Dena,
I didn't start this thread with any ill will towards you or your efforts on Wishadoo. I believe you have good intentions, but are a bit too trusting of some of your fellow posters on DU. As Pam clearly shows, every charity is going to encounter some amount of fraud. I wish you nothing but the best of luck with your efforts. Unfortunately, it's people like Pam that make your idealistic vision unachievable. As long as you've got scammers in the system, people are going to be reluctant to help and that ultimately hurts those that are truly in need.
If the point needs to made any clearer:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9703565
This is a fine example of someone who is so desperate they need to be begging for donations on your website.
Hi, BamaMoose. I know you didn't mean anything negative toward me or Wishadoo. To be honest, I don't know the DUer in question, nor have I read through specifics here. You guys seem to know MUCH more about other DUers than I do. But I'm scanning over that stuff and responding to Wishadoo-related comments.
I joined in here to engage about my intention with Wishadoo, since I'm aware it's referred to as a moonbat/fascist/communist/socialist/Nazi enterprise in some circles. LOL
Wishadoo isn't a charity (though I understand you didn't necessarily meant that literally), and it's about so much more than the Wishlist. But, as for the Wishlist, it's where people can connect directly about what they need and have to offer, and my most sincere hope is that it WON'T always be about money. We can help one another in many different ways. As I wrote upthread, it's up to the community to be responsible if they choose to help someone. They can require whatever assurance they need to feel confident whatever assistance they're offering is going to be used in the way they intend.
It's a personal matter between two people; personal responsibility comes into play on both sides. If someone is a scammer, once more people gather and the community grows, the faster that is determined. Even now given the little activity thus far, people contact those who have posted on the Wishlist directly and, if they don't get answers they need to feel comfortable helping, no harm, no foul.
I understand your concern and I'm far from naive about the realities of scammers. I've been through several versions of Wishadoo and encountered that immediately, and have taken necessary precautions.
I agree with Einstein's quote, something to the effect: "I love Humanity...it's people I can't stand."
I know there are asshats, liars and greedy/selfish people out there. They're everywhere.
I also believe that most people are good at heart, and that, given more of an opportunity, we can help one another. Again, my hope is that we can come up with ways beyond money to do so. I realize sometimes money is the only answer for predicaments, but we can get creative and come up with different ways of solving problems.
That takes a leap of faith, and I haven't seen much of that anywhere, quite frankly. It has nothing to do with political ideology. It's just the way things are right now. We see everyone else as "the other," rather than another human being.
I may die trying to shift things in my own little way, or I may say f*ck it one day and just give up. Who knows? For today, I'll keep trying.