I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the braggarts didn’t give a plug nickel to the cause. Kind of like high school and sex, you know. The ones who talk the most do the least.
The OP is a petty complaint, but a valid one. It IS poor form to mention giving, but our country has become so rude, classless, and obnoxious that it’s pretty low on my list of priorities.
That’s what I said! Remember? “True, it is nearly impossible to find out how many are in the last category.”
Indeed. I said much the same thing back in post 45 The reply was for people to keep complaining, and also
What the fuck does that even mean? It wasn’t “armchair psychoanalysis”, it was practical advice. Was this a Freudian slip on davenportavenger’s part?
I really don’t care if people want to brag about what they do. Personally, I have always felt that any deposit into your karma account you get from an act of selflessness is automatically withdrawn when you share your seflessness with a third party. But, naturally, everyone’s mileage will vary.
I suspect very few of us were “spurred to act” simply because the shame of not being able to add our post was too much to bear. I can’t help but think most of us know our own mind enough that we can actually be givers without first being led by the nose.
Another thing that bothers me about that thread - there’re ways to help that don’t involve opening up your checkbook. If the “intent” is to have a “SDMB Total”, where do the hands and backs, the goods and services, figure in?
But, the reality is that bragging about your generosity is a natural thing to do. A lot of anonymous donors do so not because they think it’s unseemly to publicize their generosity - but because they think others will hit them up for cash, too. I’ve worked for enough non-profits and charities to know that’s a fact!
Right here, here, and here for just a few examples.
Ah, it all becomes clear.
And yet you think it’s meaningful? What’s wrong with you?
Right back atcha!
A-fucking-men. There may be many threads that I may find offensive. I’m certainly not forced to read them.
Have any of you that found our posts “tacky” either been to, or participated in, an auction? If you have, then you know the power of momentum. By directing a large group of people to a common cause can result in greater results. There’s nothing disingenuous in that, my friend.
Gee Scott, you sure have turned into the SDMB historian. Big surprise, considering what a moron you started out playing. Quite the massive turnaround, I must say.
Sometimes tackiness has its upsides. I’m slightly skeptical that the thread in question actually spurred many donations (how many people ignore the massive fundraising efforts all around them, but then are suddenly inspired by a “me too” thread on the SDMB?), but if it makes you think you’re helping, add your name to the list. The fact that I think it’s tacky really shouldn’t stop you.
Q.E.D. said:
(which was directed at DtC)
To which Ruby replied:
To which I say:
I mean, did DtC crap in the MPSIMS thread? Heck, this Pit thread is a commentary on that thread! It is the appropriate place to voice a dissenting POV. Isn’t that right? Ogre needed a little Mod prodding to bring it here, but it seems to me the appropriate place to offer a valid opinion.
Should I infer then that when a doper has an oppsing view the appropriate approach is to simply not read the thread? How [intellectually] robust is the response, ‘Don’t read it then!’?
Hey, with this approach we can close down Great Debates right now. (Incidentally, Ogre’s point would have made a valid global GD discussion on Charity/Giving in the context of disasters like Katrina)
I would also surmise (and I might be wrong) that most Pit threads are born of slights (real or perceived) in GD, so we can probably close down The Pit also.
Think of the decreased bandwidth! All that hamster food saved!
(DtC: In the future, please restrict your comments to those threads in which you agree. Further, what may appear to you to be disagreement is actually disinterest. Please do not comment where you are disinterested. :dubious: 
)
There’s a slight difference between disagreement with another poster’s idea and disagreement with the existence of a thread.
Help me understand the slight difference…and why one has less merit than the other…(and in the particular case, how the idea can be separated from the thread…)
One is disagreeing with a posted idea, possibly (probably) leading to a discussion, debate, and dialogue.
One is saying the thread shouldn’t exist in the first place, and that the ideas posted within shouldn’t be expressed.
Do you see the difference?
Well, I agree with Ogre most of the time and my donations are usually only known to me. However, the thread in question didn’t really feel like a bunch of back-patting to me. Instead, after reading through it, I got more a sense of community from those involved. I have to admit, I was pretty pissed at Ogre’s intrusion upon it and was quite relieved to see his apology here.
In any case, nothing about my donations have changed, other than the fact that I patted myself on the back this time. 
Not really…But it’s all semantics I guess…
I guess I see the thread as the manifestation of the idea; ergo (in the virtual world anyway) no thread, no idea.
But I think I see your point.
Yes. Just not the importance of that distinction.
They are being judged. They are being insulted because they dare to bore you. If that isn’t judgmental, what is?
I keep imagining everyone in Bad-Willow clothing, drooping about: “Bored now.”
And it isn’t (just) self-congratulations. I congratulate everyone who gave anything. There. It’s the congratulations (which is a dumb word when you write it too often) of others, too.
It’s hurtful to attack people who have done you no harm. “They bore me,” isn’t doing harm. After all, this is a voluntary message board. Your boredom is your own choice.
I’m most likely gonna get flamed here, but: If it wasn’t back-patting, what was the point?
To entice more people to donate? To make people donate more? Oh no, it was to record how much we’ve given, right? So it was all for the good of everyone else.
Because, knowing that some random poster says they donated $50 to whatever makes me want to donate even more. Moreso than, say, seeing and hearing about actual human tragedy. :rolleyes: “Yeah, there’s people dying and suffering… bleh. So what. Wait… FranklinFerrter1142 has posted that they donated? Let my wallet spring forth with the bounty! I’m so glad I had other people tell me what to feel, since I am incapable of deciding just when and what to give to DISASTER RELIEF FOR THE WORST U.S. NATURAL DISASTER IN RECORDED HISTORY on my own.” You are giving yourselves waaaay too much credit here.
And it REALLY makes me want to donate more than $50. “Holy crap, WangRyder77838 made a $75 dollar contribution. I’ll show that stupid bastard how charitable I am!” Again, assuming that your posts will influence people more than the tragedy itself? That people will give just a buck, see that thread, and give the rest of the rent for that month?
As for recording the amount given, this has been basically debunked. Anyone can claim anything, and many more are not even posting. What’s the point?
Lastly, in this long post, I agree it’s a tacky practice. Can’t people just say they donated, or they didn’t? Why are there dollar amounts involved? Numbers in this case (an SDMB thread about charity), are irrelevant and subjective, IMO. I’m totally stoked that so many people gave so much, and if anyone was swayed into giving by that thread, awesome. But it’s still tacky, not to mention somewhat pointless. And i’m pissed that some posters feel the need for a charity pissing match to make others donate more. Like we won’t otherwise, without you oh wise ones. And like we really needed that thread as a kick in the ass (i.e. “Inspiration”)… That’s fucking insulting.
I know, i’m a total bitch who likes to rain on parades. I guess I also assumed giving what you could, when needed, was just par for the course; not something to post all over the internet and “challenge” other posters about. I’m a bitch though. And this post is my Unwanted Unasked-for Opinion.
Haha, I’m agreeing with you. For serious. 
Here:
If one is bored with something, I presume one is disinterested in it. You could have saved yourself a lot of useless typing if you’d bothered to read more carefully.