Now that I have more discretion over my finances, I set a certain percentage of my income aside for redistribution. I find that I get a lot of joy out of ensuring that gifts I make in the spirit of my community’s welfare directly reach the people who need it the most.
Each little gift pack contains a $5 gift card to Starbucks. This is more than a free coffee, it’s a ticket to sit inside out of the weather for an hour or two, and access to the restroom facility to get cleaned up, change clothes if they can, or just to poop with dignity and without fear.
I also put a $20 bill in there; this is the gift of actually having the luxury to take that hour or two of peace from the grind of survivalism. $20 is enough to eat one’s fill from a value menu, grab a pack of cigarettes and maybe a bus pass if they’re frugal about these choices.
Cash is the gift of agency over the choice. It might even be a bag of dope or a full case of beer; what business is it of mine what they spend their money on? Human beings thrive off freedom of choice and the sense of purpose that comes from exercising one’s power to choose.
I give these out with little inspirational cards that I get from recovery bookstores and I purposely seek out gift cards that also have an inspirational message (these say “You’re Awesome!”). My goal is to make that person feel special, truly special and loved, for a moment of joy and surprise.
As a survivor of homelessness myself, I can testify to the brutal dehumanization that comes from having to ask for one’s daily needs piecemeal from a general public that most often responds with cold avoidance; or at best a grudging dollar to slowly save up.
Yes, it all adds up, and so do the countless hours it takes to add up one by one. Those countless hours add up to take away from that person’s life, their chance to seek an exit strategy if they choose, their focus on dreaming up that exit strategy, and every one that passes diminishes their hope.
I keep these little gift packs in my car and I give them without hesitation to each one who asks. I choose the curb adjacent lane at stop lights so I can reach the person on the corner if there is one, and I stash one in my back pocket every time I run into a store in case someone is outside.
You may think to yourself, “I can’t afford to give away $20 bills all the time.” And I say to you, “I can’t afford not to.” I can’t afford the massive tax burden that comes with a giant police and surveillance state that makes perpetual war in the name of empire and uses welfare as its political lever.
I want this sick, barbaric, cruel, and abhorrent system dismantled ASAP and it is not going away until we find ways to care for each other that don’t rely on a confiscatory entity with so much power that it can multiply the pittance it spends on welfare many thousands of times to fund a murderous warfare and prison machine.
The people suffering the most from welfare state capitalism are also the ones most visible. They’re literally standing right there, telling you the system has failed them. Fuck the system, BECOME a system of your own, and let’s start taking care of each other in our own inspired way.
