My Morality Is Preventing Me From Financial Freedom

I have watched too much socialist and communist tiktok at this point. I know because I can’t do any job in the future now that might mean potentially exploiting people.

This is all I’m thinking about these days after meeting with a pair of financial advisors that my sister found through the recommendation of her friends. The advisors are Black and very successful at what they have really only been doing for the past few years.

They describe a life that seems simple enough to enter now that we’ve become homeowners. That is, until one of them suggests we think about buying property with a new mortgage and use AirBNB to rent it out.

I, of course, have reservations against this practice: I don’t believe in owning property that you don’t live in, especially if it means that the home (which will likely be in an area where lower-income people may try to buy a home) won’t be available to people who really need it.

It’s a strange and kind of horrible thing when you become aware of the racial capitalism that is at play with many financial decisions. One of my favorite tiktok creators recently had a very negative reaction to Killer Mike’s Black capitalism and she was right: it’s weird that after the historical precedent of being exploited, so many Black folks want to run and go exploit more people.

I cannot do it, and so here I am scrambling to put together an income stream where my main desire is to break even. Or support my k-pop habit. But I hate money otherwise, and I have no desire whatsoever to be wealthy.

Because I know that wealth as it exists under capitalism means someone or multiple someones are being exploited for your benefit.

The financial advisor called capitalism gray when it comes to morality. Unfortunately, it’s a shade of gray I do not wish to contribute to.