Everything Needs a Fundraiser Now

I was noticing some fundraisers when I realized this is just another example of wealth extraction — fundraising for expenses that should be covered by systems we already pay for.

Online fundraising has exploded as a replacement for public systems that collect funds but fail to deliver.

Contents

Wealth Extraction
How It Works
Federal Failure, State Backfill
The Price We Pay
The System That Charges Over and Over
- Further Reading

A recent Minnesota situation points out this pattern once again. Two separate fundraisers emerged from the same event—one for a victim’s family and another for a federal agent’s legal defense. Citizens are asked to pay out of pocket for both justice and relief. The details of the incident are not the point. The pattern is.

Fundraising is no longer an optional act of generosity. It has become the default replacement for systems that no longer deliver what they were funded to do. Every donation signals a public function that failed to arrive on time, or at all.

When every crisis, injury, or disruption comes with a donation link, it’s no longer charity filling gaps. It’s the public paying again for obligations already covered once.

Wealth Extraction

Wealth extraction occurs when the government or private interests collect public resources for a public purpose, but the public does not receive the service it already paid for—and must pay again.

Taxes have already been collected, but not used to deliver the services they were meant to cover. When citizens donate or states backfill the gap, the public pays for the same service more than once.

We experience this in everyday ways: shortages, delays, denials, and constant requests to chip in. Services that should be reliable become uncertain.

How It Works

The process follows the same ol’ path.

Many large companies rely on public systems—roads, schools, courts, and a stable workforce—but do not pay enough to cover all of those costs themselves. Those unpaid costs get passed along. Wages fall short, and government programs step in to make up the difference.

> Corporations operate atop public systems that lower their costs → costs are shifted → the public pays again and again

Federal agencies collect taxes for essential services on paper, yet increasingly refuse, delay, or deny the use of funds Congress has authorized.

States are then forced to drain their own budgets to backfill missing federal support. Families are left to close the final gap themselves—through crowdfunding, credit cards, personal loans, or even living in their cars.

At every stage, the financial burden shifts downward: from large corporations to governments, and finally to individual households.

The reason Americans pay federal taxes is straightforward. A healthy workforce and reliable infrastructure keep the country stable, especially in crises too large for states to handle alone. Whatever one’s views on the size of government, forcing people to pay repeatedly for the same services—through clear forms of double dipping—is fundamentally unfair.

Federal Failure, State Backfill

> Limited examples: FEMA and food assistance

In 2025, the pattern became unmistakable. Across the country, states applied for federal disaster or nutrition assistance. In case after case, those requests were denied, delayed, or declared ineligible. States then paid anyway.

Arizona — FEMA declaration denied; $3.6M state food aid

Arkansas — FEMA denied after 15 tornadoes; $250K state emergency funds

California — Federal aid ineligible after floods/heat; $80M to food banks

Colorado — FEMA denied after fires/floods; $10M for community food programs

Delaware — FEMA denied after SNAP stop; $100K to food banks

Guam — FEMA denied after floods; $12.3M SNAP + $800K WIC

Illinois — FEMA denied after storm damage; $25M to food banks

Maine — FEMA denied after nutrition delays; $1M to food banks

Maryland — FEMA denied after May floods; $10M diverted to food relief

Minnesota — FEMA denied after storms; $4M to support food banks

New York — FEMA denied after nutrition delays; $65M hunger prevention

North Carolina — FEMA denied after hurricane recovery; $10M public + $8M private

North Dakota — FEMA denied after flood delays; $915K food banks + $600K WIC

Oregon — FEMA denied after policy fallout; $5M to food banks

Utah — FEMA denied after flooding; $500K community food programs

Vermont — FEMA denied after July floods; $6.3M SNAP + $250K food banks

Washington — FEMA denied after storms; $2.2M per week for food banks

Wisconsin — FEMA denied after August floods; $26M absorbed by state

Each case reflects the same sequence. Federal funds were withheld. States paid instead. Citizens financed the shortfall through state taxes, donations, or both.

The Price We Pay

Americans fund the same essential services multiple times, through different channels.

First, we pay through work that no longer reliably covers basic living costs. Then we pay again through federal taxes for programs that are supposed to provide support but often don’t deliver when needed. When those programs fall short, states step in, and we pay a third time through state taxes. Finally, families are asked to close the remaining gap themselves—by borrowing, taking on personal debt, or donating to others facing the same needs.

These payments don’t replace one another. They stack. The method changes, but the bill stays the same. The same households keep paying, over and over, for services that were already funded once.

The System That Charges Over and Over

> The system collects money (or other value), fails to deliver, and sends the bill back to the public.

The United States now operates a system where money is collected, services are delayed or denied, and the cost is pushed downward.

When federal programs fail to deliver support that was already funded, states step in to cover the gap. When states run out of room, families are left to pay directly—through donations, debt, or personal sacrifice.

This cost shifting is not abstract. We see it when wages fall short, aid doesn’t arrive, and relief depends on donation drives instead of automatic support.

Americans are not failing to meet their obligations. Their institutions are failing to deliver what was already paid for.

People are paying again for what is already theirs.

Wealth Extraction

How It Works

Federal Failure, State Backfill

The Price We Pay

The System That Charges Over and Over

Further Reading