dsayers Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 I wanted to personally thank all the donators to FDR. I must confess that I've been listening for about a year now and intend to donate when I am able. I do share the material and the ideas within in the meantime. Since joining the boards, it's been to the forefront of my thoughts more than ever before, so I thought I'd comment on it. I currently live under my father's roof. This is pathetic for a man my age, I realize. I had abusive parents, never really deferred gratification, and ended up falling flat on my face financially after living on my own for over a decade. I'm working now and saving money to be able to move out ASAP. He is an unstable person and continues to abuse me to this day. Though since I began studying philosophy and pursuing self-knowledge, it doesn't burden me as bad as it used to. Especially since a major fight we had just over six months ago when I tried to talk to him about the violence of my childhood, when he made it clear he didn't care and there would be no effort towards restitution. Nevertheless, he has kicked me out before and literally could any day for about any reason. This is why I've been miserly with my money despite the ENORMOUS value that FDR has brought to my life. I just wanted to thank all the people who DO donate. As well as ask you if you too would be sparing every penny if you were in my situation or would you delay your ability to flee your captor (in a manner of speaking) to be able to contribute?
PatrickC Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Save your money. However, I would say the longer you remain dependent on this dysfunctional relationship, the longer it will take you to recover from it. It's like doing philosophy in the trenches. But you probably know that already. Yeah and I'm very sorry your father made you so dependent on him, whilst brutally rejecting you. He sounds like a sadist.
ribuck Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 Fortunately, the marginal cost of an extra listener is almost zero. So there's no need to feel uncomfortable about getting the "free rider benefit". If your circumstances change so that one day you can benefit from donating, then you can donate.
iainmclaren2 Posted January 13, 2014 Posted January 13, 2014 This is the beauty of a voluntary society - you pay for something that brings you value. While you can't donate now (and I would not expect you to) it would be good if you reconsider that when your financial position improves. Together we can spread the message of individual liberty!
dsayers Posted January 26, 2014 Author Posted January 26, 2014 Thanks for the feedback. Earlier, I was talking with Larken Rose about possibly buying him dinner and setting him up for the night during his cross country trek for the summit in Arizona in a couple weeks. About a year ago, I did the same for Pete Eyre when the Copblock.org tour came my way. Then I realized that if I'm willing to do this for them, I have to for Stef seeing as how he's provided with me with so much value. It's not much because of my circumstances but seeing it in the above terms, I kind of had to for consistency's sake. Sorry that it wasn't sooner.
Kevin Beal Posted January 26, 2014 Posted January 26, 2014 Just concerning the free rider part, is that I didn't donate for the first 3 years of listening regularly to the show. It seems perfectly valid and worthwhile to me to save your money so that you can move out. Very sorry about your father. It's your decision, obviously, but It seems to me that getting some space from an unrepentant past abuser is going to be just about the best use of your resources.
dsayers Posted January 28, 2014 Author Posted January 28, 2014 I'm kind of bothered that my board status hasn't been updated yet despite an email to operations and a PM to MMD (both after a little time had passed, including a login). As somebody who is not familiar with how FDR is run behind the scenes, I can't help but wonder if there's really so many people donating for the first time ever on a day to day basis that such a thing would at all be delayed. I was at a loss as to what step to take next in addressing this. I didn't want to come across as petty. However, even before I joined the boards, there was an email reply that went unanswered despite the answer being very simple (I later found out) and important. So I thought I would at least be honest about my frustration.
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