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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'I see this money as not mine': the people giving away fortunes from slavery and fossil fuels
Morgan Curtiss life story is the American Dream in reverse. Her, great, great grandfather was a banker in early 1800s New York he invested in railroads, while his brother invested in Central American mines. The family wealth grew as it passed through the generations, and Curtiss father added to the pile as a management consultant for major firms. Naturally, Curtis had a gilded childhood: educated in west London private schools; going on annual Swiss ski holidays; her own pony. But today, Curtis, now 30, lives on a farm in California with 40 other people. She lives on $25,000 (£20,000) a year.
Curtis did not make bad investments, or lose the family money in Las Vegas. She has chosen to give up 100% of her inheritance and 50% of the income she earns as a coach, redistributing it to grassroots social movements, Black liberation organisations, indigenous land projects and climate justice groups. She has even created a publicly accessible, colour-coded spreadsheet listing her annual donations.
This is because Curtiss banker ancestor didnt start with nothing and Curtis is keenly aware that the American Dream for some means an American nightmare for others. Her great, great, great, great (thats an extra great) grandfather owned a cotton mill in New York that she says cant be disconnected from plantation labour, while her grandmothers grandfather had an 11,000-acre sugar plantation in Cuba. My ancestors made harmful and immoral choices, participating in slavery and colonisation, she says, And so I see this money as not mine; as belonging to those communities who had their land and labour stolen from them.
We are at the beginning of a phenomenon nicknamed the Great Wealth Transfer. According to financial services group Sanlam, in the next decade, millennials will inherit £327bn from their parents. The trouble is, not everyone wants this money. A small but seemingly growing subset of young people feel guilt and shame about their inheritances in response, some seek therapy, some seek drugs and others seek social change. Last year, one man made the mistake of seeking Twitter.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/05/the-guilty-rich-who-are-giving-away-their-money
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Not an uncommon thing. Frequently when you get to the fourth generation of wealthy families, you find that generation going into public service also
SYFROYH
(34,183 posts)...and I felt rich. Fast forward 15 years and I'm making $60,000 and both my wife and new-born son are sick and in the hospital. Both needed expensive treatments. Even with making $60,000 that income couldn't keep up with normal bills after the medical bills (even with health insurance). And now, 17 years later, I'm trying to save up to help my son with college and career development.
$25,000 isn't much when you are responsible for other human beings.