Quote:
Originally Posted by ZodWallop
But I do think the donors genuinely believe they are doing a good thing when they donate books.
|
That's where the doublethink comes in. I think donors are careful not to question their assumptions when it comes to offloading what has become a problem for them. Changing, "Someone will want this" to "Who is going to want this?" would make a huge difference, but leaves the "donor" with their original problem.
It's an undeserved win-win for such donors; they get rid of what they don't value and pat themselves on the back for their generosity at the same time. The reality is that it's much closer to a zero-sum; their gain becomes someone else's loss.
The cold truth is that a lot of places that accept donations insist on checking them in because the disposal costs of what they can't unload for any price create a net loss. And face it, a lot of donations are of the "dump and run" type. They know.