 Charitable Trusts and Research Foundations |
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 Apr 30 2007, 02:44 AM
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#1
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King of the Hobos  Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,117 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 127  |
So what do people think would become of organisations like the charitable trusts and medical research foundations of today by the 2070s? I'm talking the really big heavy hitters like the American Howard Hughes Medical Institute or the Wellcome Trust over here in the UK who are sitting on endowments of roughly 15 and 25 billion dollars and dole out 400 to 800 million dollars a year in biomedical research respectively. The ones that could give the megacorps research departments a real run for their money. I'd be interested to see how people think they might have survived and faired by the 2070s as a concept and what sort of ideas they could come up for them.
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Apr 30 2007, 03:29 AM
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#2
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
Lost totally in the Crash, IMO.
~J |
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Apr 30 2007, 03:48 AM
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#3
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...I haven't used the two particular medical trusts mentioned, but I have used several other (meta)humanitarian and scientific foundations as well as a written up a couple new ones.
The most notable is of course the Nobel Foundation which I see as still going very strong in the sixth world. Of course prizes have been expanded to include breakthroughs in Magical Research, Paranormal Research, and Matrix Research. Others that have appeared in my scenarios are the International Endowment for the Arts (an expanded version of the old National Endowment), the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), The MacArthur Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation - Specifically the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, and the Ford Foundation. Several purely humanitarian organisations/watchdog foundations have come into play (some, variations on existing ones) such as Midwest Medical Teams, Amnesty International, Mercy Corps, and The MetaHumanitarian Watch (formerly the Helsinki Watch). Two that I have created specifically for one of my campaigns are the Grande Foundation for Social Responsibility (UK), and The Groznek Humanitarian Foundation (UK). |
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Apr 30 2007, 01:30 PM
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#4
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Ain Soph Aur Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,477 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Montreal, Canada Member No.: 600 |
I disagree. They are the foundation of Policlubs IMO. Instead of being purely non-profits out to help people, they use their good images to fuel political agendas and do lobbying. Or, like Draco and Atlantean, they've grow huge due to certain Awakened individual's funding. |
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Apr 30 2007, 06:41 PM
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#5
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,944 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
All gone or usurped for perverse goals. They could have been lost in the crash, they could have inept/corrupt leadership that brought them down, or siphoned off their capital.
But I do not think any remain. When I first started playing SR, it was cool that there was one single humanitarian organization where the poor, sick, hungry, downtrodden, injured of metehumainty could seek free help. What a great set-up for the reveal of the true purpose of the Universal Brotherhood. |
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Apr 30 2007, 07:29 PM
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#6
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...I'm more with Backgammon on this.
C'mon it's the bleeding Nobel bleeding prize. The single most coveted award in the world (this is not to say the selection process may not be fixed at times). And even if a number of the old ones died out, why wouldn't some of the bigger foundations with similar aims consolidate, and why wouldn't new foundations be established in the post crash era? Or is the sixth world that corrupt? Keep in mind, a lot of the current RL foundations were established after the crash of 1929. I also have difficulty buying the fact that everyone in the sixth world would sooner sell their mother down the river for a couple nuyen. |
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Apr 30 2007, 07:45 PM
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#7
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
Aye, I also very much doubt that everyone would sell their mother, there is so much more profit in simply renting her out... :cyber: |
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Apr 30 2007, 07:46 PM
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#8
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,066 Joined: 5-February 03 Member No.: 4,017 |
*Presented by Ares. Ares, when something needs to die, call Ares. Even now, everything is for sale, and in SR, the corps can afford it all. There may still be the illusion of objective multi-national unaffiliated groups that are credited with the decisions, but that's even more of a farce in SR than it is today. |
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Apr 30 2007, 07:47 PM
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#9
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,944 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
Usurpe it and you get to fix the outcome every year, and siphon off millions to yourself and your cronies. Plus, you get to brag about being a Nobel Prize winning <insert category>. Fame, prestige, wealth, The Nobel would be one of the first victims.
How many had/have truly ultruistic ideas? I'm going to be the cynical devil's advocate here and say they were formed to hide assets and avoid those monstrous new income taxes, featuring top rates of 75% to 94% depending on the year.
That's what was so refreshing about the Universal Brotherhood. |
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Apr 30 2007, 09:00 PM
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#10
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...well aware of that. It's often easier to give a little than let the government take a lot. How many of use use deductions for charitable contributions to reduce our personal tax burden? However, that wouldn't necessarily preclude such organisations from existing in the 6th world, nor would it preclude some who have taken over running them years down the road to have a few altruistic ideals even if they are borne out of guilt. Personally, I'd rather see the money go to more constructive ventures than those many governments usually support anyway. And yes, there very well would be people here & there that still do have a sense of compassion and dignity even is such a dark hopeless future as SR envisions. Granted, their task wouldn't be an easy one by any stretch of the imagination.
...they wouldn't sell their mothers, they'd simply inhabit and turn them into fleshforms. |
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Apr 30 2007, 09:54 PM
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#11
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
You're absolutely correct, a lot of people do come together selflessly for the common good. The common good, however, is now the megacorporation that you work for. Altruism isn't dead, it's just been perverted beyond recognition. ~J |
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May 1 2007, 04:04 PM
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#12
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...I don't totally buy that either. Even in the worst of times there are people who honestly care about making things better.
The sixth world apparently is like the new "Dark Ages". Maybe it's time for a renaissance |
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May 2 2007, 05:22 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 113 Joined: 5-January 03 From: Butte County, CA Member No.: 3,836 |
I don't know, there are all these wealthy guys with really big egos.
Especially dragons and Ehran the Scribe. I would think that they'd actually pay to keep things like the Nobel prize fair and respectable. Especially after the overturned UCAS election. Bragging rights are worthless if the people you are trying to impress are the people that would know if the thing was rigged. |
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May 2 2007, 08:26 PM
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#14
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...I could see that.
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May 2 2007, 10:23 PM
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#15
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Cybernetic Blood Mage Group: Members Posts: 3,472 Joined: 11-March 06 From: Northeastern Wyoming Member No.: 8,361 |
Except that the bragging rights becomes focused on who is best able to politik their way into being awarded the prize amongst those 'in the know' whereas your typical wageslave is brainwashed enough to believe that their corp would never stoop so low as to undermine the Nobel Prize, ect...
In fact the odds were probably stacked against them because all those other corps were trying to buy the Nobel Prize. I guess that it just shows that even in these dark times, the true geneus of our corp can not be denied... |
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May 2 2007, 10:47 PM
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#16
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Free Spirit Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,944 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Bloomington, IN UCAS Member No.: 1,920 |
They might not be impressed by whatever the award was allegedly for, they would be impressed because the winner outmaneuvered the loser for the prize, who was playing as dirty as they could for their own benefit. |
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May 2 2007, 11:10 PM
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#17
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 11,410 Joined: 1-October 03 From: Pittsburgh Member No.: 5,670 |
they do honestly care about making things better. they've just been fooled into believing that their megacorp feels the same way, so they work to support their megacorp.
yuck. where's the fun in that?
you're kidding, right? Ehran helped found Tir Tairngire, the second-most draconian state in North America. and Lofwyr caring about the sanctity of some human award? come on. |
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May 3 2007, 12:26 AM
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#18
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Bushido Cowgirl Group: Members Posts: 5,782 Joined: 8-July 05 From: On the Double K Ranch a half day's ride out of Phlogiston Flats Member No.: 7,490 |
...hmmmm. May have to read up on the Scandincavian Union & set a run in Oslo. Could be interesting... ...and from the international newsdesk, the Winner of Nobel Peace Prize has just been arrested by Europol on conspiracy to commit murder...the full story and vid at 11. |
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May 7 2007, 02:55 PM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 124 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,812 |
This may not be of much use to many people, but I am told that from an international banking and finance law standpoint specific-purpose trusts, or trusts created by a trust deed registered in a country of less-than-robust scrutiny with assets in a banking state that isn't willing to look too hard is hands-down the best way to conceal money sourcing nowadays.
The relevance of this. Imagine a Johnson who is perfectly happy for a team to know that he is acting for the "John T. Smith Beneficient Society", in hiring them to do illegal thing X to person Y. The difficulty is that the 'society' is registered as a legal entity in the UCAS, but operates from a trust deed drawn up in Poland pre-revolution and registered and lodged in Tir Tairngire, through a large firm of reputable and very discrete elf lawyers. The lawyers act on instructions set out in the document which is inacessible from outside because it is off-line, in transferring funds drawn from a hidden source (hidden because of the blank, anonymous wall of legal professional privilege) into their trust account, and then having funds drawn from their trust account to a bank in whichever jurisdiction, on instructions to issue a certified credstick in that amount. Trusts designed in this manner can distribute funds however they want based on instructions that no-one will ever see. The trust is registered at a convenient business address which can be a post-office box or (I suppose) even an electronic mailbox in 2064. Remember that anonymity only begins with the Johnson. |
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May 7 2007, 03:04 PM
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#20
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Manus Celer Dei Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 17,006 Joined: 30-December 02 From: Boston Member No.: 3,802 |
No good. You need continuous elf lawyers to properly protect funds in this modern age. ~J |
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May 7 2007, 05:12 PM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 386 Joined: 2-January 04 From: California Protectorate Member No.: 5,949 |
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAHAHAH! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Kage, no fair making me almost bust out laughing in class! Enigma, I think he meant to say the word you were looking for is "discreet." ;) Edit: Would an IE be an example of a "continuous elf?" |
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May 11 2007, 03:47 AM
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#22
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Canon Companion Group: Members Posts: 8,021 Joined: 2-March 03 From: The Morgue, Singapore LTG Member No.: 4,187 |
Exactly. There's your fun. :) |
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