I Don't Want to Die Poor: Essays

Knowing people aren’t being totally honest with what they are showing you doesn’t mean what they show you still can’t get to you.

The problem isn’t whether or not you can afford the yacht you’re showing off on television, but whether or not activities like, say, not paying people livable wages are how you were able to pay for that yacht.

didn’t know what to think about myself based on my own metrics, so it was ill-advised to measure myself by his.

It’s one thing to ask people to go cordless or consider a gym-less life, but should we be giving people platforms to share how they paid off their loans by forgoing health insurance, owning a car, having a place of their own? Why are we highlighting people as success stories who felt compelled to stunt their lives to this severity?

I cringe at using verbiage that borders on saccharine, but on a fundamental level, there has to be a greater love of self that supersedes setbacks, and the dangerous coping mechanisms we turn to in order to deal.

It’s adorable to believe we live in a meritocracy, but so much of certain types of success is dictated by everything else besides perceived special talents and abilities. It’s about privilege, and how that privilege gives way to greater access and larger means than are offered those who lack it.

I’ve written so much about the damage other people have done to me. It’s time to admit more of the things I’ve done to myself. It’s not just for the sake of transparency. I do not owe anyone this information. Still and all, keeping secrets like this are about maintaining control. I just want to be free.

The criticism of the rich is not rooted in people being successful enough to become wealthy, but a system that allows people to build massive fortunes based on exploitation—and using that power to consolidate power that prevents them from ever facing any consequences for such abuses.

You cannot allow yourself to be consumed by the standards set by others or any misguided reaction to the knowledge that everyone’s journey is different.