A thought from "CLASSIFIED" p. 125

"Consider setting up a collaborative loan fund or emergency fund with friends or family. Everyone puts in what they can, and members of the group can each draw on it when they need to. Having enough in savings to weather an emergency is a big deal, and something we often take for granted as people with wealth. This is one way to share that advantage with others in your life. Again, the fund is still something you need to talk through creating and setting up together—it has to be a group process." ~CLASSIFIED

What an idea. It makes so much sense, and I would love so much to set up something like that - I've watched more than a few people I care about get sick worrying over how to afford a plane ticket to a funeral, or a doctor's bill, or some other crappy life thing. But what would stop me from doing that? It would involve talking to people about money, possibly disclosing how much I have, discussing what constitutes an emergency, or whether people would have loans or gifts from the fund...all things that would highlight just how much money I do have, and how much I have access to. It would have to be a group of people I trusted a lot. And what if my definition of emergency conflicts with someone else's definition? And how would I decide how much to put in to a pot like that? I'd want to put a lot, but I'd have to define "a lot." Is $1000 a lot? How about $3000? How about $10,000? Does it make a difference if I'm putting in $2000, and everyone else is putting in $100? Or $10?

This kind of resource sharing happens in a marriage sometimes. Just to think about.

Also, I remember once when Micah wanted to have a house bail fund, in case any of us got arrested during the school year. There were 18 of us in that house, and people were so uncomfortable talking about money beyond house grocery dues (and even then, serious discomfort), that people chuckled nervously and pushed it aside. But I really wanted to do it, because I thought Micah might actually get arrested for some activism stunt or other. And I knew he was poor. And I would've bailed him out myself if it had come to that (provided I had enough money to cover it), but I thought it would be so much better if it came from the whole house. And just like that, we turned down the chance to be a real resource-sharing community for one another.

Davey often asks me how much he should charge for his workshops, or donate to Jewcy, or sell his desk. He never likes my answers, but he keeps asking anyway. I wonder why that is. Maybe it's because he wants to know what someone with my class privilege would pay for x/y/z. But he always ends up saying something like "Oy, I gotta go ask some poor people what I should charge for my old mattress."