[SSC] financial support

[john andrews]

I think the concerns about potentially sizeable donations from those who can easily afford to make them is fully justified (but isn't it nice to even be having this discussion).

 

Sandie makes the point that we almost certainly wouldn't weigh the opinions of X more highly than Y simply because X offers to contribute ten times more than Y. I think that's true... for now. But what happens after a couple of years, after becoming quite used to generous donations from X? Is there not a danger that we might have started to rely on those donations? Would we still be able then to treat any possible differences of opinion between X and Y with the same equanimity? I like to think that I'd be able to but I wouldn't like to give an assurance that everyone else could - it certainly isn't the way the world works at the moment, where big money totally dominates decision-making.

 

I think we should proceed with caution. Just because someone might be loaded doesn't mean that they don't have exactly the same concerns about the planet in general, and human society in particular, that most of us at LSSC appear to have. History has thrown up a few such individuals (Robert Owen, George Cadbury) - but the fact is they're pretty rare. We would simply need to learn more about any such person taking an interest in LSSC. After all it's their values that should matter to us far more than their bank balance, and providing their values pretty much resonate with the rest of us, they should be welcomed with open arms.



john
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