i just came back from the us social forum. i have a lot of different thoughts about it, but one thing that happened was that at the 'building a queer left' event i met a trans person named tyrone. he and i had a very interesting conversation about work he has done focused on connecting with other people from class-privileged backgrounds and working with them to think about giving away money. we talked about how some of the work that goes on in that realm, while really awesome, feels somewhat unsatisfying because its so focused on trying to help people feel comfortable giving away any money at all that it doesn't ask the harder questions like, should people give away all their money if they have more than they need to live? Is it ethical to hoard any resources? also, we talked about how a lot of that work is focused on giving to foundations or is coordinated by foundations, and we both have a growing critique of philanthropy (see the book, _the revolution will not be funded_).

i talked with tyrone about an idea i've had for a while that i would like to create a little workshop that could be done very informally with people i know as a social gathering focused on helping people realize their role in the economy, the obstacles to many people in the US understanding themselves as "rich" even though they are, what it means to overcome apathy and guilt, why giving your time is important but giving away money is also an essential radical thing to do, etc. i'm mindful that not only do i know people who have big money like trust funds, but i also know people who make high salaries, and i know a shitload of people who are going to inherit some amount of money some day when their parents or grandparents die. i am especially mindful of that group, which is the largest i think, and how when their parents die they will be totally traumatized, of course, and it seems likely that that trauma will prevent them from forming a political understanding that about how inheritance is a cornerstone of capitalist oppression and keeping the money is not the right way to honor their parents' memories. of course, there is 0% chance that i'm going to inherit any money since my mom is dead and my dad lives off his girlfriend and was marginally housed before he found her, so i realize i might not be the best person to do this work. i have 'nothing to lose' in this analysis. i don't have to face the guilt or insecure feelings people with wealth or future inheritance face (i have different guilty/class shame/insecurity, don't worry) when these conversations come up. so i've thought about doing this type of workshop with a partner who does have family resources in order to create a space that is safer for people opening themselves up to this analysis. i've imagined creating an event that feels social and will draw people for that reason, but that includes this political education element and encourages people to face the feelings that come up when recognizing class privilege and to learn about what it means to begin to think through a redistributionist political practice before they inherit or get a mortgage or have a kid or other things that often lead to a conservativizing political practice.

today when i was driving to work, though, i further reconceptualized this. one of the presentations i saw at the forum was about the phillipines, and i was struck to my core by the poverty people are facing there, as in so many places. i am getting ready to apply for a set of academic jobs that would give me a big income leap if i get one, and i've been thinking a lot about something i wrote about years ago on makezine.org: how to figure out what is the amount we each need to live and each can give away, how to face feelings of fear and financial insecurity that cause people to hoard wealth in retirement accounts or buy real estate, etc. these topics are so taboo, and so difficult for very good reasons, and i really long for a meaningful group conversation about it. today i was thinking that it might be cool to start a network of people setting to work coming up with some key guidelines about how to think this through: how to measure your financial needs and obligations and how to assess your consumer practices and how to determine ways of keeping a redistributionist politic. i can imagine people contributing articles to a website about concerns they have with various consumer trends (like my concerns about cell phones and ipods and expensive, privatizing, plastic creating, ubiquitous new 'needs'), i can imagine people really discussing what a living wage is in various cities and what to give away, how to invest in a shared future of social justice rather than personal accounts aimed at making old age less vulnerable, how to assess ways of giving away money (as cash to homeless people, to organizations that are community controlled, to foundations, etc), how to think about family obligations, and how to deal with difficult feelings and experiences that result from breaking the rules of capitalism (and, possibly, your own family system) by getting real about and redistributing wealth. i feel like i can already see some of my friends getting more conservative, considering buying apartments, having their standards of living slowly or quickly get higher without acknowledging the value shifts and resource usage that represents. i see people using rhetorics of "self care" in ways that are more about consumerism and convenience than sustainable healthy living practices. i wonder if people would be able to be safer being critical about this if there was a group putting their heads together and offering the security of doing this work in numbers instead of as a lone person.

just to be clear, i am NOT talking about starting a non-profit. that is the last thing i want, to start a new need for resources. instead, i imagine a network, a place to think about shared values and standards of redistribution that acknowledges the obstacles people face when trying to think this through responsibly, and a place to feel supported by shared analysis and committment to economic justice. i also like imagining this thing that is like a budget worksheet. once, to manage my debt, i went to this non-profit that helps you budget your money and figure out what you can do to pay your debt and get by. the person went through my life with me on worksheets, figuring out what i spent and what i could cut out. it actually wasn't helpful at all in my case, but i can imagine us getting to the nitty gritty of talking about the fact that decisions to eat at home or out a certain number of times a month, or to buy electronic gadgets, or to take trips, are political decisions that impact our ability to redistribute our resources, and we could imagine non-judgmental ways to assess our own practices and think about how to aspire to meet our politics in new ways. do you think this would interest anyone, or am i just a deluded formerly poor person who thinks people will actually have politics that are more than lip service?

i also like imagining helping people who have not worked extensively in non-profits to think through where to give their money. i feel like a lot of smart, kind people have vague critical feelings about non-profits generally that keep them from giving to non-profits or make them want to give to big, established non-profits that they percieve to be fiscally responsible. i'd like to help people think about what good non-profit practice looks like, assessing things like community governance, pay equity, committment to leadership development, anti-racist organizational development, etc.