Why I will now charge for my classes
The truth and nothing but the truth
I’ve always provided my classes and courses to the public for free. As an anti-capitalist Indigenous Hindu woman with ancestors who never charged for teachings, it felt wrong to put a price on my work.
I’ve had to work on my feelings for many reasons. The first was that I realized they were incompatible with reality. My ancestors never charged for teachings but that’s because through most of history, those around them compensated them for their labor without asking, understanding the value of their work and honoring their wisdom.
As I went deeper into my studies on imperialism, I also realized that leftist narratives about capitalism being the root of all evil were faulty. Capitalism is a symptom of imperialism, not the root of it. Capitalism must be dismantled, but so must all other imperialist systems of power, of which capitalism is just one. Want to know what the other imperialist systems of power are? Then do my courses and you’ll learn. I no longer offer this information for free.
The truth is that as year after year went by and I saw how people reacted to my classes being free, I saw miles into the true nature of the “social justice” movement. This is what I saw:
People don’t sign up, assuming they can access my work for free whenever they want so there’s no incentive to bother about it right now. My precious time is not precious to them.
People sign up but don’t show up. They think that somehow by signing up they did something radical so they don’t need to actually show up. The social media click warriors strike again.
People who do show up are not on time, and then expect me to do extra labor repeating myself, not knowing how much labor I’ve already exerted and how much impact that has on my body. Workers rights don’t seem to matter to these people.
People who say they are anti-capitalists are lying. They’d much rather float in their bubble of privilege which buys conveniences. That means they would rather pay imperialist academic institutions thousands of dollars to study political science and then call themselves “anti-capitalists”.
People don’t value things that are free, even though true wisdom is priceless. Wisdom is the most precious thing in the world and it has to be experienced to be understood. Capitalists cannot understand the value of pricelessness.
People who say they are anti-imperialist also say they have no time for my genuine anti-imperialist education. Somehow, however, they have time to go to an imperialist institution and spend thousands of dollars to get fake credentials. It’s about titles, respectability politics, and hierarchies. In other words, they’re imperialists.
People treat me like a convenience, available whenever they want. I am not a puppet who dances to the tune of others. I am also not a slave.
People who say they are anti-imperialists have no intention of actually taking anti-imperialist action. They’d rather rage impotently about war at the dinner table instead of gaining the analysis and practical tools they need to actually stop wars from happening.
It took me time to accept these hard truths. People who do value me kept telling me to charge and I resisted because I wanted to ensure that all have access to what I teach.
If, however, no one takes my courses because people don’t respect my time, labor, or wisdom, then that defeats the point.
So I’m being creative about how I’m doing this from now on:
Starting in 2025, there will be charges.
There will be an application process.
There will be people who are accepted into my courses and people who are denied.
There will be people who get scholarships, and people who can pay but are still refused entry.
It will be tough to get access to my courses because I’m going to need proof that you’re a genuine anti-imperialist.
I will do outreach to certain communities and demographics but I will no longer do outreach to the social justice movement.
If you want to learn from me, you’ll need to come to me and justify your presence in my space.
There’s more to say about this but I’ll do so later. Get ready for 2025 because I’m not playing.
Resources
Smashup Episode 5
*Trigger Warning* Mention of transphobia, racism, DV, rape culture, genocide, war crimes, white supremacy, religion
No, Indy, it does not belong in a museum
*Trigger Warning* Colonial trauma, racism, demonization of Indigenous peoples, cultural appropriation, Hinduphobia
Feedback for “Holistic Healers” and “Wellness Practitioners”
I watch a lot of documentaries and read a lot of articles on natural healing. It can be difficult and I grit my teeth through a lot of it. I pay attention to these outlets of information because I want to know what healing methods they’re culturally appropriating and what information they’re gatekeeping. This i…