Discretion

discretion, noun

1 a: individual choice or judgment

left the decision to his discretion

b: power of free decision or latitude of choice within certain legal bounds

reached the age of discretion

2: the quality of having or showing discernment or good judgment : the quality of being discreet : CIRCUMSPECTION

especially : cautious reserve in speech

3: ability to make responsible decisions

4: the result of separating or distinguishing

- - Merriam Webster

 

I wanted to talk about discretionary income today so I thought I’d start by looking up discretion. It’s interesting to see how the meaning is rooted in having a choice.

• individual choice or judgement
• power of free decision or latitude of choice 

Back in the early days of the pandemic I wrote about the negative backlash against restaurant/hospitality workers who were able to receive unemployment benefits.

The Truth About Choice, Village Green/Town² May 19, 2020

And again, a year later:

Still Need More Voice for Choice, Village Green/Town², May 19, 2021

Essentially, unemployment benefits gave high-risk workers the choice to be able to use their discretion to decide whether to undertake the health risks associated with returning to work. And, guess what? People who made more money and had far more choice in their own lives decried that situation. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the current national frenzy of firings is directly connected to this. People in power saw lowly workers having a choice. Allowing those workers to be able to make their own decisions about their lives and livelihoods was inconvenient for them. That was not the balance of power they were used to.

Now we see impact of throwing thousands of civil servants out of work is moving outwards to affect government contractors as well. But that’s just the beginning. Those workers who have been able to earn a decent and stable income now must scramble to cover basic needs: food and shelter. Do you know what disappears for them?

Discretionary income. 

These folks have been supporting restaurants, school PTAs, the arts, area nonprofits, charitable organizations, hotels, air travel, retail businesses, taxi/ ride share businesses, tourism…

Then all the folks associated with those businesses are put at risk. Their hours are cut or they lose their jobs altogether. More people who are scrambling to cover basic needs.

There’s a discussion on the Columbia Reddit right now about what kind of business will fill the Joann slot in Columbia Crossing now that it is going out of business. My immediate thought was: what makes you think that anything will go in that space? Our community is being made economically vulnerable. Decisions in Washington are destroying careers, putting families in crisis, and taking away the ability to focus on anything more than basic needs.

More people with no choice. People who are desperate will accept lower wages, jobs with no benefits, longer hours, poor working conditions.

Expecting a new retail space as soon as the old one goes may now be unrealistic. You need discretionary spending to support that.

Who benefits? Certainly no one in our community. It’s pretty clear that the winners here are those who profit from having greater control over people who have no choice. 

Village Green/Town² Comments