Tag: poverty

Fair Housing

SUSTAINABLE PROPERTY TAX

Jumping up property tax just gets passed on to renters and doesn’t make a dent in conglomerate owner profits.  The article recommended below proposes limiting property tax directly to inflation to achieve “Affordable Housing”.  But this would have to be paired with a partner legislation that would limit rent increases to inflation as well.  In other words, the value of a property stays constant.  It does not increase if a new shopping center is built next door.  As most tenants will tell you, the quality of life if you have to live there drops dramatically.  First there is the years of daily construction noise.  Then you have more strangers invading into your neighborhood.  There is no peace and quiet.  Crime usually increases.  And for this the renter has to pay more.

So the proposal is that no matter what price the buyer pays, property tax would stay constant with inflation, and my proposal is that so would rent.

So when people find a place they can afford to live, they can keep living there.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Death and Dying

CULTURE OF DEATH – WHY MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR OTHERS WHEN DEATH IS SO MUCH EASIER

We live in a sick and twisted society where narcissism is rewarded and hard work and integrity are punished.  We no longer have community values, we have “What’s in it for me” values. As for the “Why should I care” question, this is what happens when the people who are the biggest weasels make it to the top and you become inconvenient to their goals.  The historic old-age pension plan of community life – the young are cared for by parents who are then cared for by their children when they grow old – does not exist as a societal norm in the 21st century. No, when you are old and inconvenient, we are not going to take our resources and help your life be better, we are simply going to make death the easiest choice. And package our greed and laziness in such a way that it doesn’t bother our conscience and makes you the bad guy if you object to be told to go die because you need help.

 

RECOMMENDED READING:

“Suicide Machine” That Lets You Experience Death Now Ready for the Public to Try

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.

RECOMMENDED READING (compare and contrast):

Low Tech Solutions

HOMES AND HAVENS

We can change the world.  If we make one person’s life better, we have made the world a better place.  Its the star fish principle.  The media doesn’t spotlight simple, practical solutions because the media wants hype and drama.  This is a drama-free solution, but what an amazing difference it would make to someone struggling to find meaning and value in their life.

Homes and Havens

Having a safe and restful sanctuary is critical to good mental and physical health.  Its a simple idea – go in and decorate a living space  for a person recovering from trauma so they feel like they have a home.  Homes and Haves describe the work they do as: “We partner with local ministries that are helping women overcome abuse, addiction, homelessness, sex trafficking, and incarceration by helping furnish and decorate their new living spaces after graduating local programs. We design each space to be therapeutic and healing.”  

A volunteer’s story of her experience  said she was expecting the usual dismal, bland furnishings that people usually give away for free.  Something so worn out it couldn’t be sold on e-bay.  Something with no value left so its given to charity.  But instead she found Homes and Haven were providing lightly used furnishings, and using quality, cheerful paint to fix them up. 

She found Homes and Haven operate on a principle all of us know: “The message: this furniture was to show women that they were worth something really nice.  Surroundings could boost their self-esteem. As a volunteer, I did not merely take something substandard and make it satisfactory. No, I actually helped to create something beautiful which these women so heartily deserve.”

I would love to see this happening in every community.

Read original story here.
Small Scale Solutions

LOCAL HEROES: SCHOOL DOES TAKE HOME MEALS

This is a brilliant example of Small Scale Solutions that we don’t see enough of.  Cultivate is a small, grass-roots non-profit organization that collects the unused food from the local school districts and local caterers and packages it into frozen food meals.

Frozen food for kids
Group takes left over food and makes frozen take home for kids

Some members of the community were concerned that while students got breakfast and lunch at school during the week, they often went hungry during the weekends.  So they did a simple thing – they solved the problem.  At their local level, at a size they could handle.  Its a small program – 20 students get a back pack with 8 frozen meals every Friday to take home.  No, it doesn’t solve world hunger.  But is solves the hunger of 20 local kids and their families.

Original story: School district turns unused cafeteria food into take-home meals for kids

Why aren’t we seeing more of these simple solutions?  Because programs that recycle perfectly prepared, healthy food is a conflict of interest to food manufacturers who get them shut down.

By keeping people focused on a global level, the process of solving world hunger is slow and ponderous and food distribution stays in the hands of manufacturers and politicians.

We need more local heroes.