Neither Crowdfunding, Nor Oxi,Nor Anything Else Can Stave Off Greece’s Systemic Collapse
In case you missed the media hubbub, a one-week Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign was started back on June 29th with the goal of raising €1.6 billion to pay off Greece’s most recent debt repayment and set it back on the road to prosperity. The campaign of course came nowhere near the repayment amount, and although it amassed a massive reaction across the Internet, it barely made it past the 0.1% mark of its goal – €1,930,366. But seeing how it had no realistic chance of achieving its goal in the first place, it’s inherent that its failure isn’t its biggest disappointment. That mark of distinction goes straight to its existence in the first place, and in particular the dumbing down it has foisted upon a very serious situation.
The brainchild of a Mr. Thom Feeney, a marketing co-ordinator in London, the Indiegogo campaign came with the tagline of being “by the people, for the people,” a great gimmick if there ever was one. Since Feeney stated that he was “fed up with the dithering of our politicians” and that he “would have prefer[red] that we had governments that listened and connected with the public,” it seems that European politicians forced his hand in the matter and left him with no choice but to single-handedly save Greece. Or so one gathers from his statements. Furthermore, and being the 21st century with all its techno-wizardry, the idea behind the crowdfunding campaign he started was that
The beauty of the internet and social media means that a campaign like this can become possible by word-of-mouth and people all across the world can get involved very quickly.
In other words, slap up a page on the Internet, put in your dues in the right social (media) circles, and whammo – you’ve suddenly saved a country! As Feeney then put it,
The chance to use a crowdfunding site for social good is really exciting and I hope that others will follow my lead in future and start or get behind projects like this.
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