Class and classism. A confusing thing when the majority of people–with the exception of the bottom 20% and top 2%–consider themselves “middle-class.” This site compiles a bunch of resources about class, classism, and class consciousness. It emerges out of the work of students at Middlebury College, where tuition costs $67,000 annually and 23% of students come from the top 1%.

What, we wondered, might class-conscious organizing look like at a place like Middlebury? How might those of us who are among the world’s top income earners participate in class-conscious organizing? How and why might we redistribute our wealth?

To begin to answer these questions, we have made this site. We are also writing Op-Eds in The Campus (our campus newspaper), organizing meetings and reading groups, and spearheading a campaign through which students can engage in wealth re-distribution

Midd Moving Money is an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic organization that seeks to mobilize and redistribute wealth on campus. We are interested in a variety of organizing tactics, particularly ones that actively move money, including (but not limited to) learning more about class in a way that is coherent with anti-racist ideologies, having open and honest inter-class discussions, wealth redistribution, impact investing, fundraising, and personal divestment.

This semester, for our Moving Money Campaign, we are looking to raise $2,000 for worthwhile causes to express our commitment to reallocating wealth and combatting income inequality. This semester, we recommend give to our neighbors, HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects) Vt, in order to try to move money from a largely wealthy campus into local areas affected by poverty. HOPE is a poverty relief organization that provides groceries, housing,  and other basic needs items to people who cannot afford them, serving over 600 people per month. Nevertheless, giving to any worthwhile inequality or poverty oriented cause can count toward the campaign. This fundraiser will consist of anonymous, grassroots donations. Midd Moving Money is not itself a donor group; we are a group of class-conscious activists who hope to facilitate the movement of money in a holistic, intersectional way that takes direction from those we seek to be an ally to. We believe that wealthy donors should not be the ones directing money and so we seek to exist in allyship with others.

Midd Moving Money is not itself a donor group; we are a group of class-conscious activists who hope to facilitate the movement of money in an explicitly anti-racist, anti-classist, anti-homophobic, and anti-sexist way. We also believe that wealthy donors should not be the ones directing how money is spent, and, as such, we seek to take direction from those to whom we donate.

Midd Moving Money emerged out of an independent study that Edward O’Brien, an Economics major, completed with Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (GSFS) Professor Dr. Carly Thomsen in Spring 2017.