wut nao?

[maevele]

So Im hearing shtrly deliberately keeps his on paper income low so as not to pay taxes, but then gets assistance from the state, and took help from the uninsured writers fund? Can anyone verify? This whole thing gets more and more fucked up, and I'm wondering more and more wtf is up with him.

Comments

[naomikritzer]

There's a fund that SFWA administers that gives no-interest loans to uninsured writers facing unexpected medical costs.

At some point years ago, Emma suffered an injury (I just looked this up and according to Shtrly's blog it was two broken elbows -- I'd remembered it as a broken arm or wrist, so I wasn't too far off). They were uninsured at the time. They got a loan from the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund to pay for it.

I am really disgusted by Shtrly's behavior currently, but that doesn't mean I begrudge Emma the loan. I wouldn't begrudge Shtrly the loan either, if he had been the one with the injury. The fund is there for writers in need -- not for writers I like in need, or even writers who don't piss me the hell off on a regular basis in need.

[naomikritzer]

Also,

1. The EMF gives loans, not grants.
2. From what I know of SFWA's finances, there haven't been any situations where they've had to turn people down because they were out of money.
3. If they had, they'd have sent out e-mail to the membership hitting us up for donations, I would think. I was in SFWA for several years, and I don't remember anything other than routine requests for donations to the EMF.
4. SFWA has done way, way, WAY stupider things with its money than loaning money to Emma Bull for medical costs. WAY.

[naomikritzer]

Also, I want to make it clear that I am not defending Will Shtrly here. I think he's an asshole.

[maevele.livejournal.com]

I don't begrudge it either, I just find it strange/questionable due to the fact that they deliberately stay under a certain income level to avoid taxes, but accept help from the gubmint as well as the swfa. And i assume the swfa fund is limited, so someone who isn't choosing poverty for political reasons could have been turned down for lack of resources, after the resources were used for their emergency.
Really, i'm more concerned that they deliberately stay poor onpaper in order to not pay taxes, and then get help from the Man.

(it reminds me of MDC, kwim)

struck because i was wrong as evidwenced by your point 2

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

nihilistic_kid made it sound like it was more than just the loan, though, didn't he? He said Shtrly had point-blank said he didn't want to pay taxes because he didn't want to support the government.

[maevele.livejournal.com]

And I do support anyone who chooses to show their distaste for the government by staying off the tax grid. As long as they are staying off the tax benefits as well.If you sacrifice and stay poor to avoid paying for a government you don't support at all, don't ask that government to support you. otherwise it feels like the whole "bleeding the Beast" thing.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Right!

Well, that and the whole "bringing up examples of your poverty so as to derail conversations about race." It's pretty much a FAIL.

[littlebutfierce]

Y'know, there are a lot of tax resisters--I've known people like that. But they don't deliberately keep themselves below the level of paying tax; they earn whatever money they can (they don't keep themselves poor on purpose) & then they resist paying taxes that they owe b/c they don't want money going to the military. Which to me seems different (I actually find tax resisters generally brave--I don't want my tax money going to fund war either, but I give it every year).