"It’s Time for Major Wealth Redistribution — Yes, I Mean It."

[Toni]

Oh jeez. Why is the only alternative to today’s unregulated capitalistic violence, Bolshevism? Give me a fucking break. We’re we fucking commies in 1956? Do you think Eisenhower, a Republican President, was a Bolshevik? Seriously, are you that obtuse?

1. Today's capitalism, including in the US, is far from "unregulated". And what's this nonsense about "violence"? Are you escalating on crass hyperbole from the Camp? "Theft", now "violence" ... give it a rest!
2. No, it is obviously not the only alternative. But Camp's ramblings about government taking away people's stuff because it is "a better arrangement" do remind me of Comrade Yelkin and Comrade Kaprugina.
3. What does 1956 have to do with anything?

I’m vacationing in a nice vacation rental cottage on a nice lakeshore. We’ve been come up for a week or so almost every year for the past 14-15 years, which is when I dragged my husband up here abd he saw the benefits.

This area relies heavily on tourist dollars. Other industries have largely played out. Environmental regulations plus increased costs in extracting or harvesting/processing natural resources has resulted in loss of many well paying jobs about 50-60 years ago. This part of the country is…not easy to live in during the long, cold winters. On the plus side, it is beautiful, heavily forested with lots of lakes and fishing, boating, etc. anyway, we love it but I also know that at this stage of my life, I’m not fit enough to adjust to the harsh winters. So we visit when we can.

It used to be that every summer, we would pass a dozen or more real estate signs for modest/tiny cabins…and we’d talk about whether we could afford to buy a summer place and the ethics of doing that. I’d look at the listing, figure we might be able to swing the purchase but no idea how much a new septic tank would cost, not to mention just updating electrical without making it ‘to our taste’ and needs. We’re talking very basic old family cabins and cottages.

Covid hit. Thousands of people seeking to escape crowded urban areas flocked to this and other vacation hot spots. So did property developers for vacation rental outfits. Mostly from out of state, at least a thousand miles away. I’m typing this from a very nice little cottage: 2 bed/2 bath, nice but not fancy kitchen, lakeside. Modest living area. Baths are modern but not fancy. Zillow tells me this place would list for well over $1M.

We will never be able to afford anything up here, which is no tragedy. For us.

But we decided to have lunch today at a favorite spot. Closed on Tuesday’s, which it never used to be. Drive miles to another favorite lunch spot attached to a camping/outfitter place. No lunch. They are closed Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch due to labor shortage. Labor shortage due to housing shortage. Several long time businesses no longer in business because it’s too hard to find labor.

Rich people are buying up all of the property they can, making them cabin chic fancy to rent to out of towners like us—and have priced all the locals who might take jobs in food service completely out if the region.

People here are mostly just interested in living simple lives. They enjoy the outdoors abd the freedom it affords them. They don’t need fancy….anything. But they are being priced out of all housing for the profit of already rich people living thousands of miles away. And o wonder how long this vacation rental industry will last. Locals clean/maintain property between guests but they need to live….somewhere…

 

[southernhybrid]

Oh jeez. Why is the only alternative to today’s unregulated capitalistic violence, Bolshevism? Give me a fucking break. We’re we fucking commies in 1956? Do you think Eisenhower, a Republican President, was a Bolshevik? Seriously, are you that obtuse?

1. Today's capitalism, including in the US, is far from "unregulated". And what's this nonsense about "violence"? Are you escalating on crass hyperbole from the Camp? "Theft", now "violence" ... give it a rest!
2. No, it is obviously not the only alternative. But Camp's ramblings about government taking away people's stuff because it is "a better arrangement" do remind me of Comrade Yelkin and Comrade Kaprugina.
3. What does 1956 have to do with anything?

I’m vacationing in a nice vacation rental cottage on a nice lakeshore. We’ve been come up for a week or so almost every year for the past 14-15 years, which is when I dragged my husband up here abd he saw the benefits.

This area relies heavily on tourist dollars. Other industries have largely played out. Environmental regulations plus increased costs in extracting or harvesting/processing natural resources has resulted in loss of many well paying jobs about 50-60 years ago. This part of the country is…not easy to live in during the long, cold winters. On the plus side, it is beautiful, heavily forested with lots of lakes and fishing, boating, etc. anyway, we love it but I also know that at this stage of my life, I’m not fit enough to adjust to the harsh winters. So we visit when we can.

It used to be that every summer, we would pass a dozen or more real estate signs for modest/tiny cabins…and we’d talk about whether we could afford to buy a summer place and the ethics of doing that. I’d look at the listing, figure we might be able to swing the purchase but no idea how much a new septic tank would cost, not to mention just updating electrical without making it ‘to our taste’ and needs. We’re talking very basic old family cabins and cottages.

Covid hit. Thousands of people seeking to escape crowded urban areas flocked to this and other vacation hot spots. So did property developers for vacation rental outfits. Mostly from out of state, at least a thousand miles away. I’m typing this from a very nice little cottage: 2 bed/2 bath, nice but not fancy kitchen, lakeside. Modest living area. Baths are modern but not fancy. Zillow tells me this place would list for well over $1M.

We will never be able to afford anything up here, which is no tragedy. For us.

But we decided to have lunch today at a favorite spot. Closed on Tuesday’s, which it never used to be. Drive miles to another favorite lunch spot attached to a camping/outfitter place. No lunch. They are closed Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch due to labor shortage. Labor shortage due to housing shortage. Several long time businesses no longer in business because it’s too hard to find labor.

Rich people are buying up all of the property they can, making them cabin chic fancy to rent to out of towners like us—and have priced all the locals who might take jobs in food service completely out if the region.

People here are mostly just interested in living simple lives. They enjoy the outdoors abd the freedom it affords them. They don’t need fancy….anything. But they are being priced out of all housing for the profit of already rich people living thousands of miles away. And o wonder how long this vacation rental industry will last. Locals clean/maintain property between guests but they need to live….somewhere…

This seems to be happening most everywhere, at least in the US. I looked at a zip code near where my son lives, as I often consider that we should move closer to him and the grandkids as we get closer to the end. About 70% of the homes in that zip code have been purchased by investors. Sometimes it's probably a single person who is just looking for one rental, but there is lots of data that condos and smaller homes have been bought up by large investment companies to be rented out, making it more difficult for people who want an affordable home to find one.

In ATL, large apartment complexes have been purchased by large investment companies, mostly out of state, then they refuse to keep up the properties, leaving renters with homes full of mold, heat and air that doesn't always work, leaking plumbing etc. The AJC has done several investigations on this issue, so there is a lot of truth in how the ultra wealthy have "stolen" from the poor and lower middle classes. These greedy investors don't give a shit about anything but increasing their own wealth, which always begs the question: How much fucking money/assets does one need, when there is poverty and lower middle class people struggling for survival all around you?

And, there aren't just worker shortages in tourist places, there are worker shortages in large cities because many of them have become far too expensive for the type of worker that doesn't make a very high wage. I live in a fairly affordable small city, but even here, it's becoming difficult for a lot of people to afford to live comfortably. Just about every store and restaurant has a "Help Wanted" sign on the door. It often appears as if most of the employees are students or older adults who are supplementing their SS, now that pensions are almost a thing of the past. SS was supposedly set up to supplement pensions, but it's mostly only government that still has pensions and who knows how long that will continue? If the so called wealthiest country in the world causes its citizens to struggle like this, one can only imagine how people in the poorest countries must do to exist. No. I've read enough about that. It's heartbreaking.

 

[Gospel]

God should resurrect Franklin D. Roosevelt so he can come up with something pivotal and equvilant to the FHA and address today's housing issues. He'd probably say

"In today's world, it is troubling to witness the persistent challenges in the housing market. As it stands, the widening gap between real estate prices and average income is a pressing concern. As we did with the New Deal, we must once again stand up for the less fortunate, those for whom the American dream seems to drift further out of reach each day."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

and get booed off stage amidst cries of "that's old news!".

 

[bilby]

God should resurrect Franklin D. Roosevelt

Waste of time; The old guy couldn't even walk across a stage, so he's clearly unfit for the office of president.

 

[ZiprHead]

God should resurrect Franklin D. Roosevelt

Waste of time; The old guy couldn't even walk across a stage, so he's clearly unfit for the office of president.

Too soon.

 

[Toni]

Oh jeez. Why is the only alternative to today’s unregulated capitalistic violence, Bolshevism? Give me a fucking break. We’re we fucking commies in 1956? Do you think Eisenhower, a Republican President, was a Bolshevik? Seriously, are you that obtuse?

1. Today's capitalism, including in the US, is far from "unregulated". And what's this nonsense about "violence"? Are you escalating on crass hyperbole from the Camp? "Theft", now "violence" ... give it a rest!
2. No, it is obviously not the only alternative. But Camp's ramblings about government taking away people's stuff because it is "a better arrangement" do remind me of Comrade Yelkin and Comrade Kaprugina.
3. What does 1956 have to do with anything?

I’m vacationing in a nice vacation rental cottage on a nice lakeshore. We’ve been come up for a week or so almost every year for the past 14-15 years, which is when I dragged my husband up here abd he saw the benefits.

This area relies heavily on tourist dollars. Other industries have largely played out. Environmental regulations plus increased costs in extracting or harvesting/processing natural resources has resulted in loss of many well paying jobs about 50-60 years ago. This part of the country is…not easy to live in during the long, cold winters. On the plus side, it is beautiful, heavily forested with lots of lakes and fishing, boating, etc. anyway, we love it but I also know that at this stage of my life, I’m not fit enough to adjust to the harsh winters. So we visit when we can.

It used to be that every summer, we would pass a dozen or more real estate signs for modest/tiny cabins…and we’d talk about whether we could afford to buy a summer place and the ethics of doing that. I’d look at the listing, figure we might be able to swing the purchase but no idea how much a new septic tank would cost, not to mention just updating electrical without making it ‘to our taste’ and needs. We’re talking very basic old family cabins and cottages.

Covid hit. Thousands of people seeking to escape crowded urban areas flocked to this and other vacation hot spots. So did property developers for vacation rental outfits. Mostly from out of state, at least a thousand miles away. I’m typing this from a very nice little cottage: 2 bed/2 bath, nice but not fancy kitchen, lakeside. Modest living area. Baths are modern but not fancy. Zillow tells me this place would list for well over $1M.

We will never be able to afford anything up here, which is no tragedy. For us.

But we decided to have lunch today at a favorite spot. Closed on Tuesday’s, which it never used to be. Drive miles to another favorite lunch spot attached to a camping/outfitter place. No lunch. They are closed Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch due to labor shortage. Labor shortage due to housing shortage. Several long time businesses no longer in business because it’s too hard to find labor.

Rich people are buying up all of the property they can, making them cabin chic fancy to rent to out of towners like us—and have priced all the locals who might take jobs in food service completely out if the region.

People here are mostly just interested in living simple lives. They enjoy the outdoors abd the freedom it affords them. They don’t need fancy….anything. But they are being priced out of all housing for the profit of already rich people living thousands of miles away. And o wonder how long this vacation rental industry will last. Locals clean/maintain property between guests but they need to live….somewhere…

This seems to be happening most everywhere, at least in the US. I looked at a zip code near where my son lives, as I often consider that we should move closer to him and the grandkids as we get closer to the end. About 70% of the homes in that zip code have been purchased by investors. Sometimes it's probably a single person who is just looking for one rental, but there is lots of data that condos and smaller homes have been bought up by large investment companies to be rented out, making it more difficult for people who want an affordable home to find one.

In ATL, large apartment complexes have been purchased by large investment companies, mostly out of state, then they refuse to keep up the properties, leaving renters with homes full of mold, heat and air that doesn't always work, leaking plumbing etc. The AJC has done several investigations on this issue, so there is a lot of truth in how the ultra wealthy have "stolen" from the poor and lower middle classes. These greedy investors don't give a shit about anything but increasing their own wealth, which always begs the question: How much fucking money/assets does one need, when there is poverty and lower middle class people struggling for survival all around you?

And, there aren't just worker shortages in tourist places, there are worker shortages in large cities because many of them have become far too expensive for the type of worker that doesn't make a very high wage. I live in a fairly affordable small city, but even here, it's becoming difficult for a lot of people to afford to live comfortably. Just about every store and restaurant has a "Help Wanted" sign on the door. It often appears as if most of the employees are students or older adults who are supplementing their SS, now that pensions are almost a thing of the past. SS was supposedly set up to supplement pensions, but it's mostly only government that still has pensions and who knows how long that will continue? If the so called wealthiest country in the world causes its citizens to struggle like this, one can only imagine how people in the poorest countries must do to exist. No. I've read enough about that. It's heartbreaking.

Yes, there is a labor shortage nation wide. Partially because small businesses struggle to pay living wages and partially because of the cost of housing.

Daily I see people begging for leads on an apartment that will accept them, often with kids and 2-3 dogs, so at least 3 bedrooms that will also accept housing vouchers and costing less than…. $1200. Sometimes as low as $800. Which I understand but the last time I paid rent was in 1986 and then it was $750/month for a small 3 bed 1 bath home.

Our town is very working class but also a college town. Many older homes near the center of town—which is very walkable—have been converted to student housing which will house 5-10 students/house divided into ‘apartments’ at at least $1200/person.

If I had the money, I’d start buying these up and re-convert them to single family or duplex units, rent to own. Get families with kids into places with enough room for them to be comfortable. At least some would take rental vouchers because there’s a huge need for that.

 

[Derec]

Yes, there is a labor shortage nation wide. Partially because small businesses struggle to pay living wages and partially because of the cost of housing.

You'd think housing cost would motivate people to work more, not less.

Daily I see people begging for leads on an apartment that will accept them, often with kids and 2-3 dogs, so at least 3 bedrooms that will also accept housing vouchers and costing less than…. $1200. Sometimes as low as $800.

LMAO. Unrealistic expectations to the max.

Our town is very working class but also a college town. Many older homes near the center of town—which is very walkable—have been converted to student housing which will house 5-10 students/house divided into ‘apartments’ at at least $1200/person.

Seems like a rational use of resources. Students desire housing near campus. They often have no cars, and even if they do, parking on campus can be expensive.

If I had the money, I’d start buying these up and re-convert them to single family or duplex units, rent to own. Get families with kids into places with enough room for them to be comfortable. At least some would take rental vouchers because there’s a huge need for that.

Why exactly? What do you have against students? Most families will not have a particular need or even desire to live walkable to the college campus, but students do. So why deny them that housing only to push families into it? Besides, houses further out from center probably have (bigger) yards which is nice for the children and 2-3 dogs. It seems that Wealthy Toni would disrupt the local housing market away from the local optimum it seems to have settled in.