Does it bother anyone else that billionaires quickly line up to repair Notre Dame Cathedral

[RandySF]

while there's growing inequality all across Europe?

[Loki Liesmith]

1. No

I don’t care what billionaires do with their money.

[Freethinker65]

2. Yes. It crossed my mind.

Amazing that this disposable income is seldom available to help people in need.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. No, but I wish they'd give more to other causes as well.

I do want Notre Dame to be rebuilt and it will require a lot of money.

[SharonClark]

4. No, betterr they use it to rebuild Notre Dame than to fund a right-winger movement.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Pretty much everything pisses me off, so.

[MyOwnPeace]

29. You could NEVER...........

be a politician - you're WAY too honest!

[Initech]

6. Oh it's all about status.

Helping the poor doesn't get you that. Donating millions to a historical landmark, museum, universit, or hospital wing? That's gold yo!!

[SWBTATTReg]

7. I kind of heard that they had a backlash from this (raised already over $600 million, etc. per...

yesterday's news clips). Something too about taxable and/or non taxable contributions (I didn't catch the entire clip.

[MaryMagdaline]

8. No. The re-build will create jobs

Rich people will never give their money to poor people willingly. At least this public works project will do some good. I’m not convinced, too, that poor French people don’t care about a symbol of their national heritage or that they don’t welcome these contributions from billionaires.

[IggleDuer]

9. Some could have spent some money rebuildingthe three southern churches ...

... that burned last week.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. The fundraiser for those churches has reached $1.9 million, which will go a long way

to rebuild those three small churches vs. one enormous one.

[lame54]

10. Nope

[edhopper]

11. No

those billionaires were from Paris fashion houses. It was good for business.

And they were giving to help their city.

[hunter]

12. Better that than buying politicians.

The process is historically accurate too. The wealthy and powerful have always funded these things.

[jberryhill]

13. How do you suppose things like that got built in the first place

Is there more, or less, economic equality than, say, 1118?

Rich people funded its construction in the first place.

[jalan48]

14. I wish they could get as excited about the disappearing coral reefs.

[DFW]

17. French citizens can't vote for Jay Inslee

And except for their “outremer” territories like Martinique and Guadeloupe, there are no continental parts of France with coral reefs.

[jalan48]

18. I think the money to rebuild ND is coming from all over the world.

[Blue_true]

20. Like Notre Dame, instead of solving a problem before it passed critical mass

(tinderbox timbers waiting for a spark), the rich, most politicians and the clueless will wait until the oceans are largely dead to freak out. Afterall, until recently, humans viewed the oceans as dumping grounds for garbage.

[intelpug]

45. coral reefs

How do you know these particular people have not donated to other causes and it simply didn't make national news?

[Blue_true]

16. We live in an age of me-tooism and celebrity worship.

An ancient church has celebrity status as much as it has religious and cultural significance. A family going hungry for parts of a month or having no place to live are unknowns. As sad as that sounds it is true. People and their money are drawn to celebrity in this age and I argue, past ages too.

[jberryhill]

19. But, of course

Wealthy people who funded the original construction of things like this are usually memorialized in the art adorning the structure itself.

[Blue_true]

21. Yes and that is part of the problem.

A person annomously dropping $200,000 to help feed homeless people for several months won't get noticed, so instead of that, they go to Walmart and payoff layaway items for the people that had laid away.

But, we bring that upon ourselves because we worship the public givers and make no effort to acknowledge those that give quietly and without fanfare. And if those quiet givers happen to be super rich, some politicians pile on to the dog-pile and rip them a new one for being greedy.

[ucrdem]

22. No, the money is needed and would otherwise have to come from district governments

for most French religious structures including cathedrals. A few bigger structures like Versailles and NDP are funded nationally. So the donations are another form of paying taxes, and come with healthy tax breaks to make them attractive. So it's just putting a merit badge on a funding stream that is already in place.

[Arazi]

23. Welcome to the yellow vest movement

[tavernier]

24. No.

[ck4829]

25. Yes

[crosinski]

26. They're buying their stairways to heaven the easy way.

There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows…

Led Zepplin

[Siwsan]

28. "All Things Must Pass" George Harrison

Nothing last forever. It's just sad to see such majesty disappear. IMHO, anyway.

[Siwsan]

27. I just posted something similar

As someone who loves history, and really loves visiting historic sites, I'm glad it's being restored. My wonder was, if they raise more than they need, can the surplus be constructively funneled elsewhere.

[Totally Tunsie]

44. I'd bet that some of any surplus would go into a Trust

for future maintenance and operating expenses. Hopefully, there would be enough left over to share with other structures.

[YOHABLO]

30. Seems like the system is rigged everywhere. Where can I sell my soul?

[Igel]

31. If they each give $50 million ...

That reduces inequality, doesn't it?

Every little bit helps.

[malaise]

32. It sure bothered the protesters in France today

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/20/gilets-jaunes-battle-riot-police-and-light-fires-in-paris-over-high-taxes
<snip>
Yellow vest protesters angry over high taxes and inequality march in Paris days after blaze

Riot police and protesters have fought running battles in the centre of Paris as gilets jaunes anti-government demonstrators in fluorescent yellow vests led street marches over what they called “a crisis” of high taxes and economic inequality.

Less than a week after the fire that destroyed the roof and spire of Notre Dame Cathedral, firefighters rushed to put out multiple small fires around the Place de la République, as motorbikes, bins, bicycles and cars were set alight on roads and pavements. Groups of masked men threw projectiles and police fired teargas. Some rioters in masks smashed the window of a sports shop and ran in to loot it, emerging with bags full of goods.

The interior minister, Christophe Castaner, said on Saturday that Paris could become “the capital of rioting”, suggesting extremist demonstrators planned to attend the street marches. Politicians from Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche party said “black bloc” masked anarchist protesters were present.

[UniteFightBack]

39. I have ENOUGH of these yellow vest scumbags thanks. nt

[defacto7]

33. Not in particular. It all depends on what they want in return or

what else they do with their lives.

[johnp3907]

34. Glad to see them put their money to good use.

[Hangingon]

35. No

[Tipperary]

36. Nope.

Not a bit. That is a beautiful cathedral, and I hope they can restore it to its original majesty. History cannot be replaced, but we should retain it as much as we can. I would bet if the original craftsmen who worked on that gorgeous place back in the 12th century were asked - they would agree 100%. And very few of them were rich.

[lunatica]

37. It's always been that way

But on the other hand the greatest monuments in the world wouldn’t exist without self serving rich people paying to build them.

[UniteFightBack]

38. No and this is the latest excuse those yellow vest assholes are using to riot. nt

[WillowTree]

40. Only because no matter how accurate the re-creation is, the historic significance is lost forever.

Apart from that, I'm never against creating (or re-creating) something beautiful.

[VarryOn]

41. No, I'm grateful they are willing to give it away...

It will take millions in repairs. That amount will employ hundreds, if not thounsands, for quite a while. A silver lining from a bad thing.

[EX500rider]

42. Don't see many lining up to help the National Cathedral in WashDC...it needs help too

....and is as close as you will get to a Gothic Style Cathedral in the US. Took 81 years to build. Was damaged in a rare earthquake in 2011.










https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_National_Cathedral

[intelpug]

47. National cathedral

Probably damn few people know it needs work since it isn't featured in a catastrophic front page story. ON the other hand, looking at those towering spires of stone,-- well it has convinced me that if something like this is humanly possible then maybe I CAN get away with building a modest stone chimney alongside my house without disaster happening!

[EX500rider]

43. It's not like a lot is not given to charities:

Total giving to charitable organizations in the US was $410.02 billion in 2017 (2.1% of GDP). This is an increase of 5.2% in current dollars and 3.0% in inflation-adjusted dollars from 2016.

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=42#

[Takket]

46. the problem is that the ultra rich are allowed to accumulate that much wealth to begin with

not who they choose to give it away to.

[fescuerescue]

48. Spending a billion dollars on restoration

WHere do you think that money goes? It goes into the pockets of tens of thousands of workers.

Billionaires using their personal funds to hire thousands and thousands of skilled workers makes the billionaires a little poorer and the workers a little richer.

This will do alot more to reduce inequality, than Billionaires leaving their cash in the bank.

[Raine]

49. No, not in the least ...

I'm glad they're doing it since they can afford it.

[Hekate]

50. No. Tax them appropriately; otherwise it is their money. They could be buying another yacht ...

...or a penthouse in a place with a big gold T on the front of the building, and no one would even notice it enough to bitch about it. Instead they are helping to save a significant artifact of Western Civilization.

The word from me is: Merci boucoup.

[Snackshack]

51. It is their...

Money to do with as they see fit. However the money being donated could go a long way to helping many, many, many people instead of rebuilding an 800+ year old building.

[Crabby Appleton]

52. No, it does not.

[Hortensis]

53. It bothers me when people ask them for charity for public

works that should be supported by taxpayers, like donations to public colleges. Those are OUR responsibilities and our chances to build and be proud. If we can't afford it, we need to question why we're maintaining these ultrawealthy classes with our national wealth. They're not even paying the taxes we would have on their accumulations.

[eShirl]

54. nope