Regardless of how you feel about it, it's still notable that people on the Fediverse managed to scrape $500k together. This is the first time something like that has ever happened on this network. In the world of big politics and presidential campaigns, it's not much. However, within the scope of grassroots organizing, it's substantial.
I agree that I would love to see that funding go towards mutual aid, infra and project funding, and supporting people who work on different parts of the network.
Fucking amazing book, I laughed so hard from start to finish.