We should have known something was up when the NFB went to court in order to keep its financials private instead of providing the same publicly available records every other non-profit has to.
Bryan Smart (mstdn.social)Bryan Smart (mstdn.social)Bryan Smart (mstdn.social)
@acarson I forgot what was their supposed legal argument for that. Do you? “We can’t comply because our hundreds of blind lawyers can’t figure it out? We shouldn’t have to because ableism? Fuck, you, sighty, give us money?” What?
@bryansmart Hang on let me double check, but I believe it had something to do with being a lobbying organization and not just a vanilla non-profit.
@bryansmart I believe the case in question is Riley v. Nat’l Fed’n of the Blind which they took all the way to the Supreme Court back in the 80’s.
@bryansmart Oh hell no it looks like they’re claiming they actually do disclose their finances. I mean they’re lying like dogs, but they’re claiming that they do.
@acarson You know, if any of the countless molestation/rape cases could be brought all of the way to judgement in civil court, it would make it absolutely fine to dig through it all in order to determine appropriate damages and recover them.
@bryansmart OK so the argument is essentially that their fundraising is speech, and because their fundraising is speech the government has to meet a high standard in order to regulate said speech. Which means they get to play fast and loose with disclosures.
@bryansmart Yes agreed.
@bryansmart So that info was harder than it should have been to find, because I had to find the case and then look it up from there because the NFB has done its best to poison search results on this.
@bryansmart Seriously. Fuck them.
@acarson @bryansmart Wait they try to keep their shit private. What the fuck. Yeah that is a red flag. blind rich bastards.
@sapphireangel @bryansmart It’s not so much private as it is obfuscated. We’d need to actually hire someone who has the relevant financial research experience in order to untangle all of it. Which is why this stuff hasn’t been published anywhere.
@sapphireangel @acarson How eager do you think all their blind members on SSI would be willing to donate if they knew it’s going to another holding company that’s buying real estate in Manhattan?
@acarson @bryansmart That is so so disgusting. They are basically robbing the poor.
@bryansmart @acarson Unless they plan to use that shit their buying to house blind people, or start another training center they have no business buying it.
@sapphireangel @acarson Well, blind people can be sociopaths, too. Living their best lives.
@bryansmart @sapphireangel I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that there’s a statistically significant subset of members who really won’t care unless there is ironclad proof down to the last line item constantly shoved in their faces. to the point where they literally are unable to ignore it.
@bryansmart @acarson Yes, I knew that, but it disgusts me everytime I see it.
@acarson @bryansmart You are sadly probably not wrong Amanda. It will take that for some.
@acarson @bryansmart Yeah that is key fund the lawsuits.
@bryansmart @sapphireangel Otherwise known as “Fuck you I got mine”.
@sapphireangel @bryansmart Of course they’re robbing the poor. So are televangelists. Doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of people eager to fork over what little cash they have.
@acarson @bryansmart Yes, there are many groups robbing the poor. It’s just so so so sad.
@sapphireangel @acarson How much would you guess their current President is paid? Don’t bother guessing. It’s $275,000 per year. On top of that, he lives in a massive mansion, with more fireplaces than my house has windows, all paid for by the NFB. “But please donate from your welfare check, and don’t forget the NFB in your will.”
@acarson @bryansmart There is only one time anything NFB gets a little money from me, and that is every year the local chapter does a walkathon for the scholarship that I got in 2020. I do give a little towards that to help pay it forward for the next student. I feel that is justified, but only because I know that is the specific purpose for it, and the chapter mostly pays for it, so my small amount helps, but doesn’t do it for them. That scholarship helped me avoid debt from grad school.
@bryansmart @acarson I wish I had just a portion of that 275k. I don’t need a mansion just a three bedroom home! lol
@bryansmart @sapphireangel I don’t hate rich people or anything like that, but this is just galling.
@acarson @bryansmart I typically don’t hate rich people either. I’ve seen some do good things, but yeah this is just… there are no words.
@acarson @sapphireangel Not everyone who is wealthy got that way by cheating people.
@bryansmart @acarson Yeah not all wealthy people cheat.
@bryansmart @sapphireangel Yeah that’s kind of what I’m getting at. I mean that I’m not in for all the anti-rich-people stuff that goes on on social media, not anticapitalist by any means, but this is just fucked.
@acarson @sapphireangel Stuff like this has nothing to do with Capitalism. The NFB is a for-profit real estate empire, funded by corrupt shakedown lawsuits in the name of blind people, masquerading as a non-profit charity.
@bryansmart @acarson Yeah, this is where NFB is not okay. They are even dirtier than I thought.
@bryansmart @sapphireangel Yeah I know this particular thing isn’t capitalism. But I know there are a ton of people, even in the blind community, who would point to something like this and go “See? Capitalism bad!” So I’m trying to make it clear that I’m not in this crowd.
@acarson @bryansmart That is fair.
@sapphireangel @acarson I mean, they oppose most all legislation to help blind people. Originally opposed the ADA. Oppose accessible money. Opposed video description. On and on. Just things they do for blind people, when they aren’t stealing their money and protecting rapists. Great organization.
@bryansmart @sapphireangel They’ve opposed so much pro-disability legislation that it’s hard to keep track.
@acarson @bryansmart Yeah, because they can do it theirselves you know!
@acarson @bryansmart Burn all the companies. 🤮 🤢
@sapphireangel @acarson @bryansmart I wish we could fund it all somehow.