Richard D. Wolff

I wanted to know your thoughts on organizations (even those that you agree with) asking for donations. Living my entire life in the ugly capitalistic society of the USA, my immediate default reaction to anyone asking for money is to put up my fists. There are so many corporate scams and even charitable organizations with fat salaries for their leadership, that I am very turned off by appeals for donations even from groups I like. One example of this is the increasing number of emails from groups like DFA (democracy for America) with a nice message and a button: “donate to sign the petition and support the cause”. One vulgar example of this was the DFA email during the recent “sit in” by Democratic congress members. It stated that you could click to donate to support the congressional members who were sitting in. I thought; why do I have to donate money to get members of Congress to do their job and make their voices heard on progressive issues? I consider myself a budding socialist and I am interested in groups like Socialist Alternative or Democratic Socialists of America (and of course D@W) but I am hesitant to join anything with membership fees. I understand the free rider problem. In addition, how court decisions denying unions the right to collect dues have in effect crippled labor unions efficacy. However, in our dog eat dog society, I have trouble overcoming skepticism regarding donations or membership dues. I realize that I am probably this way because the American culture suppresses collectivism.