Dear Fellow Wealthy People,
Who do we want to be during a time of global crisis?
We can hoard toilet paper and groceries.
We can obsess over the money we’ve lost and pray the stock market will come back up.
We can stop our giving out of fear that we now don’t have enough.
We can splurge on online shopping, chasing a semblance of safety.
Or
We can keep people in our communities alive as our government fails us.
We can increase our giving, even if it means us having less money than ever before.
We can spend less on ourselves so that we can keep the money moving.
We can divest from the stock market to give away more money- even while our financial advisors warn us that this is financially reckless.
We can humbly join the rest of the world in a global struggle and stop pretending we are separate from one another.
As I watched my own stocks plummet in value, I was surprised to discover that, in addition to familiar feelings of scarcity, I felt immense relief.
I can no longer hide behind my wealth in the same way that I could three weeks ago. I cannot and do not want to rely on the stock market for my own sense of security and safety. I feel the stories and lies – that my wealth would protect me from suffering, that I am special and untouchable because of my wealth – start to disintegrate before me. I have a fragile, mortal human body- like everyone else, susceptible to illness.
And yet, the structures of class inequity are laid more bare than ever- while I am able to safely quarantine at home, minimum wage workers are forced to continue to work without adequate protection to keep our grocery stores, pharmacies, post offices, and hospitals running -- to protect people like me. Artists, gig workers and folks who are undocumented have been thrown into financial precarity with little to no government support.
I feel alive, enraged, and connected to all people everywhere. I feel in my body a renewed sense of urgency to end class oppression now, to transform our society into one that prioritizes human lives over profit, to make it impossible for one person to have more than enough wealth while others starve. Those of us who have more money than we need to survive have a key role to play in ensuring our society will change from this pandemic for the better.
As a money coach, I guide progressive, wealthy people who don’t know what to do with their money to create a deeply liberating vision and plan for their wealth, lead values-aligned lives and help social justice movements flourish.
Now more than ever, I can help you:
Create a plan to move money now to those most impacted by the pandemic, and also for the long-haul to social justice movements.
Tackle challenging conversations with families and friends and organize them to support social justice movements and mutual aid.
Identify strategic forms of leadership you can take on to show up to this collective crisis.
Make decisions about how to engage with the stock market and explore non-extractive forms of investing
Navigate the emotions and confusion that might arise in an economic recession, and support you to create a values-oriented plan with your wealth
Make a budget so you can keep your money moving. Support you to reduce addictions to comfort, isolation and consumption.
Build a life rooted in community, mutual support, humility and connection, rather than in the never-ending accumulation of wealth.
May this historic moment in time be a catalyst for each one of us to step into brave action and responsibility for our part in setting things to right.