor gets spotlighted, there’s generally a scroll at the bottom of the screen, giving names and donation amounts. And most of all, there’s a tally board that acts as additional encouragement, because seeing the total number rise and rise and rise is exciting and rewarding. That’s how I looked at that thread.
As for my part, personally, Judaism doesn’t suggest that we can never disclose that we’ve done a charitable act, or to what degree. And giving to the needy is not viewed as “charity,” per se:
There is, however, a “scale,” if you will, of levels of charity, from the least meritorious to the most meritorious, which are: [ol][li]Giving begrudgingly [/li][li]Giving less that you should, but giving it cheerfully. [/li][li]Giving after being asked [/li][li]Giving before being asked [/li][li]Giving when you do not know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient knows your identity [/li][li]Giving when you know the recipient’s identity, but the recipient doesn’t know your identity [/li][li]Giving when neither party knows the other’s identity [/li][li]Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant[/ol] The way I looked at it was, while other people may know what we’ve given, we don’t know the identity of the specific recipient, nor will they ever know ours, so no “foul,” so to speak. (For reference: http://www.jewfaq.org/tzedakah.htm)[/li]
In addition, had it not been for that thread, our donation would have been 1/3 less, because I never would have known about the Barry Manilow foundation matching program, which we ended up funnelling our donation through only as a result of seeing it posted in that thread.
And lastly, I have to say that I also saw the smaller donations in an entirely different way from you, as well. It actually touched me to the depths of my soul to see people who clearly didn’t have 2 nickles to rub together, pulling out what amounts to a meal of their own and giving it to someone who’s had no meals for as long as a week. That kind of generosity is the most heartwarming, IMO – far more so than the larger donations from people who could clearly afford it. YMMV, but I just thought I’d try to offer you a different perspective.
Peace be with you during this crisis and beyond.
Oh shit, and I forgot to mention that I gave $100 for the Tsunami victims. Company matched that one too.
davenportavenger, have yerself a big ol cup of kindlygofuckyerself.
He’s right, who cares who donates? and how much?
Bugs me too.