Frequently Asked Questions
What is Resource Movement?
Resource Movement is group of young people with access to wealth and class privilege who are pissed off about the inequality we see around us, and who believe that we can play a role in creating a more just and equitable world. We believe our role is to work alongside and amplify the power of existing social and environmental movements. In July 2017, we're about 200 strong.
What does Resource Movement do?
Resource Movement mobilizes young people with access to wealth and class privilege to work alongside and amplify the power of existing social and environmental movements, in order to create a more just and equitable world.
To do so we will:
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Run capacity-building programs for young people with wealth and class privilege to investigate their privilege, understand policies that have contributed to inequality, and to understand their role in creating a more just and equitable world
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Support our members to raise funds for front-line social justice groups
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Amplify the voices and the issues that matter most to front-line social justice groups
What do you mean when you say "access to wealth"?
Our members include people who have access to personal wealth, who have access to wealth through their family, or who expect to inherit wealth. Our members tend to feel that they have or will have access to more resources than they need. Generally, these people are in the top 10% of earners, whose families are in the top 10% of earners, or people who expect to inherit wealth.
For context, in 2011, the top 10% of Canadians made an average income of $134,900, the top 5% made $179,800 and the top 1% made $381,300. In 2011, the bottom 90% of income earners had an average income of $28,000 (StatsCan).
What do you mean when you say "class privilege"?
As humans, we love to categorize ourselves to make sense of the world around us. Class is one such category we've developed to distinguish ourselves from one another. People we group within classes tend to have similar levels of wealth or income, similar types of occupations, and / or similar levels of education. Generally, when people categorize by class, they categorize by people who are of 'upper class', 'middle class' and 'lower class'.
Privilege is a benefit or set of benefits that members of certain social groups have. Privilege is often unearned, and often based on historical oppression of other groups. When we say "class privilege" we are talking about people who benefit from their association with being of upper of middle class, and who are provided advantages such as better access to job opportunities, easier access to political officials, easier access to housing, and more.
Are you just a bunch of rich white kids who think you'll be able to 'save the world'?
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Rich kids: Based on the group of folks we work to mobilize, yes, we are, in many cases a bunch of rich kids. We believe that people ages 18-35 with wealth or class privilege can play a unique role in addressing inequality. Learning from people who have come before us, we believe we can use our assets and resources to build a better world for future generations. We are committed however, to building a cross-class advisory community, a cross-class staff, and having cross-class advisors. This means that while we will mobilize rich kids, we will be directed by, governed by, and staffed by kids (and adults) who grew up poor, middle class, rich and everything in between.
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White: Right now, the majority of our members identify as white. In part, this has occurred based on the organic evolution of our membership based on our founding members (white rich kids often know other white rich kids). In part, this has also occurred because in Canada, white people tend to be wealthier. This has occurred because of intentional, institutional policy that has disadvantaged black, brown, Asian and Indigenous people in Canada, and has provided advantages to white people. In the coming year and beyond, we will work hard to build a more racially and ethnically diverse membership.
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Save the world: We are very wary of the 'white saviour' complex. As a result, our mission is not to mobilize young people with access to wealth and class privilege to lead the transition to a more equitable and just world, but rather to work alongside and amplify the power of existing social and environmental movements toward positive ends. While we don't think we can 'save the world', we are hopeful about our individual and collective potential to contribute toward building a world in which all communities are powerful, healthy, and living in alignment with the planet. A world that is racially and economically just, and in which wealth, land and power are shared amongst us all.
What else do you believe?
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Every person, community and organization can transform. As our organization learns, we also want to support people in learning with us. Change can be uncomfortable: we grow from mistakes, and feedback can reveal what privileges make it hard to see.
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People ages 18-35 with wealth or class privilege can play a unique role in addressing inequality. Learning from people who have come before us, we can use resources to build a better world for future generations. Our work has impacts now and builds skills for life.
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Wealth and class privilege takes many forms. People come to this work with vastly different stories. In parallel, each person has many kinds of resources in their life that they can use to build a more equitable world.
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Working for social justice is healing, and this healing is both urgent, and long-term. This work is healing not only for our communities but for each of us. Sometimes, it takes deep, messy and slow work before things get better.
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The history of wealth inequality is deeply linked to racism and colonialism, so we work to end these and restructure the economy to have the world we want and need.
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Some issues are uniquely Canadian, but our work is anchored in global systems.
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Each person and community has a history that shapes them and their world. Building meaningful relationships relies on listening to people when they share their own stories.
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We must always keep improving how we act out justice, whether by increasing access for people of all abilities, finding ways to welcome people of all genders, or challenging patterns that harm people. Listening to feedback helps us do this.
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It’s possible for everyone to prosper without exploiting people or the planet. Our communities are interconnected so inequities affect us all. Relationships protect us, not materials, so we all benefit from transforming communities by reversing wealth inequality.
I have another question that's not listed here...
Thanks for your interest in our work! Send us your question using the 'contact us' section below, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.