mrklixx

I was just interested in an informal anonymous poll to see if your average TFP user has donated to hurricane relief. I know most people would rather not toot their own horns if they have donated, that's why I chose a poll.

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Grasshopper Green

There is no poll?

(or I'm blind)

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mrklixx

That's wierd that you were able to respond beofre I was finished.

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docbungle

Um, there is no "No, I haven't donated because I'm broke" option. All of the "No" options you supply are derogatory.

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la petite moi

I agree; where is the "I'm a poor broke student" option?

mrklixx

Well unfortunately I can't edit the poll or I would add the "No, I'm poorer than than any of those affected, and can't even afford to drop a quarter in the hurricane relief jar at 7-11" option.

Edited to add: That's one of the reasons I put "services" in the 1st option because volunteering doesn't "cost" anything.

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n0nsensical

I think this is one of those "fair and balanced" opinion polls...

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Jinn

That's the consensus, so far.. I guess.

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spectre

Taken care of.

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vautrain

I make and sell accessories for Subaru vehicles on the side, and for an indefinite time period, I'm donating gross receipts minus my shipping and PayPal costs. I figure I've already paid for the materials, it's just my time and effort.

I also have a vintage wristwatch collection, and I'm selecting a watch to auction on eBay, the proceeds of which will be donated. Probably a nice vintage Omega.

I am also donating cash out of my pocket.

I don't want to seem self-righteous. I feel a strong personal connection to the people on the Gulf Coast. I've got family down there. My sister lived in New Orleans until last Sunday. I'm just doing what I can do to help.

jorgelito

The Poll is missing a few options...

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mrklixx

Such as? Since I seem to have misplaced my "How to be a Psychic in 10 easy Steps" book.

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jorgelito

Doh! My bad, I guess I didn't finish my thought...well here, you can borrow my "How to be a Psychic in 10 easy Steps" book.

I wanted to see:

No, I didn't donate cause there already is a lot of aid etc

No, I didn't donate cause I don't have much money myself - similar to the "poor student option"

Undecided

I dunno, stuff like that I guess.

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Uncle Pony

How about a simple yes or no?

RangerDick

Or how about this option...

"No, i haven't donated, nor do I plan to. I believe that my post-catastrophe-Monday-morning-quarterbacking skills and criticisms will ultimately do more good for the victims of Katrina than actually ponying up and donating time, materials or money. I'm a college student darnit, I know everything!"

tspikes51

How about the option of "No, I haven't donated yet because I want to make a meaningful contribution, don't have enough money, and can't bring myself to only giving a quarter."

Look, I want to help these people. If you know me at all, you would know that I am very empathetic. You would also know that I am the last to be the know-it-all college kid who bitches about how the government sucks. I think that it would be belittling to the people to give a quarter or a dollar. I also have no time to help raise money (I work 20+ hours a week and have a 16 hour class load on top of an hour long commute each way every day). I have less than five dollars in my bank account. I just had to borrow twenty bucks from my mom so that I can buy lunch and gas before my next paycheck. Now, that being said, I could forgo going to class, work, or the little free time that I have so that I can help those in need, but I'll be damned if I have needs myself. Giving would be more than an inconvenience to me. I want to help, but I just can't right now. I'm just hoping for some fortunate event to come up where I have a little extra cash or time that I can donate. I have a feeling that there will be plenty of time to help, and I don't have to make myself as poor as the victims to help.

I would consider telling the original poster to go fuck him/her self, but that would be the childish way to do it. I would appreciate it if you would maybe consider that there actually people out there who would like to help but lack the means.

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analog

I didn't want to make a whole thread just for this, and it's all relief-related, so here goes...

SOMEONE HAS AN ACTUAL BRAIN IN THEIR HEAD!! AN ACTUAL SMART MOVE, FOR ONCE!

ShaniFaye

Another board Im on adopted the friend of a member and we have all donated goods for money (in the form of store gift cards) and are helping that way. I much rather like knowing the piddly little amount I could afford went for something specific to a "real" person

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Redlemon

Analog, that's really cool. I hope that the counterfeit dog food is still nutritious, and that the toys aren't safety hazards. I'm sure there's no issue with the clothes (they might wear out a bit faster, but that won't concern anyone).

My wife handles the charity in our family, she donated through her workplace to the Red Cross, since her company is matching all donations.

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mrklixx

Well, because I was interested to see why people who haven't donated choose not to. Since it's anonymous there is absolutely no need for anyone to quantify their vote. And also I wanted to see how many people would complain about the answers I gave.



Oh and if someone were to tell me to go fuck myself, I would have to tell them if I could, I would never leave the house

p.s. 1,000,000 / 4 = 250,000

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Destrox

You seem to be against those of us who simply want to vote "No" without tagging us as some lower member of society....

Anyways, no I have not, nor do I honestly plan on it. I can barely afford the cost of gas as it was prior to rising, and riding a bike isnt a option.

So I'd love to vote, but I dont vote biased polls.

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Glory's Sun

No, because I'm a selfish prick and have other things to do with my money


there I said it.

skier

i agree with destrox. Helping your fellow man is a choice, not a duty. The person most deserving of life is yourself.

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pattycakes

lol ..........nice

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cyrnel

For those without convenient outlets, Red Cross accepts direct contributions to their Katrina fund by <a href="http://www.redcross.org/donate/donatephone.html">Phone</a>, <a href="http://www.redcross.org/donate/donatemail.html">Mail</a>, or <a href="https://give.redcross.org/?hurricanemasthead">Online</a>.

<img src="http://www.redcross.org/cda/images/homemasthd.jpg">

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maleficent

I'd agree with the second statement, but completely disagree with the first statement... It's a pretty self absorbed way to go thru life not thinking you have an obligation to your fellow human beings. No man is an island, they eventually need the help of other people, and they should willingly give help to others..you do what you can to help... period.

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Latch

Exactly... except I voted. I just chose the most offensive (and popular) "No" reason, just for the hell of it (no, I don't actually think that).

If you want some real poll results, add some "no" votes that aren't insulting the person who choses it.

Zeraph

Exactly, a biased poll is no poll at all but more a type of trolling.

mrklixx

You just restated the last option using different words, so how is that not tagging yourself "as some lower member of society". And how exactly does an anonymous poll tag anybody as anything?

So is unfoundedly and self righteously accusing others of trolling.




I knew from the git-go that people would bitch about semantics (because some people will bitch about anything). But for all of the bitching, I'm still not hearing any reasons that don't fit into one of the categories.

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skier

The life of any individual can and must belong only to himself, not to others- be it random strangers, the community, or all of society. If it is my duty to help others, costing from my own life, I am but a slave to the whims of those others. No society can be more important than the individuals that compose it. Everyone should have a say in how they choose to live their own lives. That is the choice I am talking about.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I donate money, effort, clothing, etc. to various charities, disaster relief funds, salvation army, and so on. But it's my choice to do so, not some prescribed duty where i'm completing my allotment of human salvation.

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tspikes51

I don't bitch about semantics, but when so many people feel that you were insulting them because of their inability to donate they should stand up for themselves. I don't like to bitch at all, but when I'm insulted, I don't let somebody get away with it.

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mrklixx

Again, how in the hell could I personally insult someone on an anonymous poll?


P.S. "Inability" to donate falls in the last category. Unless you mean a purely physical inability to donate (which it's true I don't have an option forthe physically challenged) then it's semantics.

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docbungle

Nope, haven't donated. Don't plan to, but I guess you never know. I have my own problems. But if tossing a quarter at a 7-11 clerk would help, I'd have done that a long time ago.

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Anexkahn

It doesn't matter if the poll is anonymous or not, if you are interested in seeing acurate reasons for why people would not donate to the relief effort you need to re-evaluate your options and having every "no" choice tagged on to a negative reasoning won't provide accurate responses.

I almost like your i'm opposed to charity as a whole option, but i'm not... i am, however, opposed to most of the "organized" relief efforts being conducted. I would donate to a specific person or help a specific need, but i'm not about to give money to a large organization to piss it away.

docbungle

My thoughts exactly.

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vautrain

By all means, if you want to help, but all you can afford is a quarter, then please, give that quarter. There is no shame in helping all you can, no matter what that is. if everybody in this country gave a quarter, that would be almost $9 million. That money can buy a lot of food, water, school supplies, blankets, etc.

Zeraph

Bullshiat it is, that's like saying cops break the law b/c they have to disturb the peace to arrest someone disturbing the peace.

For all the "bitching" you arn't hearing any reasons why it's wrong? Don't you get what bias means? A polls job is to measure something, your poll does not measure what it's supposed to, it has no internal validity. So if the results are pointless, then all your doing is getting a rise out of people, and that is fucking trolling.

Latch

QFT.

I think it's pretty obvious he wasn't after a real poll though, he was doing his bit of armchair activisim and soliciting donations in a peer-pressure sort of way.

mrklixx

Oh so you're the "police" now are you? Because unless you are an "official moral authority", the entire purpose of your posts here are to get a rise out of me. Pot. Kettle Black.

And not once did I say I wasn't hearing reasons that people "felt" why the poll was "wrong". I said that I wasn't hearing any reasons that didn't fit into one of the categories offered.

You are certainly free to think whatever you want (however wrong it may be) if it makes you feel better about yourself. But the truth of the matter is I wanted to get a bead on how a geographicly and culturally diverse crowd was reacting to Katrina, donation-wise. And I came up with all of the reasons that I could think of why people would choose not to donate. They were: apathy (4,6), selfishness (4), racism/nationalism/hate(4,6), religion (5), adversity to charity (organized or otherwise)(5), laziness (4), and poverty (7). And unlike others on this thread, I never implied that I am all knowing and was open to reasons for not donating that didn't fit into one of the categories(which is why they added the poverty option). There is only space for 10 options anyway, and no matter what I would have put, it would not have pleased everyone, and people would have complained, because [i]they always do[i].

As far as all of the "no" answers being "negative", answering no, by definition, is negative. And since I have absolutely no control of how someone feels when they read an answer, I no way of making the "no" reasons be positive.

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Glory's Sun

Can we get back to the real reason for this thread? The poll is there.. use it and discuss according to the poll set. I don't think turning this thread into a debate on why mrklixx used the choices he did is going to solve anything. The choices are there.. if you don't like them, don't use them. It's pretty simple.