Through FF, I do a lot of different things to try to improve the world — non-profit, open source, and public interest. Your pledges here should be tax-deductible.
For instance, I:
- write open source code
- improve campaign finance in the United States
- get first-release Freedom of Information Act disclosures to make government more transparent
- hold the TSA legally accountable
- promote privacy rights for poor people
- give talks worldwide about liquid democracy, cognitive science, language creation, etc.
- make videos about cognitive science
- research computer security and privacy
- … etc.
I'd like to do more — make more CogSai shorts (illustrators wanted!) and live interviews, make more conlanger interviews, publish wallet cards about your rights with police, go to law school with a focus on public interest civil rights & political law, audit the government through wide-ranging FOIA requests, public interest litigation (once I'm a lawyer), etc.
Unfortunately, because what I do is non-profit, and I have a serious disability that limits my ability to do the kind of work I used to do, I haven't gotten a salary in years.
So I'm asking for your support to continue doing all the stuff I do. If you like my work, and want me to continue, I'd appreciate if you could chip in.
Legal bits:
- Contributions support everything I do through Fiat Fiendum — not any particular thing. You can see what I've done for the last couple years above, and if you're a patron, I'll keep you updated about what I've done for the world lately.
- As of Nov. 18, 2017, all Patreon money goes through my IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit Fiat Fiendum, Inc. (f/k/a Make Your Laws, Inc.) Before then, it went through my personal S corp, SaiCorp, Inc. So yes, your pledges are generally tax deductible.
- Patreon support is
not a contribution to the other non-profits I volunteer for (Make Your Laws C4 / PAC & the Language Creation Society).
- In particular (it's pretty regulated), you are not paying me to do work for MYL C4 / PAC, and you do not get any say in how I run MYL.
- I'm not a lawyer (yet), and I'm definitely not your lawyer — so though I do a lot of legal stuff and try to give out good information, nothing I do is legal advice, opinion, or representation.
- If you're uncomfortable with Patreon for some reason (e.g. privacy concerns) you can also send Bitcoin or a physical check payable to Make Your Laws, Inc. or Fiat Fiendum, Inc. (The rename happened in Nov. 2017, and there are paperwork delays.)