--- Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
> Sandy Harris wrote:
> > Charles Brown <charlesb at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us>
> wrote:
> >
> >> http://danforr.org/
> >>
> >> DEMAND A MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES, EVICTIONS &
> UTILITY SHUTOFFS NOW!
> >>
> > What is an unpaid landlord or utility company
> supposed to do?
> >
>
> The glorious discipline of the market, yes?
>
[WS:] You did not answer her question - or rather dimissed her by your wisecrack. Indeed, what are those unpaid people supposed to do? Nobody forced the soon to be delinquent borrowers to incur debt, mortgage their homes, etc. They chose to do it voluntarily, hoping to benefit from "the market." So why would their interests prevail over those of other players in the market?
I feel sorry for people who may lose their homes, but let's not forget that many of those people decided to gamble with their homes on the market i.e. refinancing or buying beyond their means in the hope to gain windfal profits from the increase of market value. Furthermore, home ownership is not only about housing, but also, and perhpas more so about investment and profits. It is possible to separate the two e.g. by living in a housing cooperative (as I have done) - but many Americans choose not to do it, as they are enamored with the markets.*)
So I do not understand why one should side with one type of investors (home buyers) over other type (mortgage companies and landlords). I think this offers an excellent oportunity to finally expose the myth of individual home ownership as one of th emost fundamental legitimating myths of US capitalism. It is all about investment when the market is high, but suddenly it becomes all about the homes when the market crashes.
An alternative would be housing without the profit motive and the market, as many countries have done (cf. housing cooperatives.) That would protect many ordinary people from the dangers of becoming homeless if the market crashes - and would also alow to use their feed from home mortgage resources to proper investment in the stock market.
*) I recently had a series of conversations with a young couple - very bright, educated and progressive people - looking for a place to live. Most of thehousing in the DC area is well beyond their means, and I repeatedly suggested housing coop as an alternative. They did not like the idea because, as they told me, they like idea of making money on their house. When I explained that they can make more money by living in a co-op at approximately $500-600 a month and using the difference between this the mortgage payments for a $450k house (about $2k-$2.5k) to invest in the stox and thus make more money at a lower risk - they remained unconvinced. Individual home ownership, the founding myth of the "Amercian dream," has a strong grip even on bright and progressive minds.
Wojtek
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