Perhaps the Internet, and a few political fundraising cycles, have taught Americans to transform sympathy, support and revulsion into transferable dollars. George Zimmerman certainly found that out when his defense fund began brimming over with contributions.Money is an amazing substance! It's very easy to give, and it's so highly appreciated. What's the problem?
Assuming there is a problem, one might say it's that the money people feel moved to give isn't evenly distributed in proportion to how well deserved it is. The apportionment is too emotional, too dependent on the vagaries of video and viral pathways.
Or one could say that the money does nothing to fix the problem that is represented by the one instance that got our attention. Now that Klein is a very lucky victim, her tormenters are off the hook. We can laugh. They unwittingly benefited her! They don't have to cough up the $250,000 that we might imagine she could win in damages in a tort case. They made her a star and her fans got a little psychic thrill out of paying the damages. We're all square now. Everybody's a winner.
ADDED: The young man who started the fundraising effort for Klein is now the beneficiary of a fundraising effort on his behalf, launched by somebody else, who thinks he deserves compensation.
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Or...giving money is a way to say fuck off to those little twerps.
The next bus monitor, now that Mrs. Klein is gone, will be a lot more like Lee Ermey. Ha!
Everybody's a winner.
Clearly Althouse has learned nothing from this story. She needs to point out how she's a victim, and ask for money.
Bully pulpit and offering.
I donated and the donations are over $376,000.
I can't even image what would have happened to those kids if I were on that bus...
When I saw this last night my first impulse was to wish her enough money to retire and not have to do that thankless job anymore. I wouldn't give money to her for the reasons mentioned. I know many people who do thankless demeaning jobs well into their retirement years, some of them are in my family. What I wish is that people would honor the work that people do to support themselves.
The money gifts, in a way, take the kids off the hook, because they are responsible for the incident that brought her the money. I suspect some of them might rationalize it just that way. I also have had 20 years of experience with 10-13 year old kids in school, and I know this behavior is extreme, but not unheard of anywhere you find them. I've never heard anything this bad, and not toward an adult, but the way the behaviors escalate and the way the kids support each others worsening behavior is very typical. From my experience, the bus monitor's acceptance of it is partially because she's had a long history with these behaviors, and partially because past incidents have not been dealt with. Children are very aware of just how far they can go without consequences.
You forgot to embed an Amazon link after the rhetorical "what's wrong with money?"
The real winners are the Federal government and New York State who get to extract the maximum tax rate to this instant 1 percenter.
She's a lovable soul. And the rare "reality "aspect of this pushes her Authenticity Quotient through the roof.
Religions businesses have seen Americans do this so often that they use it everyday.
Which reminds me that God loves a cheerful giver, and it is better to give than to recieve.
The old retiring Baby Boomers are going to do what the want with their money. That's exactly what has Obama/Pelosi mad as hell. They want to take that money NOW!
Althouse's last paragraph is sarc/devil's advocacy-
In her attempts to always "instill thought" like everyone is in her class, gets tiresome.
She knows, as we all know--this is throwing money at an underlying issue--FIXED!
It is the liberal mentality that has been programmed in the minds of many-over generations.
The norm. If you doubt it, follow those kids to class, and listen to what their teachers say-what their parents say.
Those kids are victims-if only the evil republicans hadn't cut school funding, they'd act appropriately.
Think I'm wrong?
Who are you to judge?
Better $250K to a bus monitor that $112M to Justin Bieber.
I bet she does something else with the money and then people get mad and want theirs back.
That's the thing about giving stuff away. Once you give it away it isn't yours. What she does with it is her business, not anybody elses.
Everybody's a winner.
Hey, we should teach our kids that. Prizes for showing up, too. Then their self-esteem would be so high they could stop respecting adults and authority because.... THEY"RE SPECIAL!
Maybe she'll use the money to hire a hit man to go after the little brats.
Or, better yet, the parents.
She'll believe she should be rewarded for being a victim for the rest of her life.
Zombie Gaylord Nelson, call your office!
I think that the answer is...
There is too much in the world that is too big.
When people have something small enough that they feel they can make a difference, they do that.
This may seem very small, but it's the same sort of thing when a baby falls down a well. People think, they can't save all the children in the world, but they can save *that* one. They can't stop the mean way people treat each other, salve all hurts in the world, but they can salve *that* one.
leslyn said...
Henry said,
"Better $250K to a bus monitor that $112M to Justin Bieber."
Why? Bieber did something to earn it, whether or not you like him. And he did it to make money.
This is a lady who would be better served by a course in assertive behavior than by being rewarded for victimhood. She'll believe she should be rewarded for being a victim for the rest of her life.
Really?
Considering your dislike for anyone with money (or is that only any consrvative with money?)for you to think that Beiber 'earned' his is confusing. But as I said your dislike for the rich is only for rich conservatives, not the rich as a class.
As for people giving this woman money: 1) it doesn't let all those pissant little farkers off of any hook. 2) People gave her money because it made them feel good about themeselves. If that's what it takes - shrug.
I'm surprised the amount is so much, when I read about this yesterday it was $26k.
Schvartzes are so wonderful. The thing is, Althouse is completely safe from schvartzes, so it's all academic to her. But for me, there but for the Grace of God...
She won the Internet lottery, and God bless her.
Give. Don't give. But this is, I think, one of those cases where the naysayers ought to just mind their own business.
I gave because I just loved being able to help transform something truly evil into something better. It's nice to be able to do that.
Hey.
Demanding that a solution be appropriate and *work* is only required of government programs funded with tax dollars. People can be as inappropriate with their own money as they they wish.
(I'm just kidding about government programs, we all know that no one ever seems to care if they're effective or not.)
Since folks can't smack the Hell out of the punk kids, which is what they deserve, they give to the old lady who didn't deserve being treated like that.
Social Justice!
There is a possibility this whole thing was staged to make $. Woulda been a great scam.
I didn't give any money. Had someone taken up a collection to have all the kids spend a couple of weeks this Summer in Joe Arpaio's outdoor jail, and the school board and relevant administrators who set the bus monitor up for this fired and banned permanently from the profession, I'd have donated, though.
For the rest of her life?
She's on the edge of retirement, she's been a bus driver for over 20 years, her son killed himself. I suspect she's pretty realistic about what life brings.
Maybe it's simpler...
Absolution of sins. Indulgences. That kind of stuff. :)
Cool! The perfect thread in which to fundraise!
I've been a faithful commenter here at Althouse since 2005, providing unsolicited opinions, entertaining blather and occasional vitriol to anyone who cared to read it.
Recently I've become temporarily unemployed and have been sustaining myself with a few freelance jobs but it's very difficult this summer as many of you in a similar situation know.
Anyway, if you're rolling in dough and you like art, maybe you'll consider buying a drawing or a print of a drawing from my website. As an eclectic postmodern-type I have a little something for all tastes.
Thanks!
Poor lady. Let her be. Them proto-assholes squished her like a bug, and now Paul Farhi wants to step on her one more time.
Crickey, but them boys do need to be slammed upside the haid a few times. Real hard-like. A few of them gonna turn out real evil.
Probably be Senators or DMV clerks.
The apportionment is too emotional, too dependent on the vagaries of video and viral pathways.
Don't forget vaginas. If she'd been a guy under 60, wouldn't most people think him contemptible or laughed at him?
The same dynamic was in play when the families of 9/11 survivors were the beneficiaries of millions in compensation and gifts, far more than similarly situated victims of tragedies that occurred the day before or the day after but didn't kill thousands. Jack Kennedy was right: Life is unfair.
Technology sure does make it easier to raise money. I remember the "Send me $5.00 and I'll give you instructions on how to make $5000" letter. Anyone who sent $5.00 got instructions back -"send this letter to 1000 people"
It will be interesting to see what she does. She seems overwhelmed, and definitely not used to the spotlight.
The kids? They should be bent over the table and paddled within an inch of their lives, publicly.
Bully pulpit and offering.
rh.. an internal vow.. not like Obama's
The intertubes brings people closer together.. and that's a good thing.
btw the intertubes have nothing to do with the Virgina Monologues.
I hope she feels like a winner, or even a bit happy.
Remember she is in a end of work skills trap.
She probably has some monthly FICA at 67, but not enough to live on. She is trapped into the Bus Monitor job like a clown in a dunk tank that these middle school creeps knew she could not risk losing if she defended her self and they dunk away.
This donation bonanza is just enough to keep her out of the Death Panel's grasp. She can buy a hand gun, take lessons and play James Bronson the next time she is attacked for being old and weak. Boy does that thought make Obama and Pelosi wet their pants.
Society that does not honor the elderly doesn't deserve to survive either.
I am a pastor in an abusive church. hey yell at me, call me names and are dangerous to my mental health. I desperately need to be placed in a foster church but the number of those needing foster churches is very large and I am on a waiting list for placement. If you could just give me money I would feel so much better (and yes, Jesus did say , "It is more blessed to give than to receive").
Crickets. Hello? Crickets.
OK, buy something from Palladian. At least you'll have the art to enjoy.
My thoughts on charity are this:
I once saw a man begging in China. He was sitting on the ground, had no legs, and was wearing only a rag. I didn't give him anything, so I'm certainly not going to give money to someone with first world problems.
But I do like to tip.
Before signing off let me thank Our Professor for serving us up such good topics in the posts the last few days. You are amazing.
ADDED: The young man who started the fundraising effort for Klein is now the beneficiary of a fundraising effort on his behalf, launched by somebody else, who thinks he deserves compensation.
I would like to announce that I am officially starting a fundraiser for the person who started the fundraiser for the fundraiser.
"Is this the new substitute for casseroles?"
Possibly.
Wait wait wait, leslyn, did you bark off a guy named Non? There's a deleted right in front of your first comment. If so, way to go! * air high fives, air elbow bumps*
phx
But it's fun and sometimes intellectually stimulating. I, personally, like to hear other people's arguments and stories. I get a real kick out of Chip Ahoy, bagoh, and Pogo. I enjoy Crack's rants. I like hearing about people's lives. Yep, I'm just a prole, but I enjoy myself.
The real story of this thread is that some wingnut appears to have hacked leslyn's account.
Assuming there is a problem, one might say it's that the money people feel moved to give isn't evenly distributed in proportion to how well deserved it is. The apportionment is too emotional, too dependent on the vagaries of video and viral pathways.
The problem is that people are distributing funds where they want to of their own free will. They are not being forced to distribute their wealth via taxes to the "right" people.
Those children shouldn't have been allowed back on a bus until they could learn some manners. I blame their parents for this. One dad was on GMA and said his kid has had enough punishment already. They've had "death threats," he said.
wv: 6 meenest
I saw the video this evening. THose kids should be mowing her lawn and scrubbing her floors for a month. But they won't. If people want to send her money, it's OK with me.
Think about it--the kids taunted her in part for being poor. Now they can't.
If she had hired a lawyer, she'd have been criticized for overreacting to "kids being kids" and she'd have had to rehash an unpleasant event over and over again.
Now she can be serene and magnanimous--and quit her job. And the kids are notorious for being assholes.
Epic, epic win.
Later in life, I made some money on a few lucky bounces in the stock market. It was the only money that has ever came my way that wasn't based on the demeaning activity of work. It made me feel terrific. I was fortune's favorite. God loved me and wanted to recompense me for all the past injustices I suffered....Money is blessed in itself, but it is doubly blessed when it drops into your lap without effort or merit. A paltry paycheck at a wearying job makes you feel like a loser. But money that falls upon you strictly by happenstance makes you feel like a winner......This woman seems to have endured more than her fair share of life's indignities. She has now received far more financial recompense than the injuries deserved, but that's the point. Life is unfair, and now it is unfair in her favor. She gets the last laugh. Good.
The kid that talked about the knife is the one I'd most hope will get discipline or help of some kind.
Nice work if you can get it.
So what's the contribution goal for her after-tax windfall?
I've been following this from the first post two days ago on Reddit where it was frist posted. (I love reddit.)
The outrage and subsequent outlet for action really restored my faith in the essential goodness of humanity.
It's funny once the money went over 250K and it hit the mainstream people started to get bitchy here and there, but until then it was straight support.
Along the way Reddit got called "one of the moral centers of the internet" and "St. Peter of the internet" by Slate which isn't bad for a bunch of atheists who just want to be Good Guys.
@Laura
The goal was originally $5K.
It's now up to 460K.
http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein
Most of it is in small amounts of approximately $20 (20K givers so far) so I don't even think anyone will owe gift tax. There are accountants there to advise, however, since this kind of thing happens quite often.
I love it.
I also love the message it sends other middle schoolers: you aren't cool for being mean to older people. Try to learn empathy.
Money doesn't "fix" it; the only thing that would help fix it is illegal - the severe public beating of each of those little scumbags, and complete embarrassment of their parents, among other things (including sterilization).
Giving that poor lady money makes ME feel less powerless. So there.
After watching the video.. it should be patently obvious why people are sending this woman money..
A lot of the taunting had to do with her meager belongings.
Why should that even be a puzzle prompts me to ask.. did we all see the same fucking video?
WTF?
I mean, I initially passed on the video.. (so I know what I'm talking about ;).. you read a woman was bullied and people are sending her hundreds of thousands of dollars..
But when I saw the video..
It was not just a bullying..
So people thought.. what if this woman would never have to hear that kind of humiliation ever again?
Admirable.
btw.. for years I was taught by tv sitcom after tv sitcom that that behavior was a no no..
I dont understand wahts going on.
Is this the new substitute for casseroles?
LOL. Looks like it doesn't it.
Not a very good advert for the school or the community.
Remember John Beresford Tipton, Jr.
You never know what a wad of money will do to you.
leslyn said...
Why is money the answer? How is that a "salve?" Wouldn't some good psychotherapy be better if we want to "fix" this woman
Idiot:
The woman had a tough day at her job and the idea was to send her on a vacation.
I know such this is such a complicated concept for your to grasp, but please try.
Hitler finds out a bunch of 7th graders torment a bus monitor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifyyPKNrDRM
tiger said...
Really?
Considering your dislike for anyone with money (or is that only any consrvative with money?)for you to think that Beiber 'earned' his is confusing. But as I said your dislike for the rich is only for rich conservatives, not the rich as a class
No, you see leslyn can't stand the idea of private charity.
If the government isn't doing the giving away of money, the effort is illegitimate.
Is it surprising these kids taunting her with the "healthy lifestyle information" that they have been indoctrinated with as part of the new curriculum in the schools?
"Is this the new substitute for casseroles?"
Possibly.
You can't send a casserole through the mail to stranger, but money is always appreciated. I think people think, that sucks, let's send something to make her happy. Maybe she can retire now, or have the funds to go on a dream vacation or whatever to get over having to deal with awful, ill mannered children for so long.
For the record, I'll take 250k over a casserole any day.
$480k as of now. I'd be very curious as to whether or not she gets on the bus Monday. Torn between hoping she does and taunts their "broke-ass selves" and that she just fades away with the dignity she deserves after a lifetime of hard work. Either way, good for her, and good for people with a heart.
The real winners are the Federal government and New York State who get to extract the maximum tax rate to this instant 1 percenter.
Non taxable gifts. She isn't raising the money herself. The donations are 'gifts' and are not subject to income tax to the recipient.
You can give up to $13,000 annually (total amount). The donor, will pay the gift tax and in some circumstances will file a gift tax return.......but you don't usually do that until you die through your estate for the cumulative lifetime gifts. Most of us don't have to worry about it. Only people like Bunny Mellon do.
Clarification: You can give up to $13,000 annually (total amount) without paying taxes. Annual gift tax exclusion.
Is this the new substitute for casseroles?
Evidently. And...a lot less fattening with the plus that you don't have to wash the dish and return it.
When I saw this video there was a welling of outrage in me that wanted to find each one of this pig fuckers and beat each and every one of them within an inch of their lives, while their parents watched as a reward for a job well done on their little pig fuckers. This is why beatings need to be re-instituted as a punishment for such behavior.
I wouldn't have dared speak this way to an adult like that when I was a kid. This is the direct outcome of the shift in child-centric non-discipline. That misbehavior cannot be corrected for fear of damaging the child. That putting undue power in children's hands has resulted in this. The woman was powerless to stop it even with a threat against them that she would name them to the principal for this because she knew it wouldn't go anywhere beyond the incident on the bus.
To make it worse most likely nothing will happen to these kids. Nothing outside of the coddling their parents are going to heap upon them. Oh sure, there are going to be faux gestures of discipline, but it doesn't compare to the sheer embarrassment and humiliation suffered by this woman for the whole world to see at the hands of their little pig fuckers.
The problem with giving money to charities is that so little of the money gets to those that need it or where it does some good. The money is eaten up by expense paid two hour lunches at fine restaurants and other ways by liberals who like to feel good about themselves and also enjoy the good life while not having to work too hard. Liberals want to work for non profits, sure, why not.
I did some volunteer work after I retired and one day I heard the receptionist say something about her bosses taking their two hour lunches.
"The young man who started the fundraising effort for Klein is now the beneficiary of a fundraising effort on his behalf, launched by somebody else, who thinks he deserves compensation."
The fundraising itself has gone viral!
It's the money donated that bothers me. And especially that money is donated to the person who set up the donation.
I'm just worried that what will happen is that people will use this situation will encourage others to set up sympathetic victims as a way for them to make money.
Note to self though - next time I'm getting insulted by someone, take out cell phone camera pronto.
Transformation is good. Much better i can say.
what are payday loans
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