You have no idea what you would do if you were poor until you are poor. And not intermittently poor or formerly not-poor, but born poor, expected to … - Tressie McMillan Cottom

Then, and only then, will you understand the relative value of a ridiculous status symbol to someone who intuits that they cannot afford to not have it.

But if I believe that I can become beautiful, I become an economic subject. My desire becomes a marker.

If I believe that I can become beautiful, I become an economic subject. My desire becomes a market.

Smart is only a construct of correspondence between one's abilities, one's environment, and one's moment in history. I am smart in the right way, in the right time, on the right end of globalization.