[ushakov]

The statue was crowdfunded

From Wikipedia:

> Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar (equivalent to $30 in 2021)

[EntrePrescott]

The Pulitzer fundraiser wasn't for the statue but for the pedestal on which it was to be placed. The statue was a gift of the people of France. That being said, crowdfunding campaigns were also a part of the the fundraising for the statue (that is, in France), together with a wide mix of other sources: state money, cities, chambers of commerce, and several other groups, huge donations by companies, banquet events, operas and other spectacles, merchandising, lottery etc.

[cultofmetatron]

> The statue was a gift of the people of France.

with "reparations" from the people of haiti

[selimthegrim]

That’s what the broken chains on the bottom are for

[soperj]

The statue itself was as well, just in France.

>Initially focused on the elites, the Union was successful in raising funds from across French society. Schoolchildren and ordinary citizens gave, as did 181 French municipalities.

[silisili]

AIUI, the fundraising was for the pedestal, not the statue itself.

[testplzignore]

A classic scam. Free statue, just pay shipping and pedestaling.

[labster]

Sometimes they don’t even send the monument and you’re just stuck with a random plinth.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zócalo

[schiffern]

TIL the etymological origin of "The Zócalo" in Babylon 5.

https://babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/Zócalo

[dylan604]

We'll continue to ship you a new one each month until you finally remember to jump through the hoops, er, call our operators who are standing by to cancel