The Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity is an American nonprofit organization based in Sacramento, CA that espouses and promotes awareness pertaining to what it calls "the Philosophy of Human Respect." This philosophy, according to the foundation, states that, "Initiated violence and theft always cause a decline in happiness, harmony, and prosperity."[1]
Founded | December 24, 2007 |
---|---|
Founder | Chris J. Rufer |
Type | Philanthropy / Private Operating foundation IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt |
94-3326027 | |
Focus | Philosophy of Human Respect, social philosophy |
Headquarters | Sacramento, CA |
Location |
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Area served | United States |
Method | literature, video, multimedia |
Key people |
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Website | harmonyandprosperity |
History
editThe Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity was founded in 2007 with funding provided primarily by Chris J. Rufer who developed the "Principles of Human Respect" and the resulting philosophy. Rufer had applied these principles to the operation of the company that he founded and leads, The Morning Star Company, a tomato processing company based in California.[2][3][4] The foundation also works to put its material in front of student audiences.[5]
The Foundation gave at least $12,000 to Project Veritas in 2014.[2][3] Project Veritas is an American far-right[6] activist[7] group that produces deceptively edited videos[8] of its undercover operations,[9] which use secret recordings[9] and entrapment[10] .[11] to discredit mainstream media organizations and progressive groups.[12][13]
Assets
editAs of 2020[update], The Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity had an annual revenue of $1,500,050,[14] and assets of $516,347.[14][15]
References
edit- ^ "About - The Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity". harmonyandprosperity.org. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ a b Taggart, Kendall (2017-11-30). "Here Are Some Of Project Veritas's Funders". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ a b "Meet the people bankrolling James O'Keefe's group". thinkprogress.org. 2017-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ Dreher, Rod (2017-11-30). "Project Treachery". The American Conservative. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ Leggins, Carrie (August 25, 2014). "FEE Alumni Explore the Connection Between Liberty and Personality Types". Retrieved March 18, 2024.
- ^ Far-right...
- Tumber, Howard; Waisbord, Silvio (March 24, 2021). The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-34678-7. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Google Books.
False information can make movements defend the accuracy of their own claims and materials because of doubt sowed by countermovements and governments (Tufekci 2017). For instance, Project Veritas, an alt-right group, has a track record of attacking movements through misleading editing of videos and through fabricated 'sting' operations (Benkler et al. 2018).
- Coleman, Aidan J.; Janes, Katharine M. (July 26, 2021). "Caught on Tape: Establishing the Right of Third-Party Bystanders to Secretly Record the Police". Virginia Law Review. 107. University of Virginia School of Law: 168. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
Project Veritas, a far-right non-profit organization whose methods have sparked controversy, brought a separate challenge to Section 99 that, on appeal, was consolidated with K. Eric Martin and Rene Perez's suit against the Suffolk County District Attorney.
- Gais, Hannah; Hayden, Edison (December 11, 2022). "White Nationalists, Other Republicans Brace for 'Total War'". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
Multiple figures associated with Project Veritas, the hard-right propaganda group that engages in sting operations, attended the NYYRC gala."
"Tyrmand, who is known for his ties to the global radical right, took the stage and lauded the ultranationalist European leaders in attendance. - Karbal, Ian W. (December 14, 2020). "The best journalism of 2020: Covering Trump". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has boosted far-right outlets with a loose relationship to truth, like Breitbart and One America News, into household names. Another such outlet, Project Veritas, apparently directed an employee to plant a false story in the Washington Post about a sexual encounter with Senate candidate Roy Moore. [...] However, careful reporting by Post journalists exposed the sting and revealed the deceitful tactics of far-right actors who brand themselves as journalists.
- Covucci, David (January 14, 2020). "James O'Keefe claims Bernie Sanders will throw Trump fans in gulags". The Daily Dot. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
O'Keefe is the head of Project Veritas, a far-right outlet that uses misleading edits and various forms of entrapment to try and catch Democrats, liberals, and media members in "shocking" statements.
- Wilson, Jason (July 27, 2018). "What is 'shadow banning', and why did Trump tweet about it?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- Seidman, Andrew; Terruso, Julia (January 5, 2021). "Congress is about to formalize Biden's win. Busloads of Pa. Trump supporters are heading to D.C. to protest". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
...refers to posts on far-right websites like Project Veritas.
- Reimann, Nicholas (November 10, 2020). "Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Offering Up To $1 Million For Evidence Of Voter Fraud". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
The far-right conspiracy theory-driven group Project Veritas is offering rewards of $25,000 for tips relating to election fraud in Pennsylvania.
- Olalde, Mark (December 4, 2020). "Climate Point: Climate change disrupts life from the Hopi Reservation to Louisiana". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
the Mercer family, who are ardent supporters of President Donald Trump, have given vast sums of money to conservative causes and partly funded the far-right Project Veritas, which tries to secretly record and smear journalists, nonprofits and other targets.
- Miao, Hannah (December 4, 2020). "New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy slams New York Young Republican Club for hosting large, maskless gala in Jersey City amid Covid surge". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
Featured attendees at the gala included keynote speaker James O'Keefe, founder of far-right group Project Veritas
- "US House race to watch: Lois Frankel vs Laura Loomer". Al Jazeera. October 31, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
She previously worked undercover for Project Veritas, a far-right organisation known for targeting leftists and anti-fascists.
- Mathers, Matt (December 7, 2020). "AOC embroiled in fresh Twitter row with Marco Rubio over PPP loans". The Independent. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
Project Veritas is a far-right activist group, which says it uses undercover techniques to reveal so-called liberal bias and corruption.
- Foster, Ally (November 12, 2020). "Trump supporters plan massive protests". News.com.au. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
His claims were publicised by Project Veritas, a far-right activist group
- Adler-Bell, Sam (May 23, 2018). "Prosecutors Withheld Evidence That Could Exonerate J20 Inauguration Protesters, Judge Rules". The Intercept. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
The video of the planning meeting was provided to investigators by Project Veritas, a controversial far-right media group known for "sting" operations against its political opponents and the publication of selectively edited videos.
- Min, Janice (March 22, 2021). "Pinterest and the Subtle Poison of Sexism and Racism in Silicon Valley". Time. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
Later, Ozoma's cell-phone number and internal company emails appeared on extremist platforms including 4chan and 8chan following leaks by a white male colleague, a software developer, to Project Veritas, the far-right activist group founded by James O'Keefe. She received threats of rape and death.
- Choi, Joseph (April 14, 2021). "Matt Gaetz makes six-figure ad buy targeting CNN amid sex trafficking allegations". The Hill. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
The ad includes footage by the far-right activist group Project Veritas that shows a man identified as a CNN employee talking about news coverage of Gaetz, Politico reported. Project Veritas is known for publishing undercover sting footage that has been deceptively edited to reflect badly on organizations and people it disagrees with.
- Tumber, Howard; Waisbord, Silvio (March 24, 2021). The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-34678-7. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Google Books.
- ^ Activist...
- Scherer, Jasper (January 11, 2023). "Conroe brewery backs out of 'rally against censorship' featuring Kyle Rittenhouse". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
Cassandra Spencer, a Defiance Press publishing manager who previously worked for the conservative activist group Project Veritas, is also set to appear at the rally
- "Trump applauds far-right social media provocateurs". AP NEWS. April 21, 2021. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
Trump singled out for praise James O'Keefe, the right-wing activist whose Project Veritas organization once tried to plant a false story in The Washington Post.
- Barry, Dan (November 6, 2022). "In Affluent Greenwich, It's Republicans vs. 'Trumplicans'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
The Greenwich Republican ecosystem is such that James O'Keefe, the founder of the conservative activist group Project Veritas, is practically a local celebrity.
- DePeau-Wilson, Michael (January 31, 2023). "Video of Pfizer Employee Explaining COVID Vaccine Research Debunked". www.medpagetoday.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for spreading misinformation, recently published a concealed-camera video allegedly showing a Pfizer employee describing the company's COVID-19 vaccine research efforts
- Greene, David (November 29, 2017). "A Conservative On Project Veritas". Morning Edition. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
The conservative activist James O'Keefe and his nonprofit Project Veritas have sprung sting operations on many media organizations, including NPR. In 2011, after one such scheme, NPR pushed out our CEO and also our top fundraiser. These operations often involve undercover videos edited in misleading ways.
- Al-Rawi, Ahmed; Celestini, Carmen; Stewart, Nicole; Worku, Nathan (March 21, 2022). "How Google Autocomplete Algorithms about Conspiracy Theorists Mislead the Public". M/C Journal. 25 (1). doi:10.5204/mcj.2852. eISSN 1441-2616. S2CID 247603535.
The same misleading label can be found via searching for James O'Keefe of Project Veritas, who is positively labelled as "American activist". Veritas is known for releasing audio and video recordings that contain false information designed to discredit academic, political, and service organisations
- Jackson, Sam (2020). The Oath Keepers: patriotism and the edge of violence in a right-wing antigovernment group. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-55031-4.
Groups like Oath Keepers pounced on information provided by Project Veritas—a conservative activist group known for conducting manipulative video stings of progressive organizations—that allegedly documented organized attempts by Democrats to rig the election
- Scherer, Jasper (January 11, 2023). "Conroe brewery backs out of 'rally against censorship' featuring Kyle Rittenhouse". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ Deceptive...
- Goss, Brian Michael (March 12, 2018). "Veritable Flak Mill". Journalism Studies. 19 (4): 548–563. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2017.1375388. ISSN 1461-670X. S2CID 149185981.
To wit, Schiller's apparently bemused response to sharia law supposedly on the march was spliced-in from an unrelated moment of the discourse—a blatant deception through editing.
- Tumber, Howard; Waisbord, Silvio (March 24, 2021). The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-34678-7. Retrieved March 19, 2021 – via Google Books.
False information can make movements defend the accuracy of their own claims and materials because of doubt sowed by countermovements and governments (Tufekci 2017). For instance, Project Veritas, an alt-right group, has a track record of attacking movements through misleading editing of videos and through fabricated 'sting' operations (Benkler et al. 2018).
- Kroeger, Brooke (August 31, 2012). "Watchdog". Undercover Reporting: The Truth About Deception. Northwestern University Press. pp. 249–254. ISBN 978-0-8101-2619-0. JSTOR j.ctt22727sf.17. Archived from the original on December 6, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020 – via JSTOR.
- Czarnecki, Sean (January 19, 2018). "A guide to the 7 types of fake news from Storyful's new editor". PRWeek. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- Choi, Joseph (April 14, 2021). "Matt Gaetz makes six-figure ad buy targeting CNN amid sex trafficking allegations". The Hill. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
The ad includes footage by the far-right activist group Project Veritas that shows a man identified as a CNN employee talking about news coverage of Gaetz, Politico reported. Project Veritas is known for publishing undercover sting footage that has been deceptively edited to reflect badly on organizations and people it disagrees with.
- Pilkington, Ed (November 29, 2017). "Project Veritas: how fake news prize went to rightwing group beloved by Trump". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- Karbal, Ian W. (November 3, 2020). "How careful local reporting undermined Trump's claims of voter fraud". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
- Sebenius, Alyza; Brody, Ben (June 26, 2019). "Trump suggests U.S. should sue Facebook and Google". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on September 12, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
- Newton, Casey; Brandom, Russell (June 27, 2019). "Project Veritas' YouTube sting was deeply misleading — and successful". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- LaCapria, Kim (October 18, 2016). "Project Veritas' Election 2016 'Rigging' Videos". Snopes. Archived from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- Poniewozik, James (March 13, 2011). "The Twisty, Bent Truth of the NPR-Sting Video". Time. Archived from the original on June 14, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- "Video: Dem Activist Brags About Disrupting Trump Rallies". CBS Miami. October 19, 2020. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- Ellefson, Lindsey (December 2, 2020). "Project Veritas Issues Correction for Misidentifying CNN Employee in Call". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- Goss, Brian Michael (March 12, 2018). "Veritable Flak Mill". Journalism Studies. 19 (4): 548–563. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2017.1375388. ISSN 1461-670X. S2CID 149185981.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
provocateur entrapment
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Goss, Brian Michael (March 12, 2018). "Veritable Flak Mill". Journalism Studies. 19 (4): 548–563. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2017.1375388. ISSN 1461-670X. S2CID 149185981.
- ^ Bennett, W. Lance; Livingston, Steven (October 2020). "The Coordinated Attack on Authoritative Institutions". The Disinformation Age. Cambridge University Press. pp. 261–294. doi:10.1017/9781108914628.011. ISBN 978-1-108-91462-8. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ^ Damann, Taylor (January 8, 2019). "Project Veritas and the Changing Face of Fake News". Gateway Journalism Review. 47 (351). Southern Illinois University Carbondale. ISSN 2158-7345. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
Project Veritas seems to only consider influencing political outcomes, though. O'Keefe's open pride in affecting the employment of several individuals in leadership for various liberal media outlets, his hand in influencing political elections, or even influencing public opinion on abortion are striking. Conducting guerrilla journalism that seeks to expose only liberals and Democrats is inherently ideological.
- ^ a b Suozzo, Andrea; Glassford, Alec; Ngu, Ash; Roberts, Brandon (2013-05-09). "The Foundation For Harmony And Prosperity, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
- ^ "The Foundation for Harmony & Prosperity | Woodland, CA". causeiq.com. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
External links
edit- The Conversation on YouTube – 12-minute video discussing the merits of "the principle of human respect"