Counts can corrupt charitable giving. Extreme money lets Counts playact as experts. Charitable organizations serve serious needs. But Counts can warp them to follow their own whims and wants.
And this violates
fundamental
American values.
Americans help one another. We know that generosity means giving more than you get. Charitable organizations are tools Americans use to come together, pool resources, and respond to needs.
Extreme money can turn any regular problem in America into an extreme threat. Elite, entitled Counts endanger America by wielding extreme E8, E9, E10, E11 Money Counts to:
- Playact as special experts. Global hunger? Climate damage? Education reform? No matter a Count’s actual background, charities have no choice but to listen and to yield to Counts. Extreme money means charities have to bend to the views of Counts as if they were experts.
- Warp giving to follow personal whims. A Count can make a charity follow his own whims, rather than respond to urgent needs. And when a Count loses interest, the money just stops, no matter who suffers.
- Make stingy look generous. A $25 million donation might look incredibly generous. But to a Count armed with an E10 Money Count, that’s less than 10 days of Free Income. For an E11-rank Count, that’s one single day of Free Income. As portions of their own wealth, Contributing Americans often give far more.
- Turn giving into getting payoffs. Counts can twist charitable giving to be more about getting payoffs than giving to help others. What can I claim credit for? How much of a “return” will there be on my “investment”?
- Make Americans beg Counts for handouts. When Counts wield extreme money, Americans are reduced to begging them for assistance. Will you please help us build a new hospital wing? Will you please support our schools? Will you please help us feed the poor? Counts come to expect Americans to treat them like saviors.
- Use charities as a cover for more hoarding. When Counts make a show of their charitable giving, it distracts from the endless Free Income they continue to collect. It may seem like a Count is giving money away, but his Money Count actually keeps going up.
On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Big Woods Declaration (BWD) renews the call for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, free from the corruption of extreme money.
The BWD is a First Amendment petition to the American people and our government. It is not limited to any political party or group.
The BWD is a total of 60 pages: the Core Declaration (4 pages), the 13 Notes, the 27 Dangers to America, and the 16 Solutions for America.
The BWD may be shared and reused under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. View a copy of this license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
The BWD was created without the use of any AI, opinion polling, or focus groups. The BWD draws on many core American ideas as well as the work of Thorstein Veblen, America’s visionary from the Big Woods of Minnesota.
All photos in the BWD were taken in the Big Woods. The BWD was framed by Erik Christopher Sahlin with Alyssa Beth Wulf.
