Fuck People Who Tell You to #FuckPlanB
First order of business: my birthday was awesome & I was shocked (to the point of a few tears) at how many people were sharing links to my art and buying prints from my webstore.
Second order of business: #FuckPlanB
I stared seeing responses to #FuckPlanB in my Twitter feed yesterday and at first assumed it was somehow related to legislation restricting the morning-after pill. When I read the hashtag feed, though, I discovered that #FuckPlanB is instead a rather-questionable life philosophy: focus all your efforts in achieving the thing you most want (Plan A) without wasting energy on a back-up plan (Plan B).
It sounds like a brilliant idea. I've heard it dozens of times, from well-meaning colleagues and friends who say things like, "If you have a Plan B that means you're planning to fail."
Getting into arguments about class privilege doesn't really engender the best relationships, so I've always quietly rolled my eyes and let it go. But as I see more and more people catching the "Fuck Plan B" fever, it feels irresponsible to let it go uncontested. So I won't.
"Fuck Plan B" is a steaming pile of privileged bullshit--- and it's DANGEROUS privileged bullshit, especially in this economy, to tell people to throw caution to the wind and forgo planning for the worst.
If you are literally living without any sort of Plan B, you're a fool. I guarantee you, most of the people who are gushing validation at each other all over Twitter for saying #FuckPlanB actually DO have safety nets. If their dreams go up in smoke, they will not starve.
"But I don't have a back-up plan for a BORING JOB in case my writing/singing/acting/brain surgery career doesn't work out! I am 100% Plan A!"
Awesome for you that you don't need to have a back-up plan to make money in case you aren't the next Gaga. But stop congratulating yourself long enough to think about what I'm about to say.
Plan B is only a less-than-satisfying job for the working class. If you're angry that I'm calling #FuckPlanB out on being bullshit, you probably have a different kind of Plan B, like parents who will bail you out if your dreams don't pan out. Or a healthy savings account that will keep a roof over your head if you don't hit all your goals. Or friends who have the means to save your ass when your reckless pursuit of Plan A puts you into debt. Those things are as much Plan B as a survival job is for the rest of us.
Has becoming homeless if you lost your job ever been a real concern for you? Do you find it hard to dream big when you're busting ass to afford groceries but you're still stuck deciding between milk and bread because you can't afford both? Is a jar of spare change your emergency fund, because one day that $20 might be the difference between you and disaster?
No? Then congratulations, you're privileged. There's no shame in being privileged; there is shame in drawing a line in the sand wherein those who quit their day jobs are to be celebrated and those who can't are chastised.
People who tell others "Fuck Plan B" don't live on the edge of homelessness, because those who do know that it's not enough to have one back up plan. You have as many as you can think of, and your work your ass off and hustle to make rent, but even when everything is going well, you always think about what you could do if (heaven-forbid) you lost your home. As hard as it can be for those whose lives are different to believe, that is reality for many of us.
Saying #FuckPlanB punishes and shames those who lack the class privilege to pursue their dreams without weaving their own safety net. Pursuing Plan A while slaving away at Plan B and Plan C is fucking admirable. It's responsible and should be celebrated. Working your ass off to support yourself and your family is a feat in itself; if you find time to write or create music or study after the baby's in bed and the dishes are done, even if you've got to be up for your Plan B job in less than 6 hours, you are my hero.
It is awesome if you're privileged enough to pursue your dreams full-throttle without working a day job or planning for another career in case you don't hit it big, but don't convince yourself that you're saying #FuckPlanB if you've got other ways of surviving if everything goes bust. If you're seriously going to #FuckPlanB without any kind of support system, please reconsider. There is NO SHAME in working hard to live NOW while laying the groundwork for your Plan A in your off-hours--- and there's also NO SHAME in getting a degree in accounting just in case you don't ever become a world-famous rock star.
And if you're sitting there feeling like you're doomed to never live your dreams because you aren't in a position to say #FuckPlanB, remember that we aren't all starting on the same playing field. Scrub toilets and work retail and take messages for your jerk of a boss as long as you have to, until you can responsibly go after that Plan A.
Remember that painting at night while working as a nurse during the day doesn't mean you're a nurse and NOT a painter. You're a painter who happens to make money as a nurse.
I've had many different jobs over the past ten years and I'm not ashamed to say that I'd head back to temping in an office if it was the only way I could pay my bills. Whether or not I spend my days taking photographs or wearing a twinset and answering the phone politely for someone else has no bearing on whether or not I'm an artist. I didn't magically become an artist two months ago when my Plan B job ended! I've always been one, and I will always be one even if I go back to running a merch empire or writing for a newspaper or planning parties to make a living.
So fuck people who tell you to #FuckPlanB--- or rather, have compassion for them that their worldview is so sheltered. It's not that black and white out here for the rest of us.
Love,
Beth
ps - For the tl;dr crowd, my dear friend Gabe said what I've taken hundreds of words to say in less than 144 characters: #fuckplanb is bourgeois nonsense; it really means "I can always move back to mama's". People who can't do that have more than one plan.
Second order of business: #FuckPlanB
I stared seeing responses to #FuckPlanB in my Twitter feed yesterday and at first assumed it was somehow related to legislation restricting the morning-after pill. When I read the hashtag feed, though, I discovered that #FuckPlanB is instead a rather-questionable life philosophy: focus all your efforts in achieving the thing you most want (Plan A) without wasting energy on a back-up plan (Plan B).
It sounds like a brilliant idea. I've heard it dozens of times, from well-meaning colleagues and friends who say things like, "If you have a Plan B that means you're planning to fail."
Getting into arguments about class privilege doesn't really engender the best relationships, so I've always quietly rolled my eyes and let it go. But as I see more and more people catching the "Fuck Plan B" fever, it feels irresponsible to let it go uncontested. So I won't.
"Fuck Plan B" is a steaming pile of privileged bullshit--- and it's DANGEROUS privileged bullshit, especially in this economy, to tell people to throw caution to the wind and forgo planning for the worst.
If you are literally living without any sort of Plan B, you're a fool. I guarantee you, most of the people who are gushing validation at each other all over Twitter for saying #FuckPlanB actually DO have safety nets. If their dreams go up in smoke, they will not starve.
"But I don't have a back-up plan for a BORING JOB in case my writing/singing/acting/brain surgery career doesn't work out! I am 100% Plan A!"
Awesome for you that you don't need to have a back-up plan to make money in case you aren't the next Gaga. But stop congratulating yourself long enough to think about what I'm about to say.
Plan B is only a less-than-satisfying job for the working class. If you're angry that I'm calling #FuckPlanB out on being bullshit, you probably have a different kind of Plan B, like parents who will bail you out if your dreams don't pan out. Or a healthy savings account that will keep a roof over your head if you don't hit all your goals. Or friends who have the means to save your ass when your reckless pursuit of Plan A puts you into debt. Those things are as much Plan B as a survival job is for the rest of us.
Has becoming homeless if you lost your job ever been a real concern for you? Do you find it hard to dream big when you're busting ass to afford groceries but you're still stuck deciding between milk and bread because you can't afford both? Is a jar of spare change your emergency fund, because one day that $20 might be the difference between you and disaster?
No? Then congratulations, you're privileged. There's no shame in being privileged; there is shame in drawing a line in the sand wherein those who quit their day jobs are to be celebrated and those who can't are chastised.
People who tell others "Fuck Plan B" don't live on the edge of homelessness, because those who do know that it's not enough to have one back up plan. You have as many as you can think of, and your work your ass off and hustle to make rent, but even when everything is going well, you always think about what you could do if (heaven-forbid) you lost your home. As hard as it can be for those whose lives are different to believe, that is reality for many of us.
Saying #FuckPlanB punishes and shames those who lack the class privilege to pursue their dreams without weaving their own safety net. Pursuing Plan A while slaving away at Plan B and Plan C is fucking admirable. It's responsible and should be celebrated. Working your ass off to support yourself and your family is a feat in itself; if you find time to write or create music or study after the baby's in bed and the dishes are done, even if you've got to be up for your Plan B job in less than 6 hours, you are my hero.
It is awesome if you're privileged enough to pursue your dreams full-throttle without working a day job or planning for another career in case you don't hit it big, but don't convince yourself that you're saying #FuckPlanB if you've got other ways of surviving if everything goes bust. If you're seriously going to #FuckPlanB without any kind of support system, please reconsider. There is NO SHAME in working hard to live NOW while laying the groundwork for your Plan A in your off-hours--- and there's also NO SHAME in getting a degree in accounting just in case you don't ever become a world-famous rock star.
And if you're sitting there feeling like you're doomed to never live your dreams because you aren't in a position to say #FuckPlanB, remember that we aren't all starting on the same playing field. Scrub toilets and work retail and take messages for your jerk of a boss as long as you have to, until you can responsibly go after that Plan A.
Remember that painting at night while working as a nurse during the day doesn't mean you're a nurse and NOT a painter. You're a painter who happens to make money as a nurse.
I've had many different jobs over the past ten years and I'm not ashamed to say that I'd head back to temping in an office if it was the only way I could pay my bills. Whether or not I spend my days taking photographs or wearing a twinset and answering the phone politely for someone else has no bearing on whether or not I'm an artist. I didn't magically become an artist two months ago when my Plan B job ended! I've always been one, and I will always be one even if I go back to running a merch empire or writing for a newspaper or planning parties to make a living.
So fuck people who tell you to #FuckPlanB--- or rather, have compassion for them that their worldview is so sheltered. It's not that black and white out here for the rest of us.
Love,
Beth
ps - For the tl;dr crowd, my dear friend Gabe said what I've taken hundreds of words to say in less than 144 characters: #fuckplanb is bourgeois nonsense; it really means "I can always move back to mama's". People who can't do that have more than one plan.