Please GoFundMe, pretty please
Brillant blog about the increasing common begging of people to pay for their vacation. Enjoy, I know I did.
http://www.thehikinglife.com/2016/05...button-hikers/
If people are generous or foolish enough to fund such hikers, who are we to say no? Free market, and all that?
I'm more concerned about people having to beg for funds to get over medical emergencies. Nobody should have to do that.
Love it. I replied. Ha ha
Football players, musicians, video game players, etc all beg for my entertainment dollar thru their own gofundme pages called TV, Ticketmaster and Twitch. Many chose to pay this price. I hold no ill will towards a hiker asking, especially if they provide something in return, like knowledge or some entertainment.
Some folks may be just shameless or lazy or perhaps smarter than those that give as the takers of this world can be.
Good read, thanks. The lack of personal responsibility (and self-respect for that matter) by some folks is astounding. With that said, I don't judge the people supporting them (some people like to dump their social security checks into slot machines, some like to dump them into middle-class college students on vacation).
Saw the title of this thread and thought "give me a break". Say the author of the thread and thought "ok I'll see what this is about". Too many these days feel entitled to what they want just because they exist, not because they're willing to work for it. If people want paid me-ternity leave (I wish i made that term up---look it up, it's unbelievable what people think they deserve), join the military and do a tour oversees then when you get out and are on paid terminal leave you can spend a summer hiking before using your GI Bill to pay for college. That's called earning your keep. Or take the easy way out and just ask for handouts because you deserve whatever you want without having to give anything in return.
I think this gets a disproportionate amount of attention for the amount of people who are actually doing it. A quick search on GoFundMe for 2016 Appalachian Trail is returning a total of 99 results, and on the first page three out of ten have nothing to do with thru-hiking the AT.
I didn't seek any donations for my hike nor will I be donating to anyone else's. But really who am I to say how anyone else should spend their money.
I think the article painted one picture, about lazy mooches. I have been asked to help fund a hiker that has produced about a hundred hours of videos. The thing is I learned so much from them. I enjoyed them, I was entertained, and they were well done. I felt like, " Why should I get something for free." I was also asked to fund a friends ministry trip. I felt the the money they spent for their trip would have gone much further to help, if they had just sent money to the people they went to help. The time spent working ( and preaching ) would have been better spent working in the states, and sent the money earned to the people they were trying to help. Not all fund me folks are lazy people that want a free vacation. Not all money is well spent. Not all money received is earned. Case by case.
That's the crux. I cringe every time I hear, "No one should be able to <insert something here>" especially when it has to do with money. Wealth belongs to the earner. It's up to them to do what they will with it.Originally Posted by mattjv89
Televangelists sucker helpless old people for millions, year after year. All perfectly legal. They build big mansions and buy fancy cars and airplanes with the proceeds. And the suckers keep sending money in, hoping for... what? Salvation?
This was great! (Not what I expected!!!)
Go fund yur self.
I like many people have mixed reviews on such situations as what I would like to say organized begging.
I do believe there are people out there say that hold the cardboard will work for food signs and etc you see scattered all over towns in america that truly need it and are appreciative of anything you give them or help them out with,unfortunately I think there are far more people that take advantage of A situation for monetary gain that isn't really needed.
I myself am planning for my thru hike and saving every extra penny I have to be able to fund my thru hike next year as the majority of people I would like to think does,unless you are blessed to have say 6,000 laying around and 5 months to take off work etc.
I however do believe there are certain situations where certain people have the desire,bucket list,passion,heart etc to thru hike but unfortunately lack the funds to do such A thing whether it be A financial issue or A family,family,time or disability issue which they cannot complete it.
If in a case it is because of something hypothetically say I individual has A burning desire to complete A thru hike but cannot afford it because of medical expenses or that they have A family at home that they need to support on say A wal mart,convenience store wage and just don't have the extra income to save for A thru hike.
In that case A few bucks of my money that I will most likely blow at A said wal mart or convenience store is no sweat off my back,knowing that I could help someone do something so amazing that they will remember there whole life.
The problem lies separating the two differences from each other,the people who really need it and the people who are just trying to gain monetary wealth from A situation they can extort.
There of course is a lot of say grey area in this and at times like this is when I follow my gut instinct on the matter and hope it leads me in the right direction,and if not then i'm out A few bucks,but knowing that I might have helped someone do something so wonderful is priceless for the night of sleep you get.
I personally have no issues with people using GoFundMe for life-changing events, no matter what they are from a thru-hike to cancer treatment. It is when people do stupid crap (like blowing their savings on lottery tickets) and then asking others to bail them out by using GoFundMe.
I'm personally going to have to suck up my pride and set up a GFM page this year. It's humiliating to ask for money, but I need to go see my family, and my grandparents before they die (they are in their 90s and this might be the last chance I get) and I just can't afford a plane ticket to go to London from Wyoming. It's not something I'm happy about doing.
The same bloggers having a laugh about this are the ones indirectly making money off us as we read the article on their sites and click on their affiliate links while being sponsored by gear companies.
Does this mean they are dropping their affiliate links and gear sponsors so hikers aren't paying for their vacation (directly or indirectly)?
+1
Eh, I have found some questionable requests for money, and others, like DuneElliot's idea, to be worthy. I've given to documentary filmmakers, and to those on a quest to raise money for certain illnesses.
Read the GFM requests carefully; ask questions; research. As posted earlier, if someone wants to donate to a hike, why not? It's their money. (Unless they are spending irrationally, in which case a family or professional intervention may be needed.) As with any charity, check it out as much as you can (since GFMs typically tend not to be registered charities; some are). Through indiegogo dot com, I donated to the making of the film "Shackles," and don't regret. Of course, I can rarely afford to donate more than $25 to any good cause!http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4501588/
DuneElliot - Please think about being happy with your GFM plan. You will be doing something so meaningful and everlasting for your family and yourself.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. --Rumi
Thanks for the support. It's just humbling to ask for money since I am so independent and never relied on anyone, financially and otherwise.+1
Eh, I have found some questionable requests for money, and others, like DuneElliot's idea, to be worthy. I've given to documentary filmmakers, and to those on a quest to raise money for certain illnesses.
Read the GFM requests carefully; ask questions; research. As posted earlier, if someone wants to donate to a hike, why not? It's their money. (Unless they are spending irrationally, in which case a family or professional intervention may be needed.) As with any charity, check it out as much as you can (since GFMs typically tend not to be registered charities; some are). Through indiegogo dot com, I donated to the making of the film "Shackles," and don't regret. Of course, I can rarely afford to donate more than $25 to any good cause!
DuneElliot - Please think about being happy with your GFM plan. You will be doing something so meaningful and everlasting for your family and yourself.
Sounds right. In one case, the social relationship is direct, but in the other it's hidden behind some kind of commodity relationship (gear or information). People seem to be complaining that there isn't any value exchange going on.
Sadly, GO FUND ME is all too common among today's young millennials. They are poorly educated (even those coming out of college), spoiled, lazy, entitled, and ungrateful brats. Be it student loans, a nice place to live, or electronic crap, they all the time want someone to take care of them and give them things at the expense of others. Again, ENTITLED is the operative word here. It is an ignorant, lazy-ass generation that can't-work-don't-work-won't-work and lives with mommy and daddy until they are middle-aged. Oh, and the ones that do work seem to be under the impression that it's okay to NOT show up for work on Fridays. Oh, and under any circumstances, DO NOT criticize them or otherwise speak the truth or they will get their "wittle feewings" hurt and retreat to their safe zones.
Sad sad sad.
OkeefenokeeJoe
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