Me > people with unacknowledged family wealth who criticize making money or saving money
Me > people who have never been without a financial safety net and never will be without one, fetishizing not “hoarding wealth”
Me > people who glamorize the struggle of not working but quietly pay for a lot of travel, therapy, and expensive self-care
Me > people who valorize their $40k nonprofit job, refuse to organize for better wages for their coworkers, and have partners who work in tech who pay the bills
I could go on. This one is for other former/current poor kids and all people of non-moneyed experiences.
It tells a whole story when someone acts like money does not matter, because it totally does. If you don’t know that, we can tell.
When you can not meet your basic needs, life begins to focus on them. This is why UBI and other radical social programs to eradicate poverty and lessen it’s harm are decried and defunded by the kinds of people who want it to be easy to control the masses: when you are hungry or hurting that is your world, and it’s much harder to agitate and organize for mass change. Finding a way to get a step beyond basics is where the next phases of life can flourish.
Even if you do not need money, someone else will – do not throw shade on people trying to get their financial lives in order, especially if someone else has gotten yours in order for you.
And let’s be fair: No criticism on people with wealth who *are forthcoming* about it – NO ONE picks how they are born or what ridiculous things your parents will foist on you – but IYKYK. This is definitely a situation and some people might do well to understand the loudness of their actions.
For the record; it’s ok to create a financial base for yourself, your family, your communities. It’s ok to make it more possible for more people to survive capitalism with their dignity and humanity intact. From there: agitate, educate, organize.