If you’re reading this, you need to know you’ve already picked a side. There’s no fence. You’re either for our shared humanity, wanting to know & do better, end all forms of oppression, or you choose a status quo of deadly inequality & ecological destruction.

Rant ahead.
Have you seen the news lately? Are you really debating the $$ spent on poor ppl but not grotesque & worsening social & economic exclusion based on race, class, disability, gender, & immigration status, age, etc.

How is this getting air time?!?
Nobody wants their stuff stolen, so are you advocating to end intergenearional poverty or for street checks & incarceration?

Psst: Your answer is the side you’re on.
Let me share a professional trade secret:

NO ONE IN CANADA SHOULD BE HOMELESS. NO ONE.

But *those in power decided it was more important to have billioniares & millionaires than to tax rich ppl.

(*Do you really need me to breakdown who’s in power?!)
Do you fight for low taxes, or do you think everyone should share in a nation’s wealth & prosperity regardless of their identity?

Your answer to this ☝🏾 is the side you’re on.
Rich & middle class people, lean in:

YOU DONT WORK HARDER THAN POOR PPL. YOU ACTUALLY DONT. SOME OF YOU WORK WAY LESS.
You think single moms w cleaning jobs or youth leaving foster care (who if they had access to opportunities could be successful entrepreneurs/writers/politicians/etc) work less & should be poorer than you or have less secure, less beautiful hsg?

Your answer to this Q is...
Let me share something personal cuz 🤷🏽‍♀️

I had a quick rise in the early yrs of my career in real estate dev. 1st job out of uni was for a decent dude w a sm firm. He taught me everything. By my 6th yr in the biz, I was a Director of 2 divisions in a lrg dev firm making good 💴
When the RE downturn hit Canada I was laid off & struggled to get work for 3 years. Mom was living in a low-income seniors bldg so I couldnt move home to save $. Unemployment persisted despite applying for everything.
One development mgmt job was down to me (7 yrs exp) & a man (15 yrs exp) but his background was property mgmt & I did acquisitions, development, construction, & marketing (a “generalist”). I was more qualified by miles.
The woman (notable name in BC UDI world) asked me:

We looked at your salary range, why should I pay you more than a man w 15 yrs exp, albeit in property mgmt?

Me: I cant speak for why his range is diff, but I know my skills & how hard I’ll work for you.

I didnt get the job.
This happened at a time when I’d burned thru my savings, cashed out investments, & did temp & contract work to live. I was crashing w friends.

It wasnt on a couch (I had a room) but I was basically homeless for a yr. My name wasnt on a lease & I couldnt pay rent regularly.
It was a very low point in my life but I kept pressing on. I say all this to say even w great experience & hard work, but for friends I wouldnt have had a home. Imagine the depression that could have set in? The temptation to numb the pain w substances? The spiral down?!
Thats just one story. 1000s of stories out there of ppl who have been dealt shitty cards plus had no help. I’ve met some of them at Oppenheimer, Crab Park & Strathcona thru my job. The number of decent ppl harmed by an unjust system is overwheming. They dont deserve to be poor.
Yes there’s predators who thanks to economic exclusion + toxic masculinity harm others. We need retorative justice not a carceral system only focused on punishment which leads to more severely violent behaviours. If they cant stop harming, yes keep them away fr vulnerable ppl
Yes, some ppl are mentally ill, many from untreated trauma who decline from substance use. They deserve supportive health services, not punative confinement.

There’s no neutral position w this stuff, you’re either against systemic oppression or you’re cool w it for personal 💰
So have debates abt which communities deseve investment & plot how to lie to get ppl w addictions arrested. Rich ppl’s kids are drinking on a yaght enjoying the tax breaks youre riding so hard for.

Well done oppressors.
Or you can fight for systemic change b/c you believe in our shared humanity.

Theres IS NO neutral.

Silent? Too busy? Not sure what to do?

Youre on the wrong side

It’s gonna take every last person to make systemic change happen. We all rise together, or we fall together.
You can follow @BuiltJustice.
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