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shld a bookstore be transparent abt the fact that the person who owns it on paper is a multimillionaire? yes, definitely, but I don& #39;t see how it& #39;s unreasonable that the same bookstore shld do fundraising to stay open if said owner is not contributing $ (or if $ comes w/ strings)
like: I don& #39;t know directly what the structure is or how it stays afloat, but my thought when I saw a call for funding was, huh, guess the rich lady I heard abt isn& #39;t in the picture, not, this is immediately suspicious
I& #39;ve seen a handful of projects start because a rich person got an idea, and some have been really fucking hands-on and others less so, and often the hands-on ones fade from the picture, whether due to boredom or recognition that it shouldn& #39;t be *theirs*
it& #39;s rare for projects to survive this- there& #39;s actually one rich guy who funded a whole lot of notable shit in the local arts scene that *all* collapsed due to his getting bored- and my feelings about that aren& #39;t & #39;oh good& #39;, they& #39;re & #39;what a colossal waste& #39;
like: we don& #39;t live in a rental economy where wholly independent collectives are able to have storefronts in Manhattan, and I think it& #39;s generally worth assuming that someone with money was involved at some point in most such projects. it& #39;s not *good* but also very hard to avoid
it& #39;s very reasonable to ask & #39;are they still involved, and if so, how much, how much money is in it for them, how does that impact the running of things& #39;, but if the answer is slow, diplomatic, or complicated that& #39;s not entirely cause for suspicion
it must be said, tho, that my standard for & #39;fuck this project& #39; is currently & #39;is the rich person involved inviting antisemitic 9/11 Truth speakers& #39;, because that actually happened with a & #39;leftist& #39; & #39;community& #39; space in Brooklyn (twice, actually, if we count Vox Pop, rest in piss)
