Month: May 2021

Fair Housing

FAIR HOUSING – CANADIAN MULTIMAT VILLAGE PROJECT

A local project proposed to house all of Vancouver’s homeless – sounds amazing, almost too good to be true.  Maybe it is.  I haven’t looked into it in the depth I normally do, so I don’t know if the guy behind it is legit or not.  I am not recommending the GoFundMe project by posting this blog, I am recommending that you look into it.  And I am posting this blog because the idea behind it is a darn good one. I really hope this is legit, and I very much hope for all those who need affordable housing anywhere that you get a hand up, not a hand out.

While I am not a fan of shrinking living space, this 2br/2ba free standing home would be a huge improvement over my current cramped 1br/1ba I share with my husband.  The kitchen is about the same size but the model has its own washing machine and dryer, while I currently have to do my laundry in shared unit in the basement of the apartment building.  While some apartments have their own w/d, our unit does not.  The apartment I live in is not ideal, but there was a 2 year waiting list for most apartments in the area and only 2 of the dozens we called bothered to called up back when we were looking.

Fair Housing

FAIR HOUSING – HUMAN NEED VS. HUMAN RIGHTS

Food, shelter, and safety – these are the three most fundamental human needs.  If these needs are not met, everything else becomes irrelevant.  Thus, historically, the only times humanity has been able to make social advances is in times of plenty.  We are currently in an unusual time where abundance is being deliberately destroyed and the middle class is being forced back into serfdom by the rich.  A primary Sumptuary Tax is the ability to own a house, especially a house with land.

This was a really cool YouTube video I came across on a German company that built a 3D printed house.  Yup, that’s right – a 3D printer can now build a house with a little bit of highly skilled human help.

In 2020/2021, people who were formerly trapped in a cycle of paying exorbitant rent for lousy apartments have lost even that.  Tent cities in Vancouver are not immigrants. Mainstream media does not like to show people who used to own their own businesses or worked full time jobs who have lost everything.  Many people who still have a roof over their heads are in constant fear of losing it  and ending up on the streets.  Many homeless people have jobs, some even work two jobs, but still cannot afford the high cost of rent.  Then you have retired individuals, the elderly, and those that require assisted living who require a place to live as well.

We do not need a “basic income” if that level of welfare still does not cover food and rent.  What we need is less welfare and more jobs, and place the emphasis less on handouts and more on clean, safe, quiet AFFORDABLE housing.  Human rights require a hand up, not a hand out.

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