Georgia NeSmith
2 min readNov 29, 2021

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You have no idea what you are talking about.

You judge from above us, in a space where you only see a small portion of the picture. Your comment is judgmental--exactly what one would expect from someone who is so privileged she can't see beyond the end of her own nose.

She actually thinks she knows what's going on with people who struggle for money compared to herself.

"I worked for my money" as if none of the rest of us ever did.

"I worked for my money," as if the same opportunities were available to the person who is struggling.

"I worked for my money," as if ALL anyone has to do is "work smart" and "you can have money like me.

"Yada yada yada yada.

If you've never had to struggle...and I mean REALLY STRUGGLE...to keep your head above water; if you've never nearly drowned in debt because, for example, you had medical bills to pay and no insurance, or your actually very good insurance wouldn't pay because it was a "previously diagnosed condition"...like, for instance, the asthma you've had since you were a child and your working class parents had no insurance...If you have never experienced any of that YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS TELLING US WHAT TO DO. CUZ **ALL** OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS WILL BE UNDER OUR LISTS OF **IMPOSSIBLE** OPTIONS.

You will assume that we can do what YOU can do when you run a bit low because you've had to pay a very big bill.Yes, I am yelling at you. Your privilege has clearly blinded you to the realities we've had to live thru.

I still suspect you won't hear me.But hey, you don't have to. Because your life will never be anything like ours, so you don't need to know what it's really like. Your life will not change for not having that knowledge.

You can carry on believing what you believe, judging those of us who've had to struggle just to keep from drowning. You will always assume that if we're struggling it's because we haven't been willing to work hard enough.

The reality is that low income people work harder than anyone else.

But why should youi care? Our pain does not affect you. So you don't have to listen to us.

I have advised my white cohorts to spend a good long time LISTENING rather than arguing with black people and people of color regarding their experience of racism. FORGET what you have believed was true until after you have listened with an open heart for a good long time.

I'm giving you the same advice about seeking out and truly listening to a whole lot of people who've struggled all their lives, whose PARENTS struggled all their lives so that their kids wouldn't have to struggle as much as they did,

But lo and behold they end up coming into the working world at a time when that idiotic "trickle down" scheme was pressed upon the country, and when the minimum wage hasn't been raised for 15 years or so...and guess what? Higher income jobs are ALSO not keeping up with inflation because that bottom gets scarier and scarier.

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Georgia NeSmith

Retired professor, feminist, writer, photographer, activist, grandmother of 5, overall Wise Woman. Phd UIA School of Journalism & Mass Communication, 1994.