aka a worksheet for those who ‘won’ the birth lottery (and what the hell to do about it)
Intro: Let’s Get Real
Congrats! You’re in the global 1%, a club built on centuries of exploitation, luck, and systemic rigging. Whether you inherited it, hoarded it, or “earned” it, you’ve got power. And power should come with accountability. So let’s dig in, no fluff, no guilt trips, just hard questions and a roadmap for doing better.
Section 1: The Birth Lottery Audit
“Did You Earn This, or Was It Served on a Silver Platter?”
a) List the % of your net worth that came from:
- Inheritance/gifts/family connections
- Returns on capital (investments, property, etc.) vs. actual labour
- Pure luck (right place, right time, right tax loophole)
- Reflect: How would your life look without these advantages?
Make a list or free-flowing prose of your personally experienced ‘Plutocracy BFFs’ below:
(*Note: If you’re feeling defensive, ask yourself why. Discomfort is part of the process 🙂
b) Name 3 ways your wealth class sustains systems that keep inequality locked in (e.g., lobbying against wealth taxes, hoarding resources, offshore accounts).
(*Bonus round: Cite one law/policy you’ve benefited from that screws over everyone else.)
Section 2: “Philanthropy” Exposé: “Tokenism or Transformation?”
a) Calculate your annual giving as a % of your total wealth (not income!).
Now compare it to:
- The 10% “justice minimum” (Resource Generation)
- The 50%+ (as advocated by Marlene Engelhorn & Tax Me Now)
(HOT TAKE: Is your giving about real redistribution or just PR?)
b) “The ‘Nice Rich Person’ Checklist”
- Do you leverage your power (e.g., advocating for wealth taxes) or just write cheques?
- Do you donate without strings (trusting marginalized communities to lead)?
- Do you fund systemic change (e.g., tax justice, labor movements) or just Band-Aids?
Section 3: Power & Responsibility: No CopOuts “The Leverage Audit”
a) List 3 ways you could use your privilege to disrupt wealth hoarding beyond charity (e.g., endorsing a wealth tax, divesting from exploitative industries, funding grassroots movements).
b) “The ‘I’m Not the Problem’ Myth” Anand Giridharadas’s challenge:
“Do you believe in ‘win-win’ solutions to inequality, or are you willing to lose some privilege for justice?”
(Sit with that, then sit with it some more, then write a reply that you can come back to)
Section 4: Your Redistribution Action Plan “The ‘F*ck This, I’m Doing Better’ Pledge”
a) Money: Pick one concrete step (e.g., commit to 10%+ annual redistribution, join Millionaires for Humanity, gel with Resource Justice/Transformation peer-to-peer work, hop on TaxMeNow bandwagon).
b) Power: Name one system you’ll challenge (e.g., lobbying for progressive taxes).
c) Legacy: How will you ensure your wealth doesn’t perpetuate dynastic inequality?
“Wealth hoarding isn’t neutral – it’s violence. Redistribution isn’t ‘generosity’, it’s reparations.” – Adapted from Edgar Villanueva
Citations & Further Reading
- Hickel, J. The Divide: Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets
- Giridharadas, A. Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World
- Villanueva, E. Decolonizing Wealth
- Resource Generation (resourcegeneration.org)
- Tax Me Now (taxmenow.org)
- Engelhorn, M. Guter Rat (tax inheritance advocacy)
Final Note: If this felt uncomfortable, great 🙂 Now go do something. The world’s waiting.
Pass this on to your 1% peers <3
Good luck, and do fuck up the philanthropy-industrial-complex 😉
