An email I was sent today:
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From: Affluence.org <support@affluence.org>
Date: Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 7:21 AM
Subject: You have received an invitation to join Affluence.org.Hello,
You have been invited to by ******* to join Affluence.org. Affluence.org is an exclusive community of affluent people dedicated to making life better for both themselves and others.
As a member of Affluence.org you will have the ability to find and interact with other affluent people from around the world, evaluate and contribute to your favorite charities, and gain access to exclusive lifestyle guides to luxury living, travel and the latest trends. Within this elite community you will be provided with access to a dedicated Affluence Concierge, receive priority access to the world’s most exclusive premieres, nightclubs, parties, hotels, events and much more.
To accept the invitation to our exclusive network, please follow the link below.
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This message was sent by Affluence Corporation, 334 East Lake Road Suite 258 Palm Harbor, FL 34685. Please email support@affluence.org to be removed from future mailings.
I see that they mean well (on some level), but it unsettles me in the same way as that Secret Millionaire reality show coming from the UK to the US via Fox. You tell me: Can we move beyond the mental models of patronage and recipients, charity and charitized?
Of course, maybe I’m bristling at the concept since I’m plainly not in the intended Affluence.org social networking demagraphic. : )
Nonetheless, if you’re reading this blog, chances are you have more than you think. Hopefully we’ll continue to find ways to put our heads and hearts together to make something of our collective situation.
mornin-I can’t find the link in the bread.org site for the sidebar button-where’d ya get it?
Briana
have you seen the secret millionaire show!
it’s pretty exceptional and has me my wife and mom in tears when ever its on in our house, i can’t comment on the US version but i feel that you’ve completly missed the point and emphasis of the Uk version
Three main points that really make this show wonderfull.
1 – In the UK allot of fantastic projects, people and charities struggle to get the funding they need to continue full stop- raising funds is difficult particularly because of the way in the UK there aren’t the same tax insentivies as there has been in the US. – Also the way most grants (both secular, faithbased and govermental) are dished out (and this is where most third sector funding comes from) its all about ticking boxes and meeting criteria if you don’t fit you can be amazing but get nothing, plus you prettymuch need a degree in fundraising to get more than a few lines of the aplications filled out well – lots of great people fall through the cracks for lots of various reasons funding has become all about numbers, figures and criteria and no longer about stories, this program connects people with money with people with stories and teh results are wonderful and what you would expect these wonderfull little kingdom works (from both christian and the not yet) get the rewards they so often deserve (ie that of continueing to bless others)
2 – Also the tone of the program is never condescending infact the oposite, i don’t think i’ve yet seen a show where the giver has not been changed and often recieved more than those he has given too – these folks are often transformed by their encounters (often the buisness mindsets of you get what you deserve and that there is only one way of measuring and deciding a wise investment) and many times humbled by the opurunity to give. I’ve seen shwerd inverstors walk into an area thinking they come like a messiah come away realising they know so little and having to given into intuition, emotion and feelings to direct their investments and self made millionaires who truly believed that you get what you earn in life realise that actually as much as they’ve worked hard they also been lucky and that many work as hard or harder and recieve very little in return.
3. the show promotes that giving cannot really be done by distance that real gift and that to make a real difference in these area’s requires a certain amount of incarnation that you atleast need to try and walkin someones shoes to see if they need help and what sort of help they might need. More than this and more and more often the result of the show is much more than a financial transaction but a relationship built, redemption occurs often more for the giver than anyone else, and more than not money is follow genuine love and is followed by time, commitment and sometimes freindship
Don’t knock it till you seen it you might see the work of holy spirit on a funny little screen
Thank you for this perspective – I’ll have to check it out now!