2025 Donations

Last year I wrote “There's a through-line for these organization. Thanks to ideas I learned from Ayn Rand and put into practice, I was able to better my circumstances. I feel fortunate that as a result I get to financially support so many awesome organizations that are focused--in their own way--of protecting the same possible path for others who find themselves in similar circumstances.”

This year I commissioned a painting to enshrine that idea.

In no particular order:

1. The Ayn Rand Institute. Last year I wrote “Reminder that reading Atlas Shrugged inspired me to work my butt off to better my circumstances.” Yep.

2. Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation. The march against Female Genital Mutilation in the US continues. Child marriage bans were secured in 3 more states, bringing the total number of states that ban underage marriage to 16. Just 34 more to go!

3. Pacific Legal Foundation. PLF is a public interest law firm specializing in helping people secure their property rights against government overreach. Last year they filed a case against my home city of Edmonds, WA and won! Cases range from park rangers asserting the right to invade and install cameras on private property to letting homeowners fix their own plumbing.

4. Institute for Justice. I’m a long-time fan of IJ. They’ve been defending people against government overreach in all sorts of ways. The biggest issues they take on are Qualified Immunity which allows government officials to get away with abuses of power, Civil Asset Forfeiture which allows law enforcement to confiscate property without filing charges (seriously, there are cases like “City of whatever vs. $3412.17” and property has no due process rights), and ridiculous professional licensing requirements. They are also featured in two films that I enjoyed: “Little Pink House” about the Kelo Supreme Court Case, and “Freedom Hair” about a woman trying to start a hair braiding business.

5. Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression. FIRE is making everyone angry on the right and the left. That means they are holding to the principle of free speech regardless of who feels entitled to limit it. Good on them. I always love it when cases are one close to home and this year they successfully defended a UW professor who lampooned the land acknowledgment requirements in his syllabus.

6. Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. “We support diversity without division” is their statement on their website. One of the big things I’m excited about is their “American Experience Curriculum” which “guide[s] students to examine how various groups have shaped—and been shaped by—their participation in American society, creating a dynamic national identity that continues to evolve.”

7. We Heart Seattle. The King County Regional Homeless Authority has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on homelessness and accomplished nothing. We Heart Seattle is boots on the ground, connecting people with services, cleaning up trash, and facilitating recovery on a fraction of the budget. Last year I wrote “I'm profoundly grateful that Andrea [Suarez] exists, and furious that she is necessary".” Still true - 100%.

8. The More We Love. This is a new addition to my list. From their own statement “We provide pathways of hope to those experiencing homelessness, addiction, domestic violence, and trafficking.” It’s one thing to complain about the people on the street, it’s another to offer a path out. I believe this kind of thing is necessary if we are to help reintegrate people into productive society.

I have ended my donations to Wikipedia. I sent them this letter explaining: “The reason is that your editorial policies have become blatantly politicized in the worst way. I've been noticing the trend for several years but each year it had not risen to a level that obviates your value to me as a source of information. The recent assertion of "Gaza Genocide" as fact instead of a war of interpretations is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. I will not detail the distortions, omissions, and other crimes of intellectual malfeasance that are present in that entry as you and your most trusted editors should know better.”

For this audience I will add some color about the “Gaza Genocide” article. It quotes Hamas sources uncritically. It fails to highlight the controversy around calling the Gaza War a genocide, instead treating this designation as fact. It treats the UN as an “authority” despite UNRWA staff participating in October 7th. It discusses “civilian casualties” without discussing the fact that Hamas violates so-called international law by fighting from civilian bases and without uniforms, thus guaranteeing that civilian casualties are necessary in order to fight them. I strongly recommend that they follow Larry Sanger’s advice in The Free Press to regain trust.