"Screw it, I'm going to go broke, but I'm pitching in $40 on behalf of your work too. I may only be about twice your ahe, but let me tell you as someone who is a teacher and has been an activist for a decade now, you'll never lose by questioning authoirty. It's a trait that will make you a more capable thinker, a more grounded, self-confident individual and an asset to future employers. Historically, people your age were considered adults and it's something to be proud of that you had the courage to make a decision based on principle. Always be appreciative of what your parents have done in raising you and show that in word and action, but you're also at the age where you must start finding your own voice. It's not like you're dropping out of school; you were being proactive about ensuring a better future for yourself -- a future you and your kids will have to face in a way your parents' generation never did. The climate crisis is only getting worse, the burden of student loans becoming unsustainable and the prospects of peace ever harder to achieve each time we rush into more and more wars of choice. Your parents may be able to ride out another banking crash, but our generation can't keep taking the hits to the deficit the recessions from these crashes cause, because we're the ones who will have to pay off the interest on the national debt. Your parents may be able to convince themselves that the mass incarceration of the African-American community is overblown or that the disparities in police treatment and sentencing are a myth, but we're the ones who've seen the videos and heard the cries of our brothers and sisters because of the access to information afforded us in the digital age. With that knowledge comes a sense of responsibility that the most human part of us tells us we must act on. And perhaps above all, we're the ones who are going to have to face a future where the oligarchy that exists not only becomes so powerful that we'll no longer be able to pretend it doesn't, but also becomes so oppressive that it's mechanisms for surveillance will no longer allow us to raise our voices and engage in non-violent civil disobedience like generations before us have to create change the change we need. Leadership is about principle and if it means that at your age, you're doing something without your parent's approval to make the world a better place, then you should be proud of yourself. I may only be about twice your age, but I for one commend you and am going to chip the same $40 GalacticSoap offered to do to convey that. In Solidarity.... -O."