Americans do the darndest things

September 3, 2005 11:55 PM

America bands together to support the hurricane victims via ebay.
posted by zerokey (13 comments total)

Not all the items are worthless. There are some items up that will raise significant money to help the hurricane victims.

Of course, then you hear about Paypal freeezing a donation account for victims, worth over $20,000, and it had only been open for less than a day.
posted by SirOmega at 12:14 AM on September 4, 2005

Hmm... while some of the things you link to offer 100% of the money raised going straight to the Red Cross, several don't.
posted by jonson at 12:21 AM on September 4, 2005

That Geraldo and baby portrait came out right quick, and I must say, despite his past indiscretions, the image did stick with me.
posted by drpynchon at 12:23 AM on September 4, 2005

Oh, I passed many relatively expensive items (diamond earrings, and the like). I was looking for some of the stranger things out there.

Aieee. Paypal is just awful. Question is, will they automagically return money to the people that donated, or just hang o to it for awhile? Bah.
posted by zerokey at 12:23 AM on September 4, 2005

i want the vintage jockstrap.
posted by brookish at 12:26 AM on September 4, 2005

jonson - right. I was just putting together a showcase of the crazy things people will auction for donation, in full or part. Like the wristbands. It's like those wristbands have become a symbol of American tragedy and expedient mass production.
posted by zerokey at 12:26 AM on September 4, 2005

No. No. No. If Katrina teaches you anything, it is the limitations of a social order founded on having a gun in one hand and a charity tin in the other.

This folksy mentality may have worked in the days when you were raising barns and providing a milking cow for the newly weds. But selling bric-a-brac on eBay is simply no substitute for paying federal tax for the purpose of investing in large scale social infrastructure.

If you want to ease your conscience, buy a bracelet. If you want to ease the suffering of the (next) victims, start building a society that values association over individualism, and stop voting for a government that slashes your tax bill and shuts down your institutions.

I'll warn you - one takes considerably more effort than the other.

/rant
posted by RichLyon at 12:38 AM on September 4, 2005

but I suspect, zerokey, that several of the "crazy things people will auction for a donation" are in fact "crazy things people will try and sell to the guilt ridden, and then pocket the proceeds for themselves". Like your "Hurricane" link, for example. That woman's just selling stickers, and people who are buying them thinking that they are in some way "supporting the victims" are just deluding themselves, and enriching this shallow opportunist.
posted by jonson at 12:40 AM on September 4, 2005

RichLyon = Right on.
posted by chasing at 1:03 AM on September 4, 2005

The baby portrait is awful - if you look at the original photo, the baby has alert bright eyes. The drawing looks like its been lobotomised. And had lip surgury.
posted by jb at 1:14 AM on September 4, 2005

But you missed this one - this is cool.
posted by jb at 1:18 AM on September 4, 2005

If you want to ease your conscience, buy a bracelet. If you want to ease the suffering of the (next) victims, start building a society that values association over individualism, and stop voting for a government that slashes your tax bill and shuts down your institutions.

I'll warn you - one takes considerably more effort than the other.

Wow. Seriously dead spot-on.
posted by Jazznoisehere at 8:26 AM on September 4, 2005

The problem right now is not the govt's. money, it's how they're using that money.
posted by null terminated at 11:42 AM on September 4, 2005