Social Notre Dame fire: Billionaires haven't paid a cent yet despite grand promises

[KnightTemplar]

Whole article:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/18/ruins-notre-dame-billionaires-french-philanthropy

The lesson from the ruins of Notre Dame: don’t rely on billionaires


(...)

Barely has the fire been put out before some of the richest people in France rush to help rebuild it. From François-Henri Pinault, the ultimate owner of Gucci, comes €100m (£90m). Not to be outdone, the Arnault family at Louis Vuitton put up €200m. More of the wealthy join the bidding, as if a Damien Hirst is going under the hammer. Within just three days, France’s billionaire class has coughed up nearly €600m. Or so their press releases state.

A few folk question this very public display of plutocratic piety, but we are of course professional malcontents. Some of Paris’s 3,600 rough sleepers protest at how so many euros can be found for a new cathedral roof yet not a cent to put a roof over their heads – still, what do the poor know of the sublime? From all other seats, the applause is deafening. “Billionaires can sometimes come in really handy,” remarks the editor of Moneyweek. “Everybody is at our bedside,” says French TV celeb Stéphane Bern. Flush with cash, French president Emmanuel Macron vows the gothic masterpiece will be rebuilt within five years. Front pages scored, studio hours filled, the world moves on. You almost certainly haven’t heard the rest of the story – yet you should, because it comes with one hell of a twist.

Weeks go by, then months, and Notre Dame sees nothing from the billionaires. The promises of mid-April seem to have been forgotten by mid-June. “The big donors haven’t paid. Not a cent,” a senior official at the cathedral tells journalists. Far humbler sums are sent in, from far poorer individuals. “Beautiful gestures,” says one charity executive, but hardly les grands prix.

That prompts a newswire story, after which two of the wealthy donors, the Arnault and Pinault families, stump up €10m each. Followed by silence. Questions I put this week to the various donors and charities went largely unanswered. (Perhaps their offices are busy or emptied out by the summer holidays.)

(...)

As another charity executive, Célia Vérot, said: “It’s a voluntary donation, so the companies are waiting for the government’s vision to see what precisely they want to fund.” It’s as if the vast project of rebuilding a 12th-century masterpiece was a breakfast buffet from which one could pick and choose.

Meanwhile, the salaries of 150 workers on site have to be paid. The 300 or so tonnes of lead in the church roof pose a toxic threat that must be cleaned up before the rebuilding can happen. And pregnant women and children living nearby are undergoing blood tests for possible poisoning. But funding such dirty, unglamorous, essential work is not for the luxury-goods billionaires. As the Notre Dame official said last month, they don’t want their money “just to pay employees’ salaries”. Heaven forfend! Not when one could endow to future generations the Gucci Basilica or a Moët Hennessy gift shop, so you, too, can enjoy the miracle of sparkling wine, or a nave by L’Oréal (tagline: Because Jesus is Worth It).

For the super-rich, giving is really taking. Taking power, that is, from the rest of society. The billionaires will get exclusive access to the “vision” for the reconstruction of a national landmark and they can veto those plans, because if they don’t like them they can withhold their cash. Money is always the most powerful casting vote, and they have it. Never mind that much of this cash actually comes from the public, as French law grants a whopping 66% tax relief on any donation – the power is entirely private. The annual cap on such contributions doubtless constitutes a prudent reason for the big donors to stagger their generosity.

---

The article goes on and actually is worth the read even if you disagree with the sharp tone.

What say you, Sherdog? Should billionaires who have already received the positive feedback from the public honor their pledges and pay up or should they get a say in the precise 'how' it is put to use in a case like this one?

 

[Damien Karras]

Lol whatever guy. You’re just being a crybaby. Mommy ain’t here on the internet. What a man you are.

I’ll give you the link where the international contest allows gay artists to compete. And they will win.

Maybe cuz more artistic? Or maybe to piss on the ashes of a Catholic Church.

do eeeeeeit

 

[Damien Karras]

Why?

I've been on Sherdog long enough to see crazies like him eventually get tossed.

They usually come back with another nickname and av and get right back at it

 

[Damien Karras]

If the bolded part is true, then that's a clear sign of wanting to intentionally create strife between Muslims and Christians. No Muslim would care to have a minaret on top of a cathedral.

lol none of this is true. Don't fall for it. Next thing you know he'll claim a pizzeria will be included with a dungeon beneath it where they will diddle little kids.

 

[MicroBrew]

How about we get an investigation in to how it burned down before anyone gives anything? Did they ever even release a root cause?

The French authorities would already have carried out an investigation.

Why would the funding for re-construction be need to be tied to an investigation? Everyone agrees the Cathedral would need to be rebuilt ; an investigation doesn't change this.

 

[carlos cadona]

And this has become a conspiracy thread.

 

[all caps]

The French authorities would already have carried out an investigation.

Why would the funding for re-construction be need to be tied to an investigation? Everyone agrees the Cathedral would need to be rebuilt ; an investigation doesn't change this.

Fraud? Can we say for sure the people who burned the building down wont profit off the contract to rebuild?

No offense to you, but a sherdoggie telling me "no, that didnt happen" isnt confirmation enough for me.

 

[Happy Man]

If the bolded part is true, then that's a clear sign of wanting to intentionally create strife between Muslims and Christians. No Muslim would care to have a minaret on top of a cathedral.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/france-announces-competition-to-rebuild-notre-dames-spire-11555506233

It’s been said the “new Notre dame” should reflect the “new diverse France”

I shit you not. When most FRENCH people want it restored exactly as it was before.

But the idea is to demean and change.

 

[RetiredSlave]

Rhetorical. Interesting story though.

 

[Damien Karras]

Lol whatever guy. You’re just being a crybaby. Mommy ain’t here on the internet. What a man you are.

I’ll give you the link where the international contest allows gay artists to compete. And they will win.

Maybe cuz more artistic? Or maybe to piss on the ashes of a Catholic Church.

Hey donkey face, where’s that link you promised ?

 

[Happy Man]

Hey donkey face, where’s that link you promised ?

Ok squidwerd. Gimmie a few hours. I’ll remember

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

Typical billionaires.

 

[7437]

Lol whatever guy. You’re just being a crybaby. Mommy ain’t here on the internet. What a man you are.

I’ll give you the link where the international contest allows gay artists to compete. And they will win.

Maybe cuz more artistic? Or maybe to piss on the ashes of a Catholic Church.

The catholic church deserves it. Fuck them.

 

[Happy Man]

The catholic church deserves it. Fuck them.

Ah hatred.

I imagine you wouldn’t say the same about isrealis for the many many genocides they committed and all the slaves they took and all the land they stole

 

[7437]

Ah hatred.

I imagine you wouldn’t say the same about isrealis for the many many genocides they committed and all the slaves they took and all the land they stole

You would imagine wrong.

 

[forum poster]

Just pimp it out to commercial interests.

 

[floivanus]

I can't be mad.

I could see someone promising a lot of money when it was to rebuild the church exactly how it was, but once people in government start talking about the 'vision,' now we're talking redesign and I wouldn't put it past the French government to make half of the building a mosque or some shit.

I would be cagey too. And I wouldn't let my money go to a mosque.

I believe the “vision” invludes a glass dome and greenhouse BS.

Notre Dame AS IT WAS is a gateway to the past, as they want it to be its just a joke, another mass produced “modern art masterpiece”

Modern art masterpiece only works if you’re yelling it like R Lee Ermey

 

[DIDM]

Catholic Church is sitting on well over a trillion in land, let alone buildings. They can definitely afford to pay to fix it

And I grew up Catholic and my parents still are

 

[floivanus]

Nice to meet you Alex Jones.

BTW - It changes everything.

https://www.newsweek.com/spate-atta...altars-desecrated-christ-statue-1370800?amp=1

https://www.ibtimes.com/notre-dame-...french-churches-vandalized-2018-2785886?amp=1

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2019/03/28/vandals-arsonists-target-french-catholic-churches/

http://m.ncregister.com/daily-news/frances-other-burning-churches

Question the official story and you’re automatically “Alex Jones” wouldn’t that be journalism instead? I’m not saying Notre Dame was Arson, nobody knows for sure with how quickly the official story came out it seems suspicious especially with the amount of media attention given to other area churches being vandalized

 

[Bald1]

What say you, Sherdog? Should billionaires who have already received the positive feedback from the public honor their pledges and pay up or should they get a say in the precise 'how' it is put to use in a case like this one?

What do you call charitable contributions that come with demands attached? Oh yeah, a purchase, or maybe being a sponsor. And that's fine, but it isn't altruistic and shouldn't be portrayed as such or be given the same respect. I'm just not a fan of helping with strings attached unless you're upfront about it.