I have a lot of negative thoughts about certain types of people who try very hard to present themselves to the world as if they were poor. You can take it that I’m generally referring to artists, and sometimes musicians, who emphasis how little money they have, their centrelink payments, and other aspects of their lifestyle in order to create this (disingenuous) image. It’s really gross to me because I know these people I’m referring to have all come from wealthy or privileged backgrounds, and maybe live out of home but do not do so not because they were in a dangerous environment, maybe just leaving in order to be more independent. These people I’ve met actually aren’t struggling at all and are generally just people who DO have money but are trying to say how little they have. It feels fake and it feels insincere and it feels very problematic to make it PART OF YOUR ART to reference how “poor” you are.

“Hobo chic” or “latte left” as this is sometimes referred to not only appears very pretentious and self-righteous to me but it also takes away focus from those people who are actually struggling. A lot of people are not proud to be getting payment from the government. A lot of people feel very shameful that they can’t afford to feed their children or themselves on a day to day basis. A lot of people would rather not talk about this at all, even though maybe they should in order to get the correct assistance and support. That you are proudly flaunting this entirely false and constructed image about your life shows the IMMENSE FUCKING PRIVILEGE you have. You can’t just turn poverty on and off when it’s convenient to you. This is a life and death situation for some people but you’re consciously attributing it to yourself because it’s “trendy’? Ugh.

There is nothing wrong with coming from a wealthy background, and there is nothing wrong with coming from a disadvantaged background. When you start pretending that you are the latter when actually it was the former, I begin to reach for the poison.