Money Well Spent

I just zipped off three checks for $100 -- one to the NYC People's Law Collective, one to the Mass Defense Committee of the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and one to the NYC Independent Media Center.

The PLC and the NLG worked together to provide legal support to people who were arrested during the RNC. They are the folks who presented the writ of habeas corpus that finally ended our incarceration. And they will be spearheading the upcoming civil suits against NYC and the NYPD. Meanwhile, the IMC did an exemplary job of providing news coverage during the RNC.

I highly encourage people to donate whatever money they can to these fine people to support the work that they are doing. Especially people who were unable to attend the actual demonstrations; this is a way to make a tangible contribution from a distance -- and without putting one's self in the line of fire.

I have been at my current job for nearly a year now, and I am pleased to see that drawing a "middle-class salary" has not changed me. Despite temptations, I'm no more consumeristic than I was a year ago, when I had half of my current income. In the past year, the most expensive thing that I have purchased for myself (excluding the house itself) was a $150 piece of cat furniture. Yes, I've spent money to do stuff (e.g. airline tickets), but I haven't become the sort of person who would spend $400 on an iPod yet never consider donating $100 to the PLC.

Money Well Spent

I just zipped off three checks for $100 -- one to the NYC People's Law Collective, one to the Mass Defense Committee of the NYC Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and one to the NYC Independent Media Center.

The PLC and the NLG worked together to provide legal support to people who were arrested during the RNC. They are the folks who presented the writ of habeas corpus that finally ended our incarceration. And they will be spearheading the upcoming civil suits against NYC and the NYPD. Meanwhile, the IMC did an exemplary job of providing news coverage during the RNC.

I highly encourage people to donate whatever money they can to these fine people to support the work that they are doing. Especially people who were unable to attend the actual demonstrations; this is a way to make a tangible contribution from a distance -- and without putting one's self in the line of fire.

I have been at my current job for nearly a year now, and I am pleased to see that drawing a "middle-class salary" has not changed me. Despite temptations, I'm no more consumeristic than I was a year ago, when I had half of my current income. In the past year, the most expensive thing that I have purchased for myself (excluding the house itself) was a $150 piece of cat furniture. Yes, I've spent money to do stuff (e.g. airline tickets), but I haven't become the sort of person who would spend $400 on an iPod yet never consider donating $100 to the PLC.