Tax Justice Organizing

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Check out westandwiththe99percent.tumblr.com

...the stories of the 1 percent who stand with the 99 percent.

elspeth with sign

Get Involved!

1. Make a sign and post it on tumblr. Then take it to the street!

2. Get your friends to make signs and post them too. Then take them to the streets!

3. Write a blog post or an op-ed that sends a message about redistributing wealth and creating a more equitable society.

4. Talk to friends and family members about wealth and taxes.

5. Support tax reform policies in Congress now. If your a young philanthropist and entrepreneur - sign our newest petition, Letter to the future: a plea for fair taxes from the next generation.

6. If you’re a young person with wealth, get involved with Resource Generation!

7. Stand with the 99 percent... at Occupy Wall Street, at Occupy Together, in your community, everyday.

8. Find out about the grassroots organizations and communities in your area. What do they need in this moment? How can you be involved or support? Want a place to start? Check out Organize Together.

9. Participate in the “Move your Money” day of action (pulling out of big banks and investing in credit unions) on November 5th.

10. Join the “Carry the Cash” campaign to move foundation dollars into community banks.

11. Give to  your local grassroots groups or local “Occupy” through various channels:

  • Help amplify the voices of the 99% (independent media)
  • Support strong legal protection (lawyers, observers,  bail funds)
  • Support training (e.g., direct action trainings, facilitation trainings)
  • Make a direct donation of stuff to meet stated or obvious needs (tents, food, or more expensive items that only people with much more disposable income are able to provide)
  • Check out Occupywishlist.org, where organizers around the country are directly posting their needs in real time. 

Questions? Have Media Skills? Want to get involved? Email westandwiththe99percent@resourcegeneration.org

Who we are

Resource Generation’s Tax Organizing Team came together six months ago to figure out how we could use our voices and our actions to support economic justice through affecting tax policy.  We were brought together through a partnership between Resource Generation and Wealth for the Common Good.  We committed to organizing together for at least a year, to galvanize conversations and actions about taxes, particularly among young people with wealth.

We ourselves are six women in our twenties and thirties.  We live in Denver, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and a small town in Maryland.  We work in community organizing, farming, publishing and education.  We have come together through monthly conference calls and one jam-packed weekend of getting to know each other, working hard and having fun.  We are excited to be doing this work, especially in this moment.  We hope to engage with a lot of you in the coming months.

Where we're coming from:

We Are:

  • "we are the 99%" signYoung people with wealth or access to wealth. Inheritors or high-income earners or people who expect to inherit money in our lifetimes.

We Believe:

The United States’ current economic system is unjust.

  • Poverty is unacceptable in a land of plenty.
  • Wealth disparity exacerbates unequal power relationships and destroys democracy.
  • Class privilege leads to isolation, insecurity and defensiveness.

A more equitable society is necessary.

  • Everyone deserves to have her or his basic needs met and to experience self-determination.
  • Wealth should be distributed to reflect the value of the contribution of all those who work.
  • Equitable distribution of wealth is the foundation of a system in which power is also equitably distributed.
  • Equitable distribution of wealth benefits us all.  It is necessary today to benefit the generations to come.

Tax policy is one important piece of creating a more equitable society.

  • The current tax structure increases poverty and wealth disparity.
  • Wealth accumulation is protected by tax policies like low capital gains taxes that privilege the rich.
  • Tax policy is a comprehensive approach to mandatory wealth redistribution.
  • Tax revenues are vital for funding the social services we expect our government to provide.

We have a unique role to play in the movement for economic justice.

  • We have more than we need, while the majority does not have enough.
  • Our privilege provides us the opportunity to affect institutional change.
  • Wealthy interests have served to create and maintain unfair policies, so it is even more important that we speak out against these policies from our experience.

That is why:

  • We speak out and organize to shape tax policy and shift the public narrative around wealth distribution and accumulation.
  • We demand change in the current tax structure so that wealth is taxed the same as work and wealthy people pay more.
  • We fight for tax justice AND for ensuring that generated revenue is used to help all people meet their basic needs and exercise community control.
  • We seek to build cross-class alliances and add our voices to groups that are leading the struggle for economic justice.

 

Questions? Want to get involved? Email westandwiththe99percent@resourcegeneration.org