Will People Be Less Apt to Help With the Rebuilding after the LA Fires

[TippyThomas]

I tend to donate to animal rescues and shelters when disaster strikes an area. I have already donated to California just as I did for Florida and the the Carolinas in the fall.

That's what I did. The animals really have no choice but to be wherever people take them, or leave them, so I think helping them out is nice to do.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I've seen the exact memes and comments you're talking about on Facebook but like....it's Facebook. Just laugh at the stupidity and move on.

But, like, why aren't you moving on here? That is a serious question.

Are you implying that I should have just laughed and moved on and not inquired about people having ill will against victims because of their social status?

I think it is a subject worth discussing. You don't. Why not just keep scrolling and move on to a subject that interests you?

 

[Pink Partridge]

I tend to donate to animal rescues and shelters when disaster strikes an area. I have already donated to California just as I did for Florida and the the Carolinas in the fall.

Love this.

 

[Suger Mag]

I tend to donate to animal rescues and shelters when disaster strikes an area. I have already donated to California just as I did for Florida and the the Carolinas in the fall.

Same. Although this is not as easy of a driving distance from Mass. Our local vet office has a habit of organizing food and supply drives when these events happen... when possible they rent a vehicle and bring the goods directly to local entities.

 

[Minnie1222]

California is run by one party, but statistics show people affiliated with the other party donate far more money to charity.

Donate far more money to what or whom? For example, giving money to a religious organization is different than giving to a humane society or a homeless shelter.

But the reality is, the vast majority of the relief money is coming from the Government, both state and federal..

Agreed!

 

[#1hoosierfan]

But, like, why aren't you moving on here? That is a serious question.

Are you implying that I should have just laughed and moved on and not inquired about people having ill will against victims because of their social status?

I think it is a subject worth discussing. You don't. Why not just keep scrolling and move on to a subject that interests you?

I understand where you are coming from, and it is an interesting topic for discussion. I have also seen people on FB and TikToc say that we shouldn't feel sorry for the "rich" people that lost their house. I personally disagree. Losing all of your belongings and house is traumatic for anyone. Now, will those of lesser means have a harder road to recovery? Of course. I would also not be happy to find out, say, Paris Hilton, got funds from donations, but I hope it does not deter people from donating to those who need it.

 

[tvguy]

Donate far more money to what or whom? For example, giving money to a religious organization is different than giving to a humane society or a homeless shelter.


Agreed!

Donations to charity. I guess you have a much narrower definition of charity than the IRS. I would assume donations that are tax deductible. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-p... is used,the burdens of government; lessening

 

[Nancyg56]

But, like, why aren't you moving on here? That is a serious question.

Are you implying that I should have just laughed and moved on and not inquired about people having ill will against victims because of their social status?

I think it is a subject worth discussing. You don't. Why not just keep scrolling and move on to a subject that interests you?

I also think this is a subject worth discussing.

I think that the level of destruction is way beyond what most of us can comprehend, at least for me. Pictures and videos do not seem real. I live in North Central CT, and while we have our share of natural disasters, we really do not experience the disastrous weather events that occur elsewhere.

I think that some people have trouble relating to wealthy people, and sorting the people whose manner of income impacted them from those whose money did not can be difficult, and we see that when people celebrate the loss of a home and all their possessions.
The level of wealth one needs to afford homes in the millions is incomprehensible to me. I imagine to others as well, folks who are happy when they can pay the bills on their own home. Honestly, for most, myself included, these people are not real. They are like characters in a book or movie, so people are reacting as if this is a chapter. Reactions based on whether you like the character. And a lot of these people play into this.

Now, take it a bit further. We are a country that is kind of at war with itself. We are encouraged to find a bad guy so we have someone to blame misfortune on, or to compare who gets more or pays more. That is happening now with regards to funding in CA. It happened in NC and in Hawaii.

I believe this disaster is going to test who we are as a nation, who we are , how we help, and the decisions we make about rebuilding, will set a standard for how we react when another state faces widespread catastrophe.

So let me end by finally answering your question as honestly as I can. I donate to animal foundations. I donate for food and medical assistance. I do not donate to rebuild homes. Not in CA. Not in FL, HI or NC. It is my opinion that in many of these areas (not all) we have disrupted the natural barriers, or created new problems, that stem widespread destruction, and I will not contribute to compounding that error. It has nothing to do with wealth, or lack thereof. For me.

 

[IMMkXLVI]

Facebook and Reddit is so full of hatred towards "rich" people. I have read so many posts and seen a handful of memes of people almost celebrating the loss/damage of property. Even Mandy Moore faced backlash for sharing a GoFundMe for her family members.

I don't think people understand that many of the victims are not super wealthy. People absolutely do need help right now.

I wonder if people will be less inclined to donate towards the fire victims due to this strange narrative that the rich should be fending for themselves.

I had to Google who that was, never having seen anything she was in. When someone decides that their chosen profession will also be in the limelight, they should first learn about optics. The optics of someone perceived as ultra wealthy, as most established actors usually are, and asking for free money from people with a net worth a fraction of theirs, it looks bad. Just as the appearance of impropriety while lacking any is a thing, so too are the optics of someone earning hundreds of thousands per film asking for money, even if not for themselves.

Imagine a CEO of a global company asking for money from the 9-5 employees to help his extended family. I doubt it would be a good look. Telling those that question it to "f*off" really doesn't help that look.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I also think this is a subject worth discussing.

I think that the level of destruction is way beyond what most of us can comprehend, at least for me. Pictures and videos do not seem real. I live in North Central CT, and while we have our share of natural disasters, we really do not experience the disastrous weather events that occur elsewhere.

I think that some people have trouble relating to wealthy people, and sorting the people whose manner of income impacted them from those whose money did not can be difficult, and we see that when people celebrate the loss of a home and all their possessions.
The level of wealth one needs to afford homes in the millions is incomprehensible to me. I imagine to others as well, folks who are happy when they can pay the bills on their own home. Honestly, for most, myself included, these people are not real. They are like characters in a book or movie, so people are reacting as if this is a chapter. Reactions based on whether you like the character. And a lot of these people play into this.

Now, take it a bit further. We are a country that is kind of at war with itself. We are encouraged to find a bad guy so we have someone to blame misfortune on, or to compare who gets more or pays more. That is happening now with regards to funding in CA. It happened in NC and in Hawaii.

I believe this disaster is going to test who we are as a nation, who we are , how we help, and the decisions we make about rebuilding, will set a standard for how we react when another state faces widespread catastrophe.

So let me end by finally answering your question as honestly as I can. I donate to animal foundations. I donate for food and medical assistance. I do not donate to rebuild homes. Not in CA. Not in FL, HI or NC. It is my opinion that in many of these areas (not all) we have disrupted the natural barriers, or created new problems, that stem widespread destruction, and I will not contribute to compounding that error. It has nothing to do with wealth, or lack thereof. For me.

Great post! Gave me a lot to think about.

 

[cabanafrau]

I think the fact that coverage of this has substantially featured celebrities who've lost their homes probably has a lot of people shrugging and saying, well, they'll get through it just fine. I feel most for regular working people who will probably take decades to recover, if ever. Because of the nature of housing prices in CA this has impacted a lot of regular folk who only managed to reside in the homes they lost because it has been passed down in their family from the days when the community they lived in was affordable to average working class folk. Even with coverage and settlement from the insurance company they won't be getting money to replace what they had, particularly with predatory developers salivating on the sidelines just like in Hawaii. Many of these people are likely to suddenly have unstable housing situations for many years.

I do feel empathy for even some of the uber wealthy famous folk who can pick up and move on as they choose no matter how things shake out with insurance coverage. I feel empathy if they've lost precious family heirlooms from deceased family members and/or things like precious items of their children's childhood. No matter who you are sentimental things like that have tremendous value that money can't buy.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I had to Google who that was, never having seen anything she was in. When someone decides that their chosen profession will also be in the limelight, they should first learn about optics. The optics of someone perceived as ultra wealthy, as most established actors usually are, and asking for free money from people with a net worth a fraction of theirs, it looks bad. Just as the appearance of impropriety while lacking any is a thing, so too are the optics of someone earning hundreds of thousands per film asking for money, even if not for themselves.

Imagine a CEO of a global company asking for money from the 9-5 employees to help his extended family. I doubt it would be a good look. Telling those that question it to "f*off" really doesn't help that look.

This is a fair assessment of Mandy Moore's position. Perhaps this is what people felt when she posted the GoFundMe. You put it into words better than most of her critics.

 

[Minnie1222]

Donations to charity. I guess you have a much narrower definition of charity than the IRS. I would assume donations that are tax deductible.

I'm not questioning the definition of "charity". I want to know the types of charity that received the contributions from these major donors.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I think we have to be careful to actually do things that are helpful, and not just be doing things to be doing things that look helpful. Case in point; the donations event at Santa Anita. They ended up with a literal mountain of clothing, blankets, towels etc. that will in all likelyhood just be thrown away. That is NOT what the fire victims need.

The other thing, and I don't know if this has been mentioned, yes, there are a lot of >$5 million homes that burned near Malibu, but the neighborhood in Altadena/Pasadena was far less wealthy. There were also whole apartment buildings, schools, churches and businesses that were lost. Those that need help will get it if you are inclined to donate/volunteer in the effort. You are not just giving money to the wealthy.

 

[tvguy]

I'm not questioning the definition of "charity". I want to know the types of charity that received the contributions from these major donors.

I have no way of finding that out.

 

[cabanafrau]

I kind of don't understand the vitriol against Mandy Moore when stepping back and taking a good look at it. Could she likely buy and sell me? Probably. In terms of the wealth and celebrity ranking I don't feel she ranks with what I'd call the uber wealthy, likely to have the kind of money to handle her own household support and be able to get multiple extended family households back on their feet, some of which includes business rebuilding.

I compare that idea to someone who I definitely consider in the uber rich category, Oprah. It never set easy on me how Oprah was lecturing "the common folk" about giving back for years and years, and getting commended for being a good role model, all the while her lifestyle kept a stratospheric climb into increasingly conspicuous consumption. Years and years before she left her talk show I remember coverage of her birthday pageantry, which included many luxurious celebrations -- one of which included specially commissioned birthday china to be used at a dinner celebration for probably 100 or more guests, not even the only celebration dinner being held. It wasn't until the aftermath of the Hawaii fires that people publicly questioned why she was campaigning for donations. Back all those years ago on her show many of the people donating to the causes she was highlighting were sacrificing a proportionally higher amount of their incomes to give than she was with even big dollar donations. Even if she throws $1 million at a cause she's not making any meaningful sacrifice to her lifestyle. The regular folk giving to the causes she campaigned for might have had to budget to give $100 or $200 to something. For some people $20 or $50 donation means they gave up going out to dinner that week.

 

[cabanafrau]

I think we have to be careful to actually do things that are helpful, and not just be doing things to be doing things that look helpful. Case in point; the donations event at Santa Anita. They ended up with a literal mountain of clothing, blankets, towels etc. that will in all likelyhood just be thrown away. That is NOT what the fire victims need.

The other thing, and I don't know if this has been mentioned, yes, there are a lot of >$5 million homes that burned near Malibu, but the neighborhood in Altadena/Pasadena was far less wealthy. There were also whole apartment buildings, schools, churches and businesses that were lost. Those that need help will get it if you are inclined to donate/volunteer in the effort. You are not just giving money to the wealthy.

For the record, I believe Mandy Moore lives in Altadena, as did some of her extended family.

 

[Minnie1222]

I remember coverage of her birthday pageantry, which included many luxurious celebrations -- one of which included specially commissioned birthday china to be used at a dinner celebration for probably 100 or more guests, not even the only celebration dinner being held.

Think about the people who were commissioned to make those plates and the numerous other people who were employed at these events. I would love to see Oprah throwing lavish parties every weekend because it means more income to the workers.

It wasn't until the aftermath of the Hawaii fires that people publicly questioned why she was campaigning for donations.

If I read correctly, her campaign raised almost 60 million dollars for Hawaii. She could have sat back and did nothing, but she chose to utilize her celebrity status for the greater good.

Back all those years ago on her show many of the people donating to the causes she was highlighting were sacrificing a proportionally higher amount of their incomes to give than she was with even big dollar donations.

I think people were happy to donate.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I kind of don't understand the vitriol against Mandy Moore when stepping back and taking a good look at it. Could she likely buy and sell me? Probably. In terms of the wealth and celebrity ranking I don't feel she ranks with what I'd call the uber wealthy, likely to have the kind of money to handle her own household support and be able to get multiple extended family households back on their feet, some of which includes business rebuilding.

I agree with you. The general vitriol that I was reading was basically her husband and her husband's brother have this band. I have no idea how successful it is. The name of the band is Dawes, and I have never heard of it.

Her mother in law and father in law lost their home to the fires. Her brother in law's home also burned down. Hillary Duff's husband started the GoFundMe for the brother in law and all Mandy did was share it. The GoFundMe is at over $200K now, and climbing. So, maybe the publicity did the brother in law (Griffin Goldsmith) some good.

People were saying things like "20 years in a band, a baby on the way, and you have no money saved". I don't think people understand that you don't walk into a bank, take your money out, and go buy a house in one day.

Some background on the situation:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/...es-dawes-taylor-griffin-goldsmith-1235232009/

 

[Minnie1222]

Taylor Swift donated $10,000,000. Travis Kelce $1,000,000.