People often buy books like this for the coffee table and don’t bother to read them unless they’re taking a class and it’s a textbook. It doesn’t read like a text book but has some interesting text that applies to the world societies we live in today, and I don’t mean just about art. One interesting item I found happened in the Early Chou Dynasty, c. 1100 b.c.-256 b.c. During the warring states period of 403-221.
“The rich began to gather huge landholdings, forcing the poor to become landless tenants. As warfare among the states increased, taxes rose to unbearable heights of 50% or more; many tenant farmers owing more than they could produce escaped to join indigent, non-productive, and disruptive elements. (p. 42).
Homeless camps can be seen not only in America, other countries around the world too are suffering this growing crisis.
There is a long list of blames for the reason these encampments are seen in basically every city. It began with the opioid crisis and bad tenants, soft government and the tanking values of commercial properties sending investors into the residential markets. With the growing number of short term rentals catering to tourism and nomad workers, such as those who can work from home or anywhere, has contributed tremendously to this crisis. As I travel around my own metro area and witness the growing suburban landscape stretching out beyond the farthest suburbs, Urban Sprawl. I notice the mega apartment buildings, townhome communities and new neighborhoods of single family homes all have one thing in common for these new home owners, Home Owner Associations, (HOA’s)
All HOA’s charges each family a monthly fee on top of their mortgage payments. This fee can be low or high and is often increased over time. Most people are convinced these HOA’s are in place to protect the homeowner’s home values and keep the neighborhood nice, but they’re really dictating conformity and ousting diversity and individualism. I lived in a coop and we too had rules to prevent problems, the rules were simple and made sense. Though we were all renters at the time we tenants were allowed to plant gardens front and back, allow our visitors to park in front on the street or in our driveway or a designated spot in a lot, and we were allowed to paint our property in colors of our own choosing, etc. HOA’s dictate everything you do and I find them extremely intrusive. HOA’s usually have a management company of sorts handling the money collected and leaving homeowners with next to nothing in return. In a coop, there too was a management company, but members also managed the properties and there was a process for complaints when another member broke the rules and disturbed other people. Everyone had a right to see the books, what is in the bank and what the money was spent on. We got whatever we were paying for. No one is allowed to impose on another neighbor their own “standards”, such as is a common thing in HOA’s. However too many people believe that the coop concept is communist!
A homeowners coop could easily offer affordable homeownership and eliminate the management company and all other middlemen. Coop members manage the properties themselves through various committees. They could eliminate the HOA fees but ask homeowners to pitch in or volunteer in the upkeep of common property, maybe require a small fee to keep in trust for expenses of common areas. Form workshops that offer classes on “do it yourself” home maintenance and more. Create community gardens that grow produce and anything else to benefit members. The ideas are endless.
What I see in HOA’s is a gimmick to keep home owners paying something to the landowners or developers for many years beyond their mortgages. Who actually owns these management companies, probably not the small business guy. Not all people are dissatisfied with their HOA, but the trend these days is moving toward normalizing these fees into our daily lives and as in nearly everything that starts out small and friendly, grows into a very large and dissatisfying beast. I can testify to that personally with all the small start up companies I have worked for in the past, as they grew and took on more people, they began chipping away at all the perks and benefits I had earned. They don’t appreciate you and all the work you’ve done and are still doing to contribute for their success. Remember, it’s Their success, not yours!
People say to vote for change, but we need to do more than vote. We can vote for anybody and nothing changes, but if we take to the streets that drives our messages into the skulls of the powers that be. They need us, we don’t need them! Maya Angelo said in her book, “The Heart of a Woman” a piece of advice her African husband told her before she set out to enter a building where there was a protest going on. He told her if things got scary not to trust the assistance of somebody of the middle class because they are scared of losing whatever they have, but to trust the somebody who looks like they don’t have anything to lose and color means nothing in these situations. She took his advice and was successful in entering that building unmolested.
Boycotting capitalism itself is a start as this system has grown into the disparity we are all becoming more familiar with today. Nothing is going to change unless everybody stops spending their money on new stuff. Unfortunately, we know that’s not going to happen.
Road Trip Minnesota 