Sunday, March 5, 2017

we are enough

Dear friends: it's time we had a talk.
It's that time of year, when everyone pulls out their receipts and W-2's/1099's/whatever and starts preparing to Do The Right Thing and pay their taxes.
Whether or not you have someone doing this for you, you still have to gather it all together and get it organized.

And here's what can happen when you do that:

1. You stress out because you cannot find some of the paperwork, and then you berate yourself for being a disorganized person.
2. You lay it all out in front of you and when you add up earnings versus expenses, you beat yourself up again because you think you're someone who (pick one or more):
-- isn't working to their potential (i.e., you're a lazy person);
-- is a poor manager of their personal finances;
-- and therefore, in general you must SUCK as a human being.

..::HITS BUZZER::..

BBBRRRRAAWWWWWP!

STOP right now. Seriously.
Because these harsh things we tell ourselves are mostly not true.
The fact is, if you are truly struggling to make ends meet and you still have a roof over your head and food on the table, you are far from lazy and, I suggest, more financially literate than those who never struggle with such things. You have learned the real value of a dollar, and you have become a master at knowing what really matters in the end and what does not.

And if, like many of us, you cannot work full time because of age, infirmity or a lack of affordable child care, then the problem is not laziness or ignorance. It's INEQUITY.

Our current administration wants us to believe that if we all just work harder and make more sacrifices we can be "successful" and even financially "comfortable".
Last week, a republican Congressman came out in favor of cutting social services and ending Medicare because, to paraphrase, "poor people simply don't WANT to be healthy and productive."
Yeah. Poor people also don't want access to affordable health care, quality public education, and racial equality. Because we LIKE being shit-poor and wouldn't trade our lot for anything, right?

Bite me.

There is NOTHING wrong with you or me. We are fine the way we are. We are enough. We are smart, and strong, and we are capable.

So tell the committee in your head to shut up already, and go ahead and do whatever you need to do about your taxes, knowing that the playing field is not level -- and that it likely won't be anytime soon. Let's all do what we need to do to build each other up, to remind each other of our gifts, and to help each other silence the voices that keep us from believing we are not only good, but worthy of the lives our government would prefer we not pursue.

Because they NEED us to believe we're not good enough.
They NEED us to be distracted from the quest for what really matters.
And I'm not going to give them what they want.

It's tax season in America.
Let's remind ourselves and each other of our beauty, intelligence, cunning and human worth, and Do What We Need To Do.

Buckets of love to you all.

2 comments:

Mr. Fusion Jazz said...

You are the best. Really enjoyed this post. Well, hmm,... for that matter I enjoy ALL of your posts.

Robyn said...

i just read this article. why am i so late to the party? because i'm a tax accountant, and tonight, i am done working, and it isn't even midnight.
so i read.
and you are SPOT ON!
yeah i'm a tax accountant, but i am also a left leaning, bleeding heart liberal who is a 2nd generation american who clawed her way up, and despite having lots of initials after my name, spent a period of time broke and homeless. but i will NEVER ignore the people who helped me or the ones who need help now.