Fund for Ross Goodall- Who's in+how do we start?

Honeydog

I'm not speaking for anyone else but the tone of your first post particularly "Now I don't want any negative comments on this thread..." came across as stroppy and somewhat childish.

This is MSE and even if you post something which you consider to be above negative comments - someone will still post one. That is the nature of MSE. Some people think they're being funny, others just speak the truth as they see it and others are just exercising their right to comment on a public forum.

If you want to skip through your life dispensing goodwill and cheer to your fellow men like some character out of an Enid Blyton story then be my guest.

It sounds to me though like you are doing it for your own self promotion myself but that's just my 2p and I can be cynical at times especially about people on internet forums.

HTH

biscit

fluffnutter wrote: »

My reply wasn't in the least 'negative'. It was a comment on the responsibilities we have to one another, and where the government fits into that complex picture. Your desire, buel, is to help a man whom is being let down by the welfare state. Very admirable, well done you. But that's not fixing the problem. That's just giving credence to the current Tory campaign to reduce the welfare state and shift the burden of community support to the individual (the 'Big Society'). Every time a philanthropist (however well-intentioned) steps in and relieves the government of their duty to help those who are disabled or whatever, it undermines and damages the tenet that we are a society which looks after its less fortunate, from government downwards.

Well put. I fully respect the OP and his compassion, but do have to politely suggest that a fund isn't a good idea. People like Ross shouldn't have to rely on charity, and however you look at it, a whip round like this would be charity. I feel that everyone should share responsibility for those unfortunate enough not to be able to work to support themselves. Not just those who respond emotionally to one person's story.

The point of the article was not that Ross is a special case among benefits claimants, but that he isn't. He's typical of people on incapacity and disability benefits.

I don't think it's reasonable to start a thread on a public forum and expect people who disagree to refrain from commenting. And to be honest most of the people who have disagreed have been eloquent and polite about it.

biscit

Honeydog wrote: »

I'm not speaking for anyone else but the tone of your first post particularly "Now I don't want any negative comments on this thread..." came across as stroppy and somewhat childish.

This is MSE and even if you post something which you consider to be above negative comments - someone will still post one. That is the nature of MSE. Some people think they're being funny, others just speak the truth as they see it and others are just exercising their right to comment on a public forum.

This is true, but I think the last sentence doesn't make it clear that simply disagreeing with a person doesn't make them rude or "negative". Often they are just expressing another point of view.

I see too often people who are in a state, who read perfectly polite comments that are simply not what they want to hear, and they behave as if those people are attacking them and being rude. When the opposite is true.

MamaMoo_2

I must say, and apologies if you think I'm being negative, but if I was this gentleman, the last thing I would want is someone doing a whip round on an Internet forum. It's degrading and embarrassing. Have you thought about how he would feel if he saw this page, where he seems to be advertised as some sort of charity case?
"please sponsor a man in the first world so he can have a pint?"
I'm just saying how I would feel if it were me. My washing machine kicked the bucket, and finding £300 odd will be a pain in the a*s, but if somebody thought that that meant I wanted complete strangers to hand me their cash, I'd be quite offended.
It's a lovely idea in theory, OP, but in practice, without this gentleman's prior permission, you may just be embarrassing him.