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TWIR: You Are A Badass At Making Money

You Are a Badass At Making Money
by Jen Sincero


So I've been listening to You Are A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero and the thing that I'm most struck by is that it's completely fucking woowoo. This is like, spend $85,000 going to some fucking life coaching bullshit. This is like if you just want money just think about money and it'll come to you bullshit. This is like encouraging people to get sucked in by pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes and make completely irresponsible decisions bullshit. This advice is advice that works for white ladies that have a safety net. This advice is advice that works for people who have something to lose, but don't really have something to lose. 

When she's talking about going from living in a garage to earning six or seven figures, she doesn't have anyone else relying on her. She isn't responsible for taking care of anyone. She isn't in a relationship, she doesn't have children, she doesn't do eldercare, which is all fine--you don't need to do any of these things or have any of these things to be complete or whole--but it's ridiculous to talk about this power of attraction bullshit without acknowledging that other people's experiences and realities are not like your own. It's disingenuous and vacuous and reeks of white feminism. Sure, you can feel empowered to put your quote-unquote energy out there to will yourself to make money, but sometimes there were real consequences when you put things at risk, like your family, your relationships, your children, your aging parents, your house, your car, your stable job. 

All of these things are problematic, and it doesn't begin to address Sincero's use of AAVE. She uses a marginalized group's vernacular to sound cute or edgy or to sound relatable and hip in a way that her woowoo advice isn't. Her use of AAVE and current slang are forced and calculated in a way that an actual speaker's of AAVE or that slang wouldn't be. She's selling a product, and the product is herself.

I am much more forgiving of someone that's encouraging something benign like smudging a room or using crystals to heal the energy of a space then someone who's telling me to spend all of my available capital and resources using someone else's voice. Should you ask your friend for $85K? If you have a friend with $85K to just loan, have I got some great, arable land to sell you in the Everglades.

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