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The Rich Shouldn’t Dictate How We Spend Our Money

Why reserve financial autonomy for the financially stable?

Cara Harbstreet (She/Her)
5 min readSep 25, 2020

This week, Mark Cuban revisited statements he made in May 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was still in its infancy. Cuban, for those who aren’t avid fans of “Shark Tank” on ABC, is a self-made billionaire and currently owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team.

He proposed that each American household, regardless of current income level, should get $1000 every other week for two months to total $4,000. The idea originated after the first (and so far, only) round of $1,200 stimulus checks doled out after Congress passed a record $2 trillion relief package. Cuban recognized a growing division between families living in starkly different economic realities: those who were doing alright but maybe feeling a little pinched, and those legitimately struggling to keep their heads above water.

Cuban isn’t wrong. Economic disparities have been growing for decades and the middle class is not only shrinking in numbers but also standing on less stable footing. I wasn’t aware of just how dismal the situation was until I read Andrew Yang’s book, The War On Normal People. His argument for universal basic income (UBI) was compelling and completely changed how I understood the American economy.

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Cara Harbstreet (She/Her)
Cara Harbstreet (She/Her)

Written by Cara Harbstreet (She/Her)

Lover of carbs and puns, call me Cara Carbstreet | Anxious Millennial | Coffee Enthusiast | Non-diet Dietitian

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