Redditors are asked to donate $2,000 to build a wall to keep a Kenyan orphanage safe. They don't, instead they donate $80,000
A few days ago a guy posted this picture on Reddit.
With this title:
"Meet Omari. Two days ago he returned from the hospital after being hacked in the face by a machete defending an orphanage of 35 children by himself. Think we could raise the $2,000 needed for the remainder of the cement/barbed wire wall to keep both him and the children safe?"
http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/oye34/meet_omari_two_days_ago_he_r...
Within 24 hours, $65,000 had been donated. Within 48, it was $80,000.
When I read the updated story I nearly cried while I was at work. If I hadn't been there, I probably would have cried. You can read the story .
Not only was an amazing amount donated, there were engineers and others offering to volunteer their time to help with the design of the wall and asking what else they could do. This led to the founding of , a community dedicated to helping causes by collecting donations and organizing ways for people to donate their time and expertise as well.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm amazed by the power of the internet.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
That's pretty great.
I love reddit.
“if you want to be a bird,” you said once, “with colorful plumage and buoyant trills, you must also be ready for hollow bones."
It's easy to braveheart the people on reddit. Passionate patrons. I respect it.
You need government to do good things. They must have had a hand in this, tax subsidies at least. That 80,000 didn't come from real people voluntarily, without coercion.
"They sold you hippies grunge, hip hop, now liberty activism."
I thought you were anti-government? Now we need government to be good?
"A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism." -Carl Sagan
"Am I cruel? Probably. Is she an idiot? Yes." -jane s.
I totally claim it on my taxes every time I give a bum a $10 or a $20.
Tax write offs, are like, my main motivation in life.
Sarcasm.
Are you fucking kidding me?
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
He was stoned and being... funny.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Giggan doesn't do funny.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
He was making a point.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
I'm not sure I understand his point.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
That people can be kind and giving on their own, despite popular belief.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
I really do not see how that point was made at all.
Through...
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Because none of this happened, and the story is a farce by libertarian propagandists?
"They sold you hippies grunge, hip hop, now liberty activism."
I don't recall anyone here ever saying that "people can not be kind and giving on their own."
[ citation needed ]
Black Helicopters, oh noes!
This is why we can't have nice things.
Because none of this happened, and the story is a farce by libertarian propagandists?
No... I really do give twenties to bums.
However, I DO recall people saying government is undoubtedly necessary for that sort of thing.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
[ Citation Fucking Needed ]
This is why we can't have nice things.
Of course, under the "philosophy" of Rand, 1) An orphanage is an abomination to the spirit of Mankind. Get those kids out on the street to find jobs for themselves, 2) That degenerate gets what he deserves for not allowing those children to enjoy the pleasures of being assaulted, raped, kidnapped, and murdered as is their rights as individuals. He was protecting a corrupt collectivist institution and simultaneously preventing the so-called "thugs" from partaking of the Free Market by way of human trafficking and the pure natural Capitalism of taking-by-force.
This is why we can't have nice things.
1. Every Democrat ever.
2. Is Rand all you've read when it comes to Libertarian philosophy? Relatedly, do you believe all Libertarians to be Ayn Rand fanatics?
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Sorry lib, but I'm taking gig literally. It's just the sort of thing he would come up with and actually believe.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
2. Is Rand all you've read when it comes to Libertarian philosophy? Relatedly, do you believe all Libertarians to be Ayn Rand fanatics?
1. Wrong again. And you did say on this forum someone said that. So give me one example please. Any one example. I'll wait. 
2. Lisa Rosenbaum is the most hilarious and obvious saints of the modern "Libertarian" party. Ron Paul, The Official Voice Of The Libertarian Party, is just as nutty a fruitcake but not nearly as funny. The whole "No, I'm not a racist. Anymore. Promise!" thing tends to kill any humor in him for me. So which other Great Libertarian Thinkers should I read? Friedman? Godwin? Proudhon? Stirner? Who?
This is why we can't have nice things.
2. Lisa Rosenbaum is the most hilarious and obvious saints of the modern "Libertarian" party. Ron Paul, The Official Voice Of The Libertarian Party, is just as nutty a fruitcake but not nearly as funny. The whole "No, I'm not a racist. Anymore. Promise!" thing tends to kill any humor in him for me. So which other Great Libertarian Thinkers should I read? Friedman? Godwin? Proudhon? Stirner? Who?
1. Wow... really? You can't think of any Democratic policy that's in favor of redistribution favoring those in need?
2. You didn't answer my question. Do you believe all Libertarians to be Ayn Rand fanatics (obviously not anymore, now that I've asked that question)? Cuz it seems (seemed) like you do (did), pointing (having pointed) towards her as a representation of my Libertarian system. Also, can you point me towards a racist policy from Ron Paul?
I've always recommended Thomas Sowell, above all others.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
My favorite anarchist writers are Spooner, Rothbard and Gandhi.
Lysander, Murray, and Mohandas, respectively.
For you, I'd recommend Mary Ruwart's Healing Our World In An Age of Aggression, all about how gov't harms people and how market incentives can solve these problems.
"They sold you hippies grunge, hip hop, now liberty activism."
You're silly. You made the statement; the onus of proof is upon you.
Only the worst of the worst. I do believe that few modern American libertarians have gone beyond Fountainhead and/or Atlas. We aren't as a people big on studying economics, but Big Idea Guys like Gault and Roarke appeal to to Americans as a species.
*ding* I don't know your beliefs specifically. The one time I asked you about it you brushed it aside vaguely.
Policies? Luckily, RP hasn't had passed any racist policies. Checks & Balances still works. His voting record, however, is public. He opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Affirmative Action, and fought against the foundation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday as a national holiday calling it "National Hate Whitey Day". He stated that 95% of all black men in Washington, D.C. are criminals ("semi or entirely", whatever that means). He also hates homosexuals, and fights for the repeal of Roe vs. Wade. The free market apparently ends at conception.
Ron Paul would like you to believe that he is at the front of a New American Revolution, but he is yet another old out-of-touch white guy with a lot of damn money. If you trust him any more than you do Gingrich, Santorum (I almost kept a straight face there), Romney, or Obama, you are misleading yourself. Find out where the big donations are coming from, with *any* candidate that's the first thing you got to know. Cui bono?
Noted.
But, see, there's not a damn thing funny you can do with that.
This is why we can't have nice things.
1. You're asking me to prove to you that the Democratic economic policy is in favor of redistribution, and you're calling me silly... 
Yeah, I'm gonna attribute that to the troll inside you.
2. Okay, and yet you decided to post her as a representation of Libertarian philosophy. Super.
3. Brushed what aside vaguely? Rand? I'm not nearly as familiar with Rand as more modern Libertarian writers, like Sowell, Walters, and Doren. So yeah, not what you should be parodying as a response to me. If you're talking about my beliefs in general, I've clearly stated those beliefs somewhere on here on a few occasions.
4. He also doesn't believe in evolution. But yeah, again, policies. Yes, I trust his policies far more than any others. If you're saying that he's just like the others due to corporate donations (his being so low, it's laughable), then why would you single him out as the lunatic among lunatics?
5. Read his books. His life story's pretty great, too.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Yeah, I'm gonna attribute that to the troll inside you.
No, I am asking you to point to where it was said on this forum that
You need government to do good things. They must have had a hand in this, tax subsidies at least. That 80,000 didn't come from real people voluntarily, without coercion.
Because
And may whatever gods you fear most damn you for making me multiquote just because you are choosing to be deliberately obtuse.
So, Lib, kindly show me who the fuck said anything even close to something of that sort and where. Farcical ironies where we all pretend to agree with Giggan that some sort of Mad Max freistadt is preferable to any other thing aside.
I'll give you 24 hours from right now.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Now, see, that's funny, cuz at first I thought you meant to ask where it was said "on this forum", and I was confused as hell, cuz I never said that those words were said "on this forum". Then I reread what you said, and it seemed more like you were asking where that was claimed, because, "on this forum", I said someone did.
But see, the fact is I said "people". How you so strongly thought that meant "people on this forum" (to the point of almost trying to make a power move, lol), I have no idea.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Also, this?
Really? Pffft.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
To most of America, and to the world, Rand is libertarianism. I personally believe that her cult of worshipers are the greatest threat to American freedom that we currently face*. Objectivism is the tool by which the 1% of the 1% and those who fervently wish to join that cabal, justify their ever-tightening grip on the diminishing middle-class. So, she's low-hanging fruit and I will take a swat at her at every opportunity. So what?
* Neck and neck with Scientology. Essentially the same philosophy, by the way, but Hubbard added aliens and super powers.
This is why we can't have nice things.
But see, the fact is I said "people". How you so strongly thought that meant "people on this forum" (to the point of almost trying to make a power move, lol), I have no idea.
We are on this forum, why would I assume you were talking about Larry who hangs out in your back yard chasing pigeons? But sure, show me somewhere where "people" have said that charity will die without governmental ... let's call it "encouragement". Anyone. Anywhere.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Really? Pffft.
That was the best part, come on.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Clock's tickin'.
This is why we can't have nice things.
1. So you're not gonna have much relevance in the discussion. Great. As always.
2. Uuuh, because I never said people on this forum? So, to you, every time someone says "people" on here, they're only referring to "people on here" (notice the position of the quotes)? You know, you would've sounded a bit more respectable if you just up and admitted you misinterpreted what I said. But you didn't so I'm a little inclined to call you a dirty word. But you already get emotional over words like "hipster", so maybe I'll just leave that out.
Anyway, do I have to explain the political philosophy behind policies like Obamacare just to show you how that it's an admittance of people's incapability of taking care of each other voluntarily? Or how about government funded relief efforts? I certainly hope I don't.
3. Nah. None of it really deserves any praise at this point.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
"They sold you hippies grunge, hip hop, now liberty activism."
And Giggan still hasn't told us his his comment was meant literally.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
I almost said, "Clocks tickin', bitch." but you take yourself - and every gem that drips from your fingertips - way too seriously.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Giggan made the most sense.
Sure, Tuff. Scurry on, now.
Si vis pacem, para bellum
No really guys!
I'm still laughing!
No really guys!
I'm still laughing!
I like you.
When either one of us becomes relevant, let me know. You take yourself very very seriously. Don't worry, you'll get over that eventually. Probably.
First you should look up the word so that you don't use it incorrectly this time.
If you're going to be vague, it's certainly up to me to try to interpret your meaning. You once heard someone somewhere say that we need gubbmint to force us to "give" to "charity". Fine.
Back as far away from your statement as you can. I'll let you.
Someone. Somewhere. Said....
Oh, wait, did you seriously just say that if not for Obamacare, we could all have free healthcare because, out of human kindness, corporate healthcare would start giving it away to the needy for free? This is the same corporate healthcare that, when I was homeless (and not receiving any charity from anyone anywhere I will point out) and in a very serious car accident and rushed to the ER... The same corporate healthcare that ordered a skull series for me because of my obvious concussion and possible fracture, but when they found out that I was unemployed and homeless, took forcep in hand and extracted my wallet and photocopied my ID without my knowledge or consent, then handed me two Tylenol and literally walked me to the door? That same corporate healthcare? The one that later tracked down my girlfriend and billed her $18 each for the two Tylenol? That one? They sent her an itemized statement. Ambulance $400 (for a five minute ride), Dr. exam, $800 (also about five minutes before they realized I had no money). Tylenol, 500mg x2, $36. They couldn't force my girlfriend to pay it, being just my girlfriend, so they sent me the Threatening Your Credit Rating letter via her house. I called the number on the letter and told them that I would be happy to wait 7 years before I applied for a credit card or took out a bank loan.
Do you know that I can afford my own health insurance now? That it is hundreds of dollars a month and that I have the finest health care available? Do you know that in 2011 I had over $200,000 dollars worth of hospital care? Have you seen my statements? Would you like to know where I would be now if I couldn't afford the healthcare that they don't seem to have been giving away for free? Do you understand that, because I am using so much of my corporate insurance company's money that I am no longer profitable to them, and may be dropped? Do you get it that once that happens, I will never again be able to get health insurance because I am a walking talking pre-existing condition? What do you suppose will happen to me then? Well, I will die. Depending on how I choose or do not choose to do it, I will probably be in more pain than you can conceive based upon your limited life experience. My spine is closing up on my spinal cord. This makes every nerve in the body feel like it is on fire and I won't be wait around for that.
Do you understand that the majority of Americans don't have any health insurance?
Or, are you suggesting that once a few eggs have been broken and the gubbmint is all gone, we'll all just start looking after one another like that magical week after 9-11?
What a magical world you must live in to honestly believe that we won't be eating each other two months after Giggan has had his "revolution".
This is why we can't have nice things.
And the only thing worse? A troll who believes his own bullshit.
I'mma get me some Giggan pancreas on toast. Mmm mmm, good.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Sure, Tuff. Scurry on, now.
21 hours, bitch. Find me one person.
Or am I to assume when you say "people" have said "charity without government oercion will die" you really meant "Obamacare is a socialist ploy of the left to take my daddy's money away from me. I mean him."
This is why we can't have nice things.
I'm all for seeing a doctor one of these days! I don't mind taking other peoples daddies monies.
I saw that on tumblr the other day and it was pretty moving. The internet's a force as well, there was a fire at one orphanage last December and they raised $100,000 in a week with just a viral campaign on Facebook. That's impressive.