On May 10, 7:17 pm, Old Haasie wrote:

I would like to see a USCF structured somewhat like American Mensa
whereby a portion of each member's dues were funnelled back to a metro
umbrella org to finance various chess functions ... including backing
money for tournaments and so on.


There is a serious problem with this idea, even
though it is not directly related to the MM.

In my area, there has been a long history of
misuse (or even non-use) of such funds; certain
people get wind of a lot of money laying around,
and next thing you know they are running for
Treasurer or President of, say, the state chess
organization, hoping -- even expecting -- to lay
their hands on the goodies.

Giving such people lots of money -- no matter
what the source -- will inevitably lead to pain,
not local promotion of chess. In other words,
throwing money at something does not always
lead to the intended consequences. I realize
that local corruption is not directly related to
the esteemed MM, but my state may well not
be an anomaly; this problem could very well
exist in many areas.

And if a portion of member's monies are
funneled back to local/regional organizations,
this could "justify" even higher membership
fees than we have now, which in turn could
serve to discourage cheapskates from
joining or renewing. This alone could doom
chess in my home state, since studies
indicate a ratio of 7.413 cheapskates for each
normal human being... .


-- help bot