I’m late to this because I didn’t notice the message on my wallet from @haveaheart until just now.

I distributed $1000s in BTC donations from various whales such as @vokain and @rpietila over at BCT (bitcointalk.org) for Yolanda victims in the Philippines and followed up with numerous photos of new roofs built with the donations. I had kept all the receipts of money transfers to the various individuals. I had many contacts at that time throughout the islands and was easily able to find families who needed assistance.

I also had received some donations or loans from BCT whales to help me diagnose (in Singapore) and treat my chronic health condition which ended up (after years of suffering and Philippine doctors having no clue) being gut Tuberculosis and various complications from that and related infections, such as ongoing cysts on my liver, spleen, and left kidney. I had also gotten in a poor financial state because of my illnesses and living in the 3rd world country for too long (largely for reasons which forced upon me by others, although I also blame myself).

When my right eye was gouged in 1999 in the Philippines, I ended up paying for very expensive surgeries and healthcare out of my pocket in the U.S.A..

Also I am against health “insurance” when it amounts to socialism, forced taxation, and not insurance for rare outcomes. Socialism leads to economic failure and then some ressentiment-based ideological megadeath. I don’t like megadeath.

Also I experienced a lot of daily suffering with my chronic illness so I am very empathetic to those who are suffering a health issue.

So with that all in mind and also my latest blog on stewardship, I consider it our civic duty to identify those who are in need of charity. However, there are literally billions of people on this planet who are suffering so identifying where to direct one’s resources is seemingly insurmountable. We try to do what we can and reasonably identify within our limited time resources.

Given that her husband is able, young male citizen of apparently (?) a first-world country which is currently experiencing an employment boom under the Trump administration (not to be misconstrued as a blanket endorsement of Trump), I think he must first show that he has made every sacrifice to return to his country and work so he can support his wife’s needs. Or show why we aren’t merely just funding his tropical dream. Dreams are nice but we have to work for them, not get them for free. I certainly did return to the U.S.A. in 1995 and again 1996 to work in order to support my wife and son who remained in the Philippines at that time. Our Anglo-Saxon heritage is one of hard work and pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. Without that culture, we would not have produced the Industrial and Computer Revolutions that make Steem possible.

Next any donation I would give, I would prefer to send it directly to the institution which is providing the healthcare, so I can be sure the donations are not being used to fund other things. Not because I don’t want this ostensibly sweet couple to reach their dreams (I hope you do), but because I know of others who are also in dire straits and need assistance yet who don’t have the ability for one of the family members to go work in a first-world country. I too had the dream in my 20s and 30s of running away to some brown-skinned country and living a different life than the one I had in the U.S.A.. And I did it! And it significantly destroyed my life!

Note usually donations are given privately by family, friends, and church, because they know the individuals personally and have verified all the details. Socialism has destroyed this to some extent.

If there’s another blog that addresses these concerns, please feel free to reply to my comment so that I will see it. Ah wait, Steem doesn’t notify us of replies to our comments on someone else’s blog?

If the situation is more dire than I understand it to be, please alert me. Note (although this all may be improving for me) I’m technically bankrupt, too old/ill to hold down a stable job, still stuck in the Philippines for the moment, although I may have access to loans from whales.

Oh if this blog was more about just having a happy birthday with some modicum of fundraising on Steem, then my comments don’t apply and then I wouldn’t be involved because so many billions of impoverished people who like to have a happy birthday this year. And I do not know the individuals on this blog personally and I am not rich enough with enough idle time to go around surprising random people on their birthdays (might be an interesting gig for a rich philanthropist).

In summary, I really sympathize with those who suffer some significant health ailment such as a congenital defect. I do hope your wife can get the care she needs. If you’ve made every effort you can to work and there is still a need, and I could send the payment directly to the care provider, I would probably go for it.

P.S. Did you try asking @dantheman if he can share some of that $1.5 billion they raised for the EOS/Block.one spinoff from Steem, or if his Goldman Sachs (c.f. also what I wrote in 2013) connections took the lion’s share?