Adapting to Trauma and Oppression through Finance
Clearing Emotions From Childhood by Shelley Klammer
“The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.” -Paulo Freire
It seems as though the cycles of oppression are inescapable. Living in a profit-based society, we feel that we have to hold tight to our money to avoid exploitation or harm by others. We know that we need money to survive but there are exploitative and liberatory ways to make a living in this society. We’ve seen them both.
It takes great self-awareness, care, and attention to go the liberatory route. To not exploit. When we have been exploited ourselves, we can adapt by trying to keep as much as we can. But what happens when we grow in financial power and keep the same mindset? The oppressed becomes the oppressor. I’ve seen this with people new to wealth, or immigrants in search of the “American Dream.” The zero sum game of money, or the monetary tug of war indicates that for me to win, another must lose. I can save money by not paying as much, even when I have enough.
The dominant strategy of maximizing profit is hard to shake if you think everyone else is playing that strategy. That’s why we have to stop and analyze it, emotionally. If you have just come into power (new money, etc) take time to stop and heal from your previous position of power. What mindset did it put you in? How did it contribute to your perspective of others? How do you think those in power rationalized your treatment?
Once you stop and acknowledge your own socio-emotional thought patterns, then you can choose:
How do I want to adapt going forward?
How can I think and feel and treat people so that this cycle doesn’t continue?
How can I spread trust, goodwill, and solidarity?
How can I embody the culture that I want in place of the exploitation that I experienced?
That’s the key.
That’s the emotional reflection that we owe ourselves so that we can have healthy, caring, and respectful relationships. The point is to uplift ourselves and others emotionally (and materially if necessary), to not be at odds with one another.
So how do we cope with this trauma when it comes to money? There are generally two types of people when it comes to money and financial trauma: 1) I suffered and survived so others should have to as well or 2) I suffered and know what it’s like so no one else should ever have to. Do we become oppressive or do we learn from our oppression?
I think a lot of you are coming to a fresh outlook on capitalism, a critique of classism, and searching for new dialogue on how and why we are harmed by these systems. A lot of us are questioning our roles in capitalism and wondering why so many eschew class solidarity as oppressed people to embrace the role of the oppressor. A lot of elder millennials are coming into wealth or experiencing surplus for the first time but we’re stuck in the scarcity mentality that has dominated the bulk of our life. We need to shake off that scarcity mindset and accept that we have enough for the first time, and feel our way through our experiences. What do we want to do with that surplus now that we have it?
More and more, people are rising up from their trauma and saying, “No. We will not live like this. No one should have to live like this.” We are collectively embodying liberation now because the chasm between the haves and the have-nots is becoming even greater with every passing fiscal year. Those of us who engage in this thinking are turning to mutual aid networks, participating in radical generosity, demanding better working conditions, and protesting for our liberation. Those of us who are not, are still playing the masters’ games, judging themselves and others based on Calvanist reform and Protestant work ethic type thinking. People tell themselves if they just worked harder (or sometimes, if so-and-so didn’t take from them — “the immigrants are stealing our jobs”), they could be deserving of some of the wealth. In doing so, they generally denigrate those that they feel do not work hard enough — often at the expense of the dignity of low-income people and people of color. They internalize the subliminal messaging of the oppressor and eschew class solidarity in favor of alignment with elitism.
Immortal Technique said:
As much as racism bleeds America
We need to understand that classism is the real issue
Many of us are in the same boat and it’s sinking
While these bougie motherfuckers
Ride on a luxury liner
And as long as we keep fighting
Over kicking people out of the little boat we’re all in
We’re gonna miss an opportunity
To gain a better standard of living as a whole.
Our collective trauma from capitalism manifests in ways that often directly benefit the furtherance of the capitalist system. It entices us to become materialistic and individualistic. It tells us to believe the scarcity myth and to believe that because you didn’t have enough there must not be enough. The truth is that there is plenty and the real problem is that the equitable division of resources is being withheld from the many by the few.
So I suppose the question on the table in this post is how are you going to deal with the trauma from your exploitation and poverty? You have a choice in front of you: Do you become the oppressor or do you learn from your oppression?
When we learn from our oppression, we begin to notice patterns. The elite do not want us to be invested in healing. The powerful do not want us to network together. The wealthy do not like it when we form self-sustaining independent networks of financial solidarity. They believe they get to dictate the rules on who is deserving of wealth and comfort and security. By observing these patterns we can make a choice to divest from these patterns and do something different. You can, for example, recognize that the goal posts of “deserving” are constantly shifting and moving further out of reach for Black and Brown people, especially womxn/femmes/and MaGes and therefore you can say. This is especially true for white people who actively benefit from the rules of engagement with capitalism. You can decide that you are not going to be complicit in this subjugation. Instead, you can redirect surplus funds directly to the people who are most harmed by capitalism and white supremacy. You can volunteer or start a mutual aid program that gets food and supplies to people in need, divesting from the nonprofit industrial complex and promoting direct action and community care.
Choosing to invest in your own healing, you can end the pattern of withholding and see that abundance is an objective truth and a divine right. What does it mean to learn from your oppression and invest in your own healing from a financial standpoint? Well, for one thing it means getting clarity around your finances so that you can create the life you want and the life that serves your values and integrity. It can mean investing in a financial and emotional wellness coach who believes that you are more than your bank balance or even your contribution to capitalism. Investing in your healing means carving out meaningful relationships with those who you choose to be in your life and, in doing so, getting the therapy, support, and resources you need to maintain those relationships. It means giving yourself room to care about yourself and others’ happiness and their dignity, despite capitalism telling you there is only room to care about yourself.
-Fiadh Leigh