After a devastating fire broke out in the Notre Dame Cathedral, donations quickly came rolling in to repair the serious damage that had been inflicted on this historic landmark. The donation totals, which rose to an eye popping 1 billion dollars, have caused recent backlash as people believe such a large sum of money should be going into more beneficial projects as opposed to rebuilding the cathedral.
The skepticism regarding the donations started to pick up when French billionaire Francois Henri Pinault donated 113 million dollars which was one upped by Bernard Arnault who donated 226 million, two of France’s wealthiest families, who have a long standing relationship of one upping each other. Many other French and non French families have also made absurdly large contributions, many of which have caught the attention of the public eye.
The donations outline the great disparity in class in the world along with other pressing issues that have garnered nowhere close to that sum of money, made for the inevitable clap back of keyboard warriors online. From thousands of memes to tweets to even serious articles about the matter, the backlash has persisted.
Arguments on the other end contest that the families are allowed control on where to allocate their money regardless of outside opinions. Furthermore, some argue that the historic power carried by the Notre Dame Cathedral is well worth the the donations as the history the building holds is much more valuable than money.
At the end of the day, the fire that broke out at the Notre Dame Cathedral was a tragic event, as the building does hold weight for many; however, 1 billion dollars is surely an excessive amount of money that could benefit so many people if used in more charitable ways.
