I guess the sane way of viewing a kickstarter that way. Personally though, the way kickstarter and (many) projects describe rewards as preorders, then I think

I guess the sane way of viewing a kickstarter that way. Personally though, the way kickstarter and (many) projects describe rewards as preorders, then I think they should be liable to fulfill the or return the proceeds. If the money is invested in this bast case scenario you describe, than kickstarter and the projects should clearly state that. If they don't than kickstarter or some of the projects facing some kind of legal action when the money just disappears would be a good thing, so that the descriptions start reflecting reality again. Edit: I've not donated on kickstarter, so I don't know if they clearly state this somewhere later in the process. But from what I've seen kickstarters "preorders" seem irresponsible to me.