I’m making decisions about the causes I want to regularly give money to help create the sort of society I want to live in.
In a world predominantly influenced by capitalism, where you put your money matters.
We spend money on clothes because we need them, and because they are a form of self-expression.
We spend money on food because we need it, and because we enjoy the experience of food (taste, communion, etc.).
We spend money on shelter because we need it, and because it’s good to have some little corner of the world to call your own and where you feel you belong.
These are things we all need, and that not everyone has. There are other things that make these three easier to acquire for everyone, and that can improve our lives overall.
Sometimes, people give to politicians hoping they will represent and fight for their constituents. Sometimes, businesses and organizations will give to those same politicians with the expectation of being treated as “priority” constituents (even though businesses aren’t people/constituents/voters).
There are people who know that every time money passes from their hands to someone else’s that it’s saying something about the world they want to live in: how factory-workers are treated matters to me, having instant access to filling food when I’m in a hurry matters to me, how easy it is to access quality information matters to me.
Some people start organizations/non-profits geared toward one specific value in order to tip the scale in its favor. They (and the rest of us) have a responsibility to take part in that tipping of the scale, in paying for the future we want to see flourish.
I don’t have much, but I’m working privately on a budget and a list of who to give money for the sake of the future I want to see.
What if we all did that? What if we all picked the causes that feel the most right to each of us (however many causes you like), and each committed to give them just $1 a month? $5 a month? $10 or more a month?
How might the world look five or ten years from now, if we all learned to vote monthly (and even daily) with our take-home pay?
Also published on Medium.