Cards Against Humanity tries to disrupt wealth inequality with latest campaign
Cards can make people laugh, and they can make them rich.
We're not talking about gambling. Rather, it's another round of Cards Against Humanity trying to "save America" with a fundraising campaign.
For day three of the effort, Cards Against Humanity attempted to tackle wealth inequality. The issue is pervasive not only in America but also in economies worldwide. It explores how some people are rich, others are poor, and where should the line by drawn. How much money can help someone in the latter group and not really even affect the former group if it were redistributed?
Cards Against Humanity described wealth inequality as "truly fucked," in a blog post about the effort. Indeed, it is.
"Most Americans can't come up with $400 in an emergency, and one in five American households have zero or negative wealth. That is truly fucked. But none of us feel like we can do anything about it," the company wrote.
That last part is an exaggeration. There are plenty of organizations (not just party games) working on the topic, of which you could be a part.
But, Cards Against Humanity decided to "tackle" the issue at a small scale. The company collected $15 apiece from about 150,000 people, more than $2 million in total. Most of those people were not directly affected by the effort. A subset of 10,000 subscribers received a refund of $15. The "poorest" 100 people received $1,000.
Who got the money? Cards Against Humanity decided who was within each group based on a survey of their subscribers. Every member was ranked based on their responses to demographic questions and other "red herrings." They also incorporated geographical census data.
The system, while transparently shared by Cards Against Humanity, is definitely not perfect, and the company admitted that. They chose to exclude "anyone who said they had debt," for example.
"The method is not perfect and there are likely some deserving recipients who did not get checks. We’re sorry about that," the blog post reads.
Cards Against Humanity shared quotes from 13 people who received money about what they would do with it. Recipients' reasons included medical bills, student loans, unemployment, and visiting family.
“My first purchase would be a plane ticket for my 10-year-old son to come spend spring break with me. He lives in Las Vegas with his dad and I can't ever afford to see him more than twice a year," Ariana from Washington wrote.
What happens next? For those who are mad they didn't receive money, the company advised directing that anger at the U.S. government for not tackling wealth inequality itself. CAH also suggested supporting candidates who are working to fight this issue, and contributing to organizations focused on the topic, like MoveOn.org.
Topics Activism Gaming Donald Trump Politics
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
