Conner Shipp: NH’s in a recession, so respect our community’s economy

To The Daily Sun,

The recent declaration that New Hampshire, like other states, is officially in a recession, only validated what the working class has known for all too long. The share of wealth held by the working class is shrinking all while the rich get richer. Nothing will quench their greed.

The wealthy, colloquially referred to as the 1%, seek to buy the world and rent it back to us. They see the American people as one thing, consumers, a customer base to be exploited. The power to fight back against this financial exploitation is rooted in unification with one another. When readers adhere to divisions along racial, political, or regional lines, we allow ourselves to be divided and conquered.

In the face of economic hardship, it is paramount that the working class close ranks, ground themselves in class solidarity, and fortify themselves from an exploitative and ludicrously wealthy minority of people and corporations.

Spend money locally. Every dollar you spend is a silent vote cast for the economic future of your community. If you spend a dollar at a locally owned company, you have endorsed the continued local circulation of that dollar. The second you spend a dollar on Amazon or at Walmart, that dollar is extracted out of our local economic system, into the pocket of a billionaire, never to be reinvested in your community ever again.

Historically, economic stress creates social tensions. It is easy to point the finger at economic scapegoats like immigrants or those experiencing homelessness, when resources are scarce, and it feels as if others are getting a larger slice of the pie. In these times, we must ground ourselves in the reality that we share much more with the most vulnerable than we ever will with the likes of Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk.

Respect our community. Reject corporations.

Conner Shipp

Moultonborough