Politics,
religion, family ideologies, etc... condition the minds of peoples everywhere
- so much that few can see that there are nearly limitless other possibilities.
One such possibility is sustainable homes. Not "low-income housing" as
politicians love to call it. Their rhetoric is empty, and true
sustainability is just not part of their vocabulary.
"Low income"
housing does not exist. Why? Because like all politically controlled boondoggles
it relies upon the robbing of Peter (you) to pay Paul (them). Much of
the low-income housing I've seen starts at about $150-175 K! This is low
income housing?! It is an illusion to think that prices are kept low by
government regulation. We pay, with high taxes, to provide housing "low"
enough for "poor" people to afford. In effect the price is actually
higher because they have robbed you of your own money which makes everything
you purchase, including your own home, that much more expensive.
Because
the free market no longer exists we have come to the illusion
that a government authority is the reason for low prices. But a free market
(competition) is the instrument that disallows artificially induced
low prices and actually produces low prices and a truly "wealthy"
society, with a higher degree of ethics than any government can produce
with its forced donation to others who dictate where such money shall
be spent if indeed it is ever spent on "the people" who really
"need" it.
If you are
forced, without consent (taxation), to pay to solve someone else's problem
then we have just limited ourself, and our income, to make the change
to a more sustainable life. If you choose to help others, that's
a different matter. Most people are generous and would be even more giving
if we had the 40 - 50% of our hard earned income back in our own wallets.
We are forced to "choose", generally between the lesser of two
evils. This is incrementalism, "creeping" control. So "slow"
(one generation at a time) that one scarcely notices.
Do you consider
yourself to be generous, without being coerced into it by a politician
or religious authority? Most people are, but we are led to "believe" the
opposite, so we are heavily taxed to "help those who cannot help themselves".
And what you are really supporting are thousands of
programs that you, most likely, would NEVER donate your money to. Religion/churches
(and family) used to be where those who were destitute, mentally or physically
unstable, etc... used to go for help. Not any more...
What if
you could build a house for under 50 grand? Would you be willing to put
in some sweat equity? What if you hired people to perform the most labor
intensive parts of building and it still came in under $100k?
This is the reality of sustainable homes. They just cost less...
If you are willing to put in some "sweatshop" labor...
to burn off some of those sticky buns and latte's, would it be worth it
to you to live debt free, or very little by comparison to the 30 or 40
year loans that most of us have?
You are
forced to con-form to political edicts that con-spire with special interest
groups to relieve you of every last penny you can possibly "give
up", without ousting them from office. They eat your livelihood alive.
They have you for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and they soak you
for that drink, smoke (whatever the substance) and gas.
You are
forced to pay "rent" on property you already purchased fair
and square from another person. This "rent" is commonly called
property tax. And they have devised every type of rhetoric, heavily laced
with fear, to make you "believe" what they say is "right".
And that you are too stupid to control your own property, so you must
pay them what they ask in order to build your little dream home. And they
will use your money any way they want, no matter what they originally
told you what it would be used for.
You are
forced to pay a political entity, commonly known as "the county",
for a PERMIT to do what you already have the right to do! They
require you to ASK PERMISSION to build something on your own property,
and then they will tell you whether what you build is ok or not. Why don't
we find this so outrageous that we dump these people from office immediately?!
You are
also forced to utilize another politically devised organization to INSPECT
what you have done, to make sure you con-form to their idea of what is
proper and correct to build on your own property.
You are
forced to build into your home certain extremely costly facilities, when
there are alternatives to the status quo. Sometimes even when alternatives
are allowed, they STILL require that you add the "infrastructure".
These things include a well, water-based toilets, a septic system, etc...
and all the accoutrements that go along with these provisions. In most
circumstances you cannot have a composting toilet, a solar toilet, or
any other such alternative, that won't suck your well dry.
Think of
all the things you are forced to do on your own property, even when you
are far away from "societies'" secret obsession: That you
con-form to (de-facto) "laws"... because I'm too afraid and
belittled to do anything about it. If I gotta do it, you gotta do it.
It's for our safety. It's for the common good. It's for our benefit. It's
better for resale of your property (let's not have anything "weird"
nearby that might affect my bottom line).
This is
the sickness that we endure... A society that segregates ourselves from
others that we find a bit "distrurbing" (non-conformist). Whether
that be a homeless person, a hunter, an alcohol/drug user, an alternative
home builder, ad nauseum. Some hide themselves behind "a great wall",
commonly known as a gated community, away from society and the great unwashed.
Whatever.... Fear is the engine that drives the status quo and your con-formity
to it.
The biggest
hindrance to "low income" housing resides in big white domes
that dot every state. They are politicians who, even if they originally
had good intentions, eventually bow to the cabal that wraps it's deadly
tentacles around your home, body and mind! Without the conditioning of
your mind, they are nothing but a fly on the wall that one needs to keep
swatting until they are less irritating!
They
(we... who allow them) are the reason we do not have low-income housing!
They are the reason we cannot afford the "American Dream"...
and the option of real, low cost sustainable homes ("Extreme Homes").
After all it is a very real threat to the status quo. It upsets the apple
cart in which every special interest is habituated and infected with worms
that no amount of spam-ware can eradicate.
Special
interest groups fund the chains that are wrapped around our ankles. These
invisible chains are incrementally increased, as we allow. The fines imposed
if you do not con-form are increased, as we allow, along with the fear
and intimidation that permiates our lives!
Who are
these people you ask? They are the concrete consortium, foundation folks,
developer demons, the inspector (gadgets), and especially lawyers, but
mostly they are the politicians we "elect". They are the real
threat to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! In effect, They
R Us, because we allow it!
Private
Property and Self Ownership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Obviously,
not everyone can go out and buy a little plot of land and begin from scratch...
but we can retrofit our homes... and we can affect the status
quo in our own town.
We can become
a force that city officials and "representatives" cannot ignore... by
holding them responsible.
* Hold them responsible for every infraction against your Rights. You
might want to read up on what your rights are, for "if
you don't know your rights, you don't have any" - Boston Tea
Party
* Hold them responsible for denying your right to purchase property in
a TRULY free market.
* Hold them responsible for the high cost of building a home, again due
to influence by groups that have much to gain by forcing you to adhere
to regulations that not only inhibit your ability to build, but increase
the costs significantly...mostly done in the name of "safety".
* Hold them responsible for the theft of your property, using eminent
domain, and handing it over to private, or public, businesses so that
they may prosper at your expense.
* Hold them responsible for stealing your money, via heavy taxation, and
giving it away to wealthy businesses (corporate welfare)...
Add all this together and you have corporate/government power base that
mocks you and your intelligence.
"You
are not capable... you need our help and our rules or you might get hurt.
You need to have a piece of paper that tells you it's ok to build a home
on your own property that you paid for with your hard-earned money, and
are paying heavily for the livilihood of the banker as well as all those
who con-spire to make you pay for their method of building homes too."
(cloaked in benign rhetoric, this is what they are telling you) That paper
costs a lot of money. And you will get in trouble and face the "wrath"...
for exerting your right to build whatever you want on your property, even
though you are not physically harming any other person or their property
and are willing to take responsibility for the consequences,
including serious injury or death.
Everyone
has the right to pay someone else build whatever one wants, if you don't
have the time, or want to take the risk. 'But no one has the right to
impose their will on other's who wish to take that risk. That is to deny
basic human rights... it is like denying the right to vote. The idea that
one can take away the right to build a home for one's own family (as they
see fit) is outrageous!
"Meanwhile
there is still some freedom left in the world... some of us believe that
without freedom a human being cannot become fully human, and that freedom
is therefore supremely valuable. Perhaps the forces that now menace freedom
are too strong to be resisted for long. It is still our duty to do whatever
we can to resist tthem." - Aldous Huxley, in Brave New World
Revisited, 1958
