Posted February 06, 2022
By Sean Ring
GoFundMe Can Go Spit
- GoFundMe attempted to steal the Freedom Convoys donations.
- Theres no evidence any trucker committed any crime.
- $10 million was to be reallocated to other charities, until some timely backlash and political intervention.
What is GoFundMe?
According to its website, GoFundMe is the leader in online fundraising.On its About page, it reads:Our Trust & Safety team works around the clock to ensure your safety and protect against fraud. We also provide the industrys first and only donor protection guarantee. With eight years of experience and the most money raised, GoFundMe has earned the trust of respected institutions and government officials around the world.
Notice it didnt say it earned the trust of its donors?GoFundMe is one of those sites everyone knows about but rarely uses.So when the time comes to use it, new donors expect it to function as advertised.That clearly didnt happen in the case of the Freedom Convoy.How does it work?
Its supposed to be super simple.You search for the fundraiser you want to donate to.Then, you click on the donate button. Next, you type in the amount you want to donate.After that, you get a confirmation.Thats it.Except when GoFundMe decides when its not.Richard Nikoley posted this picture of all the happy fundraisers for Antifa and BLM:
I mean, its not like Antifa and BLM didnt burn down parts of Seattle - sorry, CHAZ - Portland, and Minneapolis.They were mostly peaceful protests.Well, maybe not to people abroad, but they must be unfamiliar with the American Lefts version of protesting.
Thats not to mention all the lovely fundraisers for abortion and transgender surgery.Im sure GoFundMe makes sure all the parents involved are completely aware of whats going on.But when it comes to Canadian truckers, the buck stops there!Why did GoFundMe Do to the Freedom Convoy?
In a nutshell, GoFundMe tried to steal $10 million from the Freedom Convoy fundraiser.Not for themselves. Thats too naked. Too unsubtle.So they tried to steal the money and give it to other charities.How selfless! How brave! How stunning!Except that stealing is wrong. Its morally wrong, especially in this case.GoFundMe thought stealing the money would go unnoticed since the truckers arent left-wing.Its not like they tried to steal from Antifa. Or BLM. Or any other leftist organization.Freedom Convoy is a bunch of rustics, rednecks, and hicks who drive trucks for a living!No one will care, surely!But someone did.Now I do not doubt that the Canadian government covertly - and overtly - pressured GoFundMe to pull the donations covertly- and overtly.They even invented a new term: threat financing.The Canadian Government couldnt allege money laundering or terrorist financing, mind you. Those are legal terms.And theres not one shred of evidence of either one of those crimes being committed.So the Canadian government had to make up a new term.A term that has no basis in law.Let me illustrate.What constitutes financial crime, money laundering, and terrorist financing?
Financial crime is the umbrella term used to cover all the offenses the government can charge you for related to money.I cover money laundering in an earlier Rude. Let me reiterate exactly what money laundering is:There are three levels of money laundering: placement, layering, and integration.
- Placement is the depositing of ill-gotten gains into the financial system.
- Layering is moving the ill-gotten gains through the financial system in multiple transactions to conceal its criminal origin.
- Integration is where you buy legitimate assets hoping that money now looks like it came from legitimate sources.
I think Greenwald is correct that segregation will happen.I disagree that it leads to a bad and dark place.We need to trust those with whom we do business.This is a step in the right direction.Why Does This Matter to You?
Thats simple: blowback, which the Left uses effectively, also works when it comes from the right.
Such was the outrage that GoFundMe rescinded its original plan of dispersing the remaining $9 million to other charities of their choice.Clearly, it would have been right to do this at first.But GoFundMe - like many consequentialists - only cared about its goal of getting the money to its other chosen charities and not about the look of literally stealing money.It also matters because Ron DeSantis isnt always going to be around.
This is legal, real, and undoubtedly made GoFundMe poop the bed.To be sure, this happened seven hours after GoFundMe said itd refund the donors.But I dont know how GoFundMe gets out of this legally unscathed.Im not a lawyer, but it looks like attempted fraud.Finally, it shows there are alternatives. Not all of them are proven, so always be careful.But GiveSendGo has already raised nearly $4 million for the truckers as of writing.
Its great to see.Wrap Up
Id prefer to have apolitical websites we can trust.I dont see us going in that direction.I see an increasingly segregated internet where we do business with people we trust and those companies that provide their promised service.Richard Mayberry once wrote there are only two rules:- Do all you have agreed to do.
- Do not encroach on other persons or their property.
He also described political power as the privilege to violate these rules.
But political privilege is tricky, and GoFundMe may not have much of it after DeSantis and other state AGs get after them. If they actually do.
Sure, their company will survive, thanks to their leftist cheerleaders.
But I imagine everyone else will take their business elsewhere.
Ultimately, trust matters more than anything else when it comes to business.
Only deal with those you trust.
Until tomorrow.
All the best,
Sean
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