Hi,
I wish Nikita Crump never had to make the decision to move into her car to try to escape rent. I wish housing were accessible and affordable for everyone and that instead of worrying about rent, Nikita could focus on her joy. But that’s not the reality of the current moment.
Nikita Crump lived in her Honda Civic for 1,000 days and documented it on social media and YouTube. She went viral, which is how I stumbled across her stuff online. I went through a roller coaster of emotions as I absorbed it all, asking myself, “What is compelling me to watch this?”. Not for joy and not for pity, but maybe because Nikita is simply an open book about this particular thing that many hide.
Of course, I felt upset that in our wealthy country, there isn’t enough housing for everyone that needs it. If we can figure out how to land thousands of planes all across the globe every single day, surely we can ensure that everyone can have dignified housing. Ultimately, I know why we haven’t. Our society does not incentivize inspiring a housing solution. It incentivizes profit. Which is why I wanted to have a conversation with Nikita.
I wanted to share the story of our economic incentives passed through the filter of Nikita’s experience. Her story is surprisingly positive because her decision to share her experience online has changed her life for the better. For every one Nikita, I’m sure countless others have not been able to make lemonade from lemons. Your favorite finance friend,
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P.S. Happy tax day! Today is the deadline for corporate and partnership filings.
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1. 🚙 Living In a Car for 1,000 days with Nikita Crump (Weird Finance) In this episode Nikita Crump talks about why people are interested in following along on her journey of living in her car, the tension between the idea of van life versus the reality of being unhoused, and the unexpected path of becoming known for living in her car. This episode also features a segment called Slow and Steady with Leo by Leo Aquino and a PSA about needs versus wants.2. 💸 How Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, who it affects, and what happens now (The Verge)3. 💳 How Americans went from record savings to record credit card debt in two years (NPR)
4. 🤓 A Bookkeeping Thing - Common Tax Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (HYG Original) 5. 🏝 Hawaii May Soon Pass a $50 Green Fee for Visitors (Condé Nast Traveler) “This fee is an opportunity to thank our natural and cultural resources for what they have provided by giving back to them and protecting them so those who follow in your footsteps can enjoy them as well.”6. 🏚 How America Manufactures Poverty (New Yorker) The sociologist Matthew Desmond identifies specific practices and policies that consign tens of millions to destitution. “If you count all public benefits offered by the federal government, America’s welfare state (as a share of its gross domestic product) is the second biggest in the world, after France’s. Why doesn’t this largesse accomplish more? For one thing, it unduly assists the affluent.7. 🤳🏾 How the Great Recession paved the way for the influencer industry (Vox) Are we all influencers now? “While individual participants looked for a route to autonomy, stability, and professional fulfillment that seemed impossible elsewhere, they ended up creating a value system that advanced the erosion of boundaries between individuals’ inner lives and commercialism, asking us to view ourselves as products perpetually ready for market, our relationships as monetizable, and our daily activities as potential shopping experiences. ”8. 🏖 Welcome to Digital Nomadland (WIRED) A Portuguese island created a village for remote workers, promising community to the newcomers and prosperity to the locals—then delivered on neither. “For a sector that so loudly proclaims its devotion to quality of life, the failure of the global leaders in the digital nomad space to consider the losses of host communities is astounding to behold. It is as though those living communities don’t matter beyond the abstract role they fulfill as backdrop. Lumber, not trees.”
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If you have a question you’d like me to answer on the Weird Finance podcast, you can leave me a voicemail at 833-ASK-PACO. You can also email me your question by replying to this email or emailing us at weirdfinancepod@gmail.com.
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