Capitalist systems could be described as systems where the government plays a larger role in monetary policy through banking, loans, etc.

In a true free market the government wouldn't bail out bad private investments or use public funds to bet on what politicians think are good investments.

We get to hear a speaker explain how to tap into the secret behind dowsing rods to build a space drive?

Sounds...um...never mind.

There is also the guy who is advocating the use of low level radiation to improve health. He is pictured on his website wearing radiation emitting glass beads around his neck.

I'd say that the acceptance standards are low. Some of the presenters seem to be involved in pseudoscience and others seem to be of generally low quality. I'm also questioning the wisdom of allowing only ten minutes per speaker. Most Ted talks seem to go a lot longer, and I would want more than a ten minute conversation on an interesting topic.

http://www.ideawave.ca/2012-conference/low-level-external-nu...

I really look forward to the low level radiation to improve talk, I've read his research and it is really interesting. I have two science/techy types who verify all the talks, so there is some verification. You can read about the submission and approval process at: http://www.krisconstable.com/ideawave-2012/ as well as in the Times-Colonist: http://www.timescolonist.com/Conference+swamped+wave+ideas/6... Ian is a lot more science than magic hand wavey then you may think; he's built a hydrogen assisted sailboat, and spoke at IdeaWave before on his rediscovery of nickel-iron batteries that the Thomas Edison battery company made disappear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO0-mGrWcjo along with a another few decades of inventions and innovation. I hope you get a chance to attend the conference and dialog with him!

I think it comes down to how you value what other people do. I value certain musicians and actually enjoy paying for what they do. It's not enough for me to say I like them. I feel it's only fair to spend money some money to reward what they've done for me.

I don't think it takes talent to make music. It takes talent to make good music. Talent is something I believe in rewarding.

Do you have some examples of where that's actually worked in a significant way? I'd love to do a follow-up post of counter examples.

I hear you, but we all have a pretty good idea how to compensate hair dressers and waiters. We also agree that there's an implicit contract that tipping is part of the transaction.

When was the last time you tipped the producers of your favorite television show?

An interesting comparison.

I've often been interested in how some things get chosen for tipping and other things not. I think one of the criteria is how convenient it is to actually tip. It would be hard to tip the producer of my favorite television show, effortless to tip my waittress. I think the other criteria is how personalized the experience is, in most things we tip for we are receiving a very personal close to one-one interaction.

But I think most blogs come closer to the waitress side than the television side. At least on blogs set up to receive them, it is relatively easy to tip (though I think it can and should become much easier in the future!). And the experience can be fairly specialized (I tend to read niche technical blogs rather than mainstream news ones), and fairly personal. After all, if I leave a comment on most blogs, I have a pretty good expectation that author will respond directly and intelligently to me. If I write a letter to the producers of a tv show, I might, if lucky, get a form letter and maybe a glossy photo of the cast back.

As to whether there is an "implicit contract" to tip bloggers, I think that particular piece of society is new enough that those rules are still being established.

You're right in that the Kroc grant doesn't cover them forever. That wasn't my point.

I think NPR is a very well run organization. When they received the Kroc grant they used it to expand and increased their annual budget by 20%.

Coming from the non-profit world, this is a sign of an efficient organization that is very good at raising money. When given a giant bequest, they increased their budget.

We could debate what "need" means, but a non-profit that can increase its expenditures by 20% in one year and easily cover it doesn't "need" money in the same way other charitable organizations I've worked with do.

FYI: The page you link to lists the average for all public radio stations in general. It's not a specific breakdown of NPR or NPR member stations.

I hope so too. I'd like to be wrong in my observation.

Good point. They've done studies where just eyes draw on a tip jar get more donations.

Always the best motivator.

My post was about using this model to support blogs and podcasts. Not bona fide charitable organizations. I actually have experience in doing successful online fundraising for those kinds of groups.

Agreed, I thought it would be interesting to mention the tipping strategy that the for-profit entity Causes uses at the same time they are helping out nonprofits.