Thanks for your curiosity & bravery

Hello all!
I just wanted to write to thank each of the students in the in class/outclassed course for participating in the conversation we held last Thursday, Dec. 1. I really enjoyed being able to come and speak with you about the ways we personally wrestle with our class statuses and how we try to make sense of this very absurd system of "classifying" people. One aspect that I did not get to address during the class was the topic of class in context of a capitalist system. In response, much your feedback to my zine has revolved around the question of "how could a wealthy person ever feel bad/guilty about having wealth?" My answer is that I feel this way due to my opposition to a capitalist system that is based in (and provokes) many social ills - competition, exploitation, persecution, and unequal wealth distribution. If you remember a quote from Ty in my zine, "people are wealthy BECAUSE other people are poor." People are poor, in part, because of the concentrated wealth that I have benefitted from. My disdain for my wealth is connected to my political desire to be anti-capitalist and to work for another economic system that does not involve colonialism and unjust resource extraction; for a economy that does not simultaneously create poverty and the many social traumas poverty brings. As you can see, this commitment is tied up into so many other causes and issues that I am devoted to. I'm open and interested to continue working through this with each of you. Please feel free to get in touch with me with further thoughts, questions, & ideas.

in peace & solidarity,
marian dalke