Why I can't stop hustling
the capitalist hellscape has got me down
I was recently interviewed on a sex worker podcast called When We’re Not Hustling, hosted by a colleague and friend of mine, Jessie Sage. The premise of the podcast is to hear about the lives of sex workers outside their work personas: what do sex workers do when we’re not hustling?
I cannot and do not stop hustling.
I have a full time as the Co-Director of an intermediary grantmaker called New Moon Network, make a (low) 6-figure salary, run an independent consulting business, have several side hustles (you can guess which ones), and I am still struggling to make ends meet.
It is wild to me is that I can have access to all this income and it’s still not enough to comfortably live my life, pursue my goals, and save for retirement. Let alone a vacation where I can completely unplug from work. Sex workers across the globe understand my struggle.
What is even more wild is being in this position as a so-called grantmaker, a gatekeeper to wealth for my community that I have to seek out for myself, and for my organization as well. As a sex worker and philanthropist, I still require the mutual aid that our community thrives on, and I give it back where I can. Some people would call this a bad spending habit: don’t spend it if you don’t have it… But our community NEEDS the cash when they need it. So I give, knowing that soon I may have to ask. This is a near-constant cycle for many sex workers, including myself.
There is enough money, but too much of it is being held by high net worth individuals, families, and corporations. The people need the money, we are struggling to keep up and live comfortable lives within the current paradigm.
Every individual with wealth who reads this, please give some money back today.
I am struggling. We are struggling.
Send a Venmo! Send some cash app! Hire us for a consulting gig!
Send some cash through your DAF!
Subscribe to a Substack! (I recommend Robin Divine’s Poverty Sucks for more on this topic).