Skip to content →

Evryone Posts

The Rich Cheat – Zoning Laws

Published January 16, 2022 by Rob

The Rich Cheat – Zoning Laws

We know that the majority of the very wealthy are very keen to keep that wealth going, for themselves and their descendants, even if they don’t actually need to be so wealthy.

A key form of storing that wealth (and removing it from the cyclical economy) is property. Often the family home is a key asset, because typically it won’t attract capital gains tax – it my home, not an investment!

So in many districts of the US, zoning laws are in place to make sure that only expensive, single family buildings can exist, even when multi-family buildings – apartment buildings of any size – would be economically viable. This is against the nature of free capitalism, and more akin to authoritarianism.

The American Prospect reports:

Exhibit A is exclusionary zoning, which outlaws the construction of duplexes, triplexes, and apartment buildings—housing that is more affordable for working-class families, many of them families of color—in affluent areas.

…In the 1970s, residents of Boston made national headlines for violently resisting school desegregation.

…Almost 50 years later, exclusion remains pervasive in the Boston area. In Wellesley, for example, which was home to the federal judge who ordered school desegregation, and where three-quarters of voters supported Joe Biden over Donald Trump in 2020, the population remains just 2.9 percent Black and 5.1 percent Hispanic. The median household income is $197,132.

…In the relatively diverse city of Cambridge (median household income of $103,154), for example, the zoning code states that the minimum lot size for multifamily housing is 900 square feet, while 15 miles away, in Weston (median household income of $207,702), the multifamily minimum lot size has been set at 240,000 square feet, some 267 times higher than Cambridge’s.

That’s 5.5 acres. There’s no logic behind such a rule.

The article cites other examples. Thankfully there is a chance that Biden can improve things, as the US slowly removes barriers to equality:

The House-passed version of the Build Back Better Act provides $1.75 billion for Unlocking Possibilities, a first-ever federal race-to-the-top program to provide incentives for states and localities to remove the exclusionary zoning policies that segregate Americans by race and class and make housing less affordable for everyone.

Comments closed

Different Punishments for the Rich

Published December 25, 2021 by Rob

You would need to be very disconnected with society to not notice how the rich (or simply being white in some countries) equates to lesser punishment for the same crimes.

Often the general narrative is that a rich person made a mistake and will learn their lesson, whereas a poor person has started down an unstoppable path of crime. Also, of course, the rich can afford better lawyers (as opposed to many poor folk not even having a lawyer), and awesome character references.

But it is rare to see these contrasts so blatantly extreme as this:

An American hedge-fund billionaire has surrendered 180 looted and illegally smuggled antiquities valued at $70m… The DA’s office said its inquiry found “compelling evidence” that the antiquities were stolen from 11 countries, and that at least 171 passed through traffickers before being bought by Steinhardt.

…“His pursuit of ‘new’ additions to showcase and sell knew no geographic or moral boundaries, as reflected in the sprawling underworld of antiquities traffickers, crime bosses, money launderers and tomb raiders he relied upon to expand his collection.”

…treasures include the Ercolano Fresco, which depicts an infant Hercules strangling a snake sent by Hera to slay him, which had been purchased from convicted antiquities traffickers for $650,000 in 1995, the year it had been looted from a Roman villa in the ruins of Herculaneum, near modern Naples. Today, it has been valued at $1m.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/07/us-billionaire-michael-steinhardt-surrenders-70m-dollars-stolen-art

Keep in mind that hedge fund billionaires don’t really work for their money, and are the biggest tax-dodgers around.

And the result? No charges, no conviction.

Whereas a poor person who received a stolen toaster would be convicted, and even jailed if they had priors.

Comments closed

Organized Theft and Inequality

Published November 27, 2021 by Rob

You know that when its people are rebelling against law and authority, empires are vulnerable.

This week a group of around 80 people planned a large-scale robbery of a Nordstrom store in Walnut Creek, California. Police arrested three, and one was armed with a gun.

They used 25 stolen cars to block access for police, and used pepper spray, physical violence and a knife on Nordstrom staff, getting away with $100K in loot.

This is also recently happened in pharmacies, cannabis dispensaries and jewelry stores.

Desperate, impoverished people committing crime is not unusual anywhere in the world. But when people mass organise to participate in violent crime, for a gain of only $1000 each, that is next level. That is in the direction of a rebellion.

Comments closed

Height and Sea Tax

Published September 27, 2021 by Rob

Simple concept.

If someone wants the superficial benefits of sea views or penthouse apartments – tax them!

All luxury should be taxed, because while it is desirable, it represents a disconnect, the meritocracy model has failed. Merit shouldn’t confer unfair advantages.

Comments closed

The Unalienable Right of a Home

Published September 14, 2021 by Rob

Somewhere to retreat to, when things go sideways.

The nest where your parents are, or were.

We all fuck up to some degree and want to crawl back into our hole.

That hole is home.

Prince Andrew has just done that. Hidden in a castle. Home.

We should all have that, but if we re-emerge, we pay.

Comments closed

Be Wary of Bias

Published July 18, 2021 by Rob

Fight the good fight but get your facts right as well!

The headline says:

People Working A Minimum Wage Job Can’t Afford Rent Anywhere In The U.S.

At local minimum wage rates, a worker would have to put in 79 hours a week, nearly two full-time jobs, to afford a modest one-bedroom rental, a report finds.

First off, the “can’t afford” is based on the concept that accommodation should never cost more than 30% of your income. As inequality shifts, this is no longer a reality – the 30% rule dates back 50 years.

Secondly, they only take into account the low income of minimum wage earners. In reality, the US is actually a quite socialist country, and the state contributes to low wage earners in numerous ways, from food stamps, to school meals, to tax credits to subsidised housing.

The study is based on minimum wage, not actual income. Many people on minimum wage receive tips, for example.

Thirdly, the study refers to “modest housing”.

The Housing Wage is based on HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), which are estimates of what a family moving today can expect to pay for a modest rental home, not what all renters are currently paying… The FMR is usually set at the 40th percentile of rents for typical homes
occupied by recent movers in an area.

40th percentile is high, and far from the cheapest available rental properties. Clearly 40% of people are paying less, however the standards might not qualify as “modest”.

And finally, it is based on people living alone. The reality is that a lot of Americans don’t leave home until their late-20s. Those that do tend to be in a relationship (shared rent costs), in college dorms, or sharing a house.

Inequality is terrible. The lowest paid are vastly underpaid. Housing is too expensive relative to income. These are inarguable.

But make sure you get the full facts when discussing this.

Comments closed

Ministry of Nutrition

Published May 25, 2021 by Rob

Ministry of Nutrition

Our government is indirectly responsible for feeding a lot of people:

  • aged care
  • school canteens
  • prisons
  • hospitals

That is a lot of food, and it often won’t be quality, nutritious, appealing, satisfying food. We know this for sure in aged care and hospitals. Schools will vary a lot, but in my experience they are still predominantly fast food but with some healthy options.

Most of this “government” food is provided by for-profit businesses (where to provide better food means lower profits) and/or outsourced to catering companies who will also put profits first.

Seeing as we are paying for this food already, and everyone deserves quality, nutritious, appealing, satisfying food, then I propose a government department or agency that looks after the food for these people, nationwide, directly. Their mandate is to prioritise quality, nutritious, appealing, satisfying food (and variety), and then provide it as efficiently as possible. Quite likely economies of scale would come into play. Quite possibly food could be purchased direct from the growers, with contracts.

There is another category of government food where the new department can take their clues from, or hire experts from – the armed forces.  That is where keeping the workers satisfied and healthy is a priority.

Some prisons (in Australia) seem to also feed their inmates well – with food that non-prisoners in aged care and hospital would love to have:

Cajun chicken on couscous, coconut beef, lamb kofta and Thai beef noodle salad are among some of the dinner menu items on offer at Canberra’s jail.

…While some days feature more boring staples like mac and cheese or corned silverside, other days offer somewhat more exotic dishes like “jerked chicken”, zucchini fritters or ratatouille and grilled haloumi.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-20/what-canberra-prisoners-are-eating-in-jail/9677592

In the USA, based on this official menu, the food is as bad as movies/tv tell us it is. Very cheap, and primarily carbs and sugar, with some token veggies and the cheapest, formed meat. Presumably the caterers profit well.

We can learn from Australia’s prison menus and apply it globally. Also, I recognise that in some prisons the inmates are involved in the food service, and that should remain.

In Australia we also have the CSIRO who do great work – rope them in as well. 

While we are at it, the same agency can provide absolute basic staples (rice, flour, sugar, tinned tomatoes etc) to anyone at cost or below cost price, along with free nutrition and cooking classes.

Comments closed