I don’t like conferences. (Too fidgety, not an auditory learner, easily overwhelmed by large groups of people, etc.) I like the idea of conferences, but it’s nearly impossible for me to stay focused during a panel, regardless of how enjoyable the content is. So, with somewhat low expectations, I went to MMMC in 2019. Until then, my involvement with RG was limited to filling out the redistribution pledge and paying my dues yearly (often after a few email reminders). I was theoretically bought into the vision but unsure if and how I wanted to get deeper into the organizing work.
On the first day of MMMC, we gathered in a large room, a sea of chairs facing a stage with a microphone. Uh oh, a conference, I thought. The person at the front of the room welcomed us and began to preface what they would share. The event organizers had taken the results from a form all attendees were asked to fill out before coming, asking us to share as much as we knew (in numbers) about our immediate access and our family’s access to wealth. For each category, they had added the numbers together. The room was filled with collective, audible breaths as the totals were read.
Hearing how much money was represented in the room was unreal, unfathomable. I had heard numbers that big before, but not in any context that so directly implicated me. Being in that room, surrounded by so many other young people with wealth and people who were invested in our transformation, my stake in wealth redistribution felt different, embodied. I was much more ready than I had ever been before.
The rest of the conference passed like an un-conference. The workshops were dynamic. I danced a lot. And I had the opportunity to share and hear so many powerful stories about family, money, and personal and political commitment. On the last day, an RG staff member sat with me while I completed my yearly redistribution pledge. How does that feel? He asked when I made my first attempt to write down a number. I remember wavering a little, and I remember him lovingly agitating me a bit. I left pledging to give more than I had ever thought possible.
I came home from MMMC with a lot of energy. I joined a local praxis group, increased my giving each year after that (in 2023, I gave $47,500), ultimately spending down almost all of my inherited wealth, and I joined the Solidarity Economy/Transformative Investment Principles (SE/TIPs) working group. I continue to feel the energy I left MMMC with five years ago.
I don’t like conferences, but I am writing you this email to invite you (and your friends!) to the only conference I’ve ever enjoyed. MMMC is a special place of transformation carefully crafted to help young people with wealth find our place in the movement to redistribute money, land, and power. It’s where we get the tools and build the relationships we need to turn a political commitment into brave, material action. It's a tremendous gift we get. 😊 I hope you come, and I'll see you there!
Anna Finklestein
