In an act of incredible generosity, an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign calling on donators to help Greece pay back its debts has been started, but it could just be the biggest crowdfunding sinkhole in history.
On the scale of national economies, it can seem quite hopeless to think that the average person is capable of transforming a practically failed economy by themselves unless they are the head of a major conglomerate or the president of the US.
Well, for Greece’s spiralling debts of €340bn, one 29-year-old man in the UK is at least trying to contribute towards the €1.6bn bailout repayment the country is due to make to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to Thom Feeney’s Indiegogo page, the crowdfunding campaign is an effort to allow the people of Europe to ‘chip in a few euro’ each in what he estimates would be enough to help Greece pay its bailout repayment, something the state says it won’t be able to do.
To sweeten the deal, those contributing to the crowdfunding project, depending on how much they offer, will be sent rewards of Greek products shipped from the Mediterranean country, including a €160 food basket.
‘Sod it, I’ll have a crack’
Feeney originally had a reward of a Greek island if someone were to offer the whole €1.6bn, but he said those in Indiegogo’s management weren’t too pleased with a 29-year-old man in Yorkshire offering sovereign soil of another country to the highest bidder.
Speaking on his campaign page, he has denied that there’s any prank element to it or that it’s only a promotional stunt: “I can understand why people might take it as a joke, but crowdfunding can really help because it’s just a case of getting on and doing it. I was fed up of the Greek crisis going round in circles, while politicians are dithering, this is affecting real people. While all the posturing is going on, then it’s easy for the politicians to forget that. I just thought, sod it, I’ll have a crack.”
It all appears to have been in vain however as, barring the likes of Bill Gates coughing up some of his fortune, the campaign has made a percentage close to zero of the target, raising just €129,793 (at the time of writing).
Still, a rather valiant effort it has to be said.
Greek €2 coin image via Shutterstock
