Thanks for the great question. I chose to give away the capital rather than invest it and give away the interest for a few reasons: first, most investment seems pretty evil to me (my trust fund grew partly through investment in places like Nike, Proctor & Gamble, Shell, etc.), and even so-called socially responsible investing seems to me to be the lesser of evils, especially as an anti-capitalist who doesn’t believe in profiting off other people’s labor. I think of giving away this money both as a useful contribution to organizations and movements, and as divestment from an exploitative, imperialist economy.

Second, I don’t want to be a funder for my whole life. I’ll always give away money and things and energy, but I don’t want to be a philanthropist in the sense that I have a massive chunk of money invested somewhere and am perpetually doling out the interest. That seems to be the typical role inhabited by rich people who want to give away money, and it has the effect of consolidating power largely in the hands of wealthy white people – I wanted to challenge that dynamic.

I don’t believe in an economy that allows a few people to hoard huge fortunes made possible by most people’s poverty, which is how things work right now. I like to think of giving away the capital as “investing” in grassroots movements directly, instead of putting my stake in a system I don’t believe in. (not to mention one that is currently in crisis, resulting in *major* loss of philanthropy funds that many organizations counted on!) It feels better to me to give the money I can now when it’s so direly needed, and rely as little as possible on the success of capitalism for my giving.

I also think there are lots of ways to apply ideas about responsible use of resources and wealth redistribution and anti-capitalism to raising kids, and I’m inspired by lots of radical parents I know who are challenging the consumerism and individualism that so often gets pushed parents (and all of us).

I am from a working-class family, probably upper-prole, and I spent most of my adult life living in poverty, but I was getting, first a degree (paid for by loans), and then advanced degrees (paid for by scholarships). So, now, I think I’m lower-middle class.

I am happily married, but my male partner and myself (female) have decided not to have children. I never “felt like it,” and it was because of financial reasons, I’m sure, because once I got a job that pays a lower-middle-class wage, I thought I could swing it and seriously considered it.

Ultimately, I opted out. I really don’t think that things will be any better for the next generation. I am Generation X, and we are the first American to fare worse financially than our parents. So, I’m not going to pretend that I live in a traditional society by living a traditional lifestyle. I also refuse to reproduce, because Americans (even those of us who care and are environmentalists) consume too much. On top of all of that, I think that the chances of my producing a wage slave is high, and the pool of workers is so large that it is depressing wages.

So, to you or your readers think that it is radical not to have kids, or am I just taking capitalism too personally?

Thanks, again, for a great blog!