So glad to hear about the money coming to rebuild Notre Dame. Five years to rebuild seems a little ambitious, these kind of projects take years, more like 10-20, not 5, but if they have plenty of money maybe theyâll go full speed. It needs to be fixed, itâs an icon for the world.The spire collapsing is such a huge loss.
Meanwhile the churches torched in Louisiana are having trouble raising enough through their Gofundme accounts.
Vatican/catholic church should be paying 100% of this bill. Pathetic.
5 years to get it rebuilt?
Artificial deadlines for political purposes often turn out rather badly. Do it right, and donât focus on a deadline.
Criticizing billionaires for giving the money for Notre Dame instead of for small churches is essentially missing the narrative of the dominant paradigm.
These âedificesâ have always been built by the ruling class, after all.
I do think those who donât have a lot of money would be better served giving their donations to other causes though if they are able.
Otherwise they too will be part of modern day feudalism, but instead of it being their direct labor rebuilding, it will be the fruits of their labor.
According to ABC news this morning and my memory so far about $700K. I guess a good question for all these churches and Notre Dame is did they have insurance?
Iâm hoping the fire was not caused by someone smoking. A lot of people in France still love to smoke and if this was the cause, I canât imagine someone would fess up.
@dickweed France owns Notre Dame, just like it owns all religious buildings erected before 1905. They do not have insurance.
How about starting a fund to begin to repair the damage Emperor Zero has caused to this country?
And of course the rich are already attaching strings to their âdonationsââŚ
That sucks, but like someone else we know, theyâre at least being open about it.
If we could get a person to walk on a soundstage in New Mexico less than a decade after promising the Moon, surely renovating a Church can be done in less time, given the right resourcing.
Flint and Puerto Rico are giving some serious side-eye to this.
Thatâs incredible. 
Iâm not amazed that theyâve raised $1 billion, as that was probably inevitable. Iâm amazed that they did it in 48 hours. THAT is truly unbelievable.
[Regardless of where the money came from (rich or poor) as I am not stepping into that minefield. ]
iâm glad you brought this upâŚAMERICANs moaning and groaning over an 800+ YR. old building in EURPOE⌠while tiny churches in LOUISIANA are being burned to the groundâŚthese AMERICAN churches probably did not contain works of
âARTâ,however, they mean just as much to the parishioners there as that building does to the CATHOLICsâŚso where is the VATICAN, probably the riches entity in the worldâŚc;mon, POPEY⌠do your thing.
Lots of people that love these historic European cathedrals are not Catholic. People appreciate architectural masterpieces whether religious or not, buildings that have survived centuries and are awe inspiring to look at and contemplate their history.
Yes, churches in this country burned are important to people that belong to them, but in my book itâs not a similar comparison.
To be fair, unless the tax laws / terms are significantly different in France than here (a distinct possibility) a â90% deductionâ means you donât pay taxes on 90% of the money going to the cause. In the US, such charitable donations are 100% deductible (I donât think there are limits to that either). If you give $100 to such a cause, you save (depending on your tax bracket) up to $36 in taxes that you otherwise would have paid on that income (based on probably-outdated memory of the top marginal tax rate being 36%, which I know it no longer is, but humor my laziness in not looking that fact up).
Now, that having been said, maybe ârĂŠduction dâimpĂ´tâ is more akin to a tax credit, which would mean that, yes, that âphilanthropistâ is asking the government to essentially do a very significant funds match on their donation so that they get $90 back from that $100 they donate (although presumably they would have paid taxes on it as it wouldnât be both a deduction and a credit, so really they paid say $36+10 or $46 and the government chipped in $54 on that $100 going to the charity, were we talking about US taxes).
All total, charitable deductions are tax deductible specifically to encourage people to pay taxes. There is a longstanding myth that âitâs deductibleâ means it is essentially free, which is not the case. It just means the government is chipping in a good amount on top of what the âbenefactorâ is actually putting out. This is why the tax code is âso complexâ: it is one of the most powerful tools the government has to encourage people to act in favor of the greater good instead of just selfishly (with the presumption that most charities are âgreater goodâ charities, Trump Foundation et al notwithstanding).
Thatâs the best news Iâve heard this week. I have avoided reading accounts of what all was lost there because I donât need a good cry in the middle of the week. The rose window is an iconic and beautiful work of art.
Yes, such good news about getting to 1 âmilliardsâ (billion) of euros as of tonight. Living not far from the ND Cathedral for the past 42 years, I must say the first two days were hard (on all of us). But this morning, all of a sudden I thought of the Elton Johnâs song : Iâm still standing" !!! And it made me feel so much better. How many people go thru life without scars? Our âNotre Dameâ is an old lady, so it is only normal to show a little wear and tear. But Sheâs still standing yeah yeah yeah. And listening to our 24 hr news station (France Info) at lunch brought even excitement to this catastrophe. Remember, no lives were lost. And Sheâs still standing, yeah yeah yeah.? There was a panel of experts of restauration of churches and monuments and everyone was quite excited as to giving young people the chance to learn manual trades (especially les Compagnons du devoir et de tour de Francee). A learning experience. They were even talking about having regular updates when the restauration starts. Gets everyone involved. And even though there was a bit of pooh-poohing about Macron already asking for a architecture contest, it will be exciting for students to learn how to save monuments. Yes, there will be a tax reduction for those who want (around 60 % for under 1000 euros and a bit more for over 1000 euros). As one of the panelists said (if restauration will go âmodernâ, is to remember that many of the churches had Roman and Gothic mixtures. Additions to Roman churches⌠so if would be like having the glass pyramide in the courtyard of the Louvre⌠you really get used to it. Maybe shocking at first (think Eiffel Tower, Beaubourg). Long message. But letâs finish mourning over the loss because Sheâs still standing yeah yeah yeah, and look towards the future and give her a face lift. Maybe she will go bionic !!! Who knows 'cuz sheâs still standing. And thank you for have given some $ already or will give. There are several associations that are worth giving to. All will go towards the âOld Ladyâ.