Starting a website up in “spare time” with the purpose of developing expertise and getting a Plan B going is a great idea. The Plan A job can go away at any time. Actually, doing just about anything that provides a product or service — whether it's holding a sign or painting numbers on curbs — is a good thing to do.
Doing something productive should be a better option than looking for a handout, also known as begging. Sometimes it's necessary, but it shouldn't be anything except a last resort.
Five years ago (wow, has it been that long?) I mistakenly suggested in a post that NCN over at No Credit Needed asked for help on his blog to pay down his debt. He clarified that this was not the case. His family's story involved (and continues to involve) a lot of sacrifice. They paid off their debt, continue to remain consumer debt-free, and encourage others to “goest thou and do likewise.”
Or Danielle Liss, who knocked off over $23,500 in debt just last year and still has over $136,000 to pay back. She's chugging through it payment by payment with sacrifice.
With down-to-earth folks like NCN and Danielle around, people who just expect their debts to be paid off by the kindness of strangers, for little or nothing in return, seems, well, a little empty. Nonetheless, it's gaining popularity, and sadly it may be gaining acceptance.
Take Kelli Space, who was nearly $200,000 in debt following her loaded degree in sociology from Northeastern University. How is she paying this back? By soliciting donations! As of now, people have thrown good money after bad to the tune of $8,500. And her 2011 goals? “Help others minimize their debt, pay off as much of my loans as possible, and learn a new language (for both work and leisure purposes!)” I guess she is helping other to minimize their debt, if by no other means than by being a giant shining example of what-on-earth-was-she-thinking. And leisure?! Please tell me that's a joke. Leisure time's over — possibly for the rest of her life.
Or Craig Rowan, Mr. Please Give Me One Million Dollars. No real plan, except that he wants philanthropy to come his way because, well, he just deserves it and he thinks that “it would be awesome.” At least this plea is mildly amusing.
And just yesterday, I got a Twitter follow notification from a guy who runs IWouldLikeYourMoney.com. I'm not kidding. What will he do with the money? He'll let us all know when he has enough, but it's not for charitable purposes. Huh?! There is some ad space if you throw him $30 or more, so this isn't a complete rat-hole either.
Even the relatively famous beg, or at least call for sympathy. Dustin Diamond, also known as “Screech” from Saved By The Bell, sold $15 T-shirts that said nothing more than “I paid $15 to help Screeech save his house” when he faced foreclosure in 2006. A lot of good that did. A few months ago he faced foreclosure for the third time in five years. Ouch! (Well, at least there was a T-shirt.)
So, I have to ask: What's with all the begging? It might boil down to me just not having the gumption to do what these people are doing, and that I might be deluding myself by assuming that I have to provide some value for what I earn. Silly me.
I have a feeling that there will be a lot more of this. It will be sad. There just isn't enough money to bail everyone out.
And frankly, why should we?
Thanks for the link. I can’t imagine having the balls to ask someone to pay back my debt for me. I started it and I’m going to finish it.
I can’t imagine what is more pathetic: the shameless begging that is pointed out in this post, or the fact that these sad souls are getting donations. I notice some of these folks are younger…have we created an “entitlement class” among our youth? Also, has “reality TV” essentially stripped our culture of all shame and dignity? One wonders.
Online begging sites are nothing new. I first heard of the idea in 2002 when I read about a website called Save Karyn in the newspaper (I think it was the L.A. Times) where the author was asking for donations to finance her credit card debt.
I later ran across a page called the Million Dollar Homepage where the guy had a 1000 x 1000 pixel image on his webpage. You could buy a 10×10 pixel square and a link for $1 per pixel. Since there are a million pixels, he sought to make $1 million on the deal.
Each of these appears to have a Wikipedia entry describing why it was unique at the time. It seems like the sites you mentioned are trying to copy the idea of these other websites.
@Danielle: $23k+ in one year is very impressive!
@pfstock: Regarding the MDHP people were paying for the advertising, which at one point was very hot. The site still has a five-digit Alexa ranking almost five years later. It was actually pretty infuriating how easily he made that $1 million. 🙂
I’m with you, what makes others think their irresponsibility should just be pardoned and their burden be pushed off onto others? gah it makes me mad sometimes, like this little project http://bit.ly/cc27EV (the site is down, maybe for good?, this is my coverage of the story)
How bout the Octomom and her BS begging for others to shoulder her load, pay her mortgage and debt? I’m all for helping those in need, but I guess I’ll have to stick with third world countries to make sure the people I help are genuine 🙂
Great job @Danielle!
As far as the begging, it just seems to fall in line with the general feeling of entitlement people have/lack of responsibility. I am not sure where it came from, but i doubt it’s going anywhere anytime soon.
I don’t believe people come to online begging with entitlement mentality. They might just need a hand when they are in a tough spot. If you don’t like people ebegging just ignore it, dont give any money. If somebody want to help a fellow human in dire circumstances, whats your damage.
@Dave Thomas: The stories on your site (some of them anyway) are a bit different than the ones I’m talking about. Those people need benevolence because they’ve fallen on hard times. The people I’m talking about here are nowhere near hard times yet.
MB! Send me over some money baby! 🙂
It’s just easier to ask than to work hard on one’s own.
Have linked back to this post in my latest wrap. Thanks for highlighting something I’ve been thinking too.
Craigs list is filled with beggars wanting stuff for free.. I mean there is a place for that, it’s called freecycle.
If a blogger wants to put a donate link on their site though, I don’t mind. There may actually be people out there who want to help fund people’s writing, kind of like NPR..it’s supported by the listeners.
Economically it makes sense to beg for money at home, than on the streets if you are fortunate enough. I don’t condone the behavior but it’s not a crime and should not be illegal.