Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Crowdfunding Site GoFundMe Won't Let Crowds Fund Abortions

A crowdfunding site touted as "Kickstarter for the rest of us" has decided that the rest of us doesn't include people who are pro-abortion rights.
GoFundMe, a site that allows people to solicit money online for personal causes like medical bills, house repairs and scholarship funds, is coming under fire after it censored fundraisers related to abortion. On Tuesday, the company issued an updateto its guidelines saying it wouldn’t fund projects linked to “termination of life,” “weapons & violence,” “adult material” and other topics.

On GoFundMe's Facebook page, several people responded in outrage:
facebook
The company will now review projects to make sure that hosting a campaign is best for the GoFundMe “brand and community,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email statement. “GoFundMe makes no distinction and places no restrictions on a pro-life or pro-choice group’s ability to fundraise for rallies or protests,” she said.
But as Salon points out, the projects that come up when you type “abortion” into the site’s search bar include several pro-life campaigns and no pro-choice or abortion-related projects.
gofundme
GoFundMe is a private San Diego-based company that bills itself as "the world's #1 personal fundraising website." Unlike rivals Kickstarter or Indiegogo, which startups and creative types use to raise money to fund businesses or projects, GoFundMe is focused on more personal needs. Some of the most popular projects currently on the site include a page asking for money to cover medical bills for a woman who was recently assaulted in her home and a page soliciting money to pay for a newlywed couple's new car after their old one was destroyed. The company makes money bycollecting a 5 percent fee on each donation.
The company has 34 employees including its co-CEOs, according to its website, and claims to have helped users raise $440 million since it was founded in 2010. It declined to share revenue information.
The controversy over GoFundMe’s curating tactics started after the site pulled a campaign created by Bailey, a 23-year-old woman who posted a campaign in hopes of funding her abortion. As of Thursday, Kickstarter and Indiegogo still featured pro-choice pages like “The Abortion Diary Podcast Tour” and “ShareWithThree: A Website for Women and Partners to Share Their Abortion Experiences.”
Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: The Huffington Post | By Jillian Berman
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