Landlords are cops? I haven’t heard that one before. What does that mean?
Googling…wait, is this real? https://systemicjustice.org/article/landlords-as-cops/
I thought evictions took 30-90 days and required court approval in the US.
This is real. It’s also one reason why laws against gay sex were on the books in many states until finally overturned by the Supreme Court in 2003 in Lawrence v Texas. Sometimes police would use the laws directly, but more commonly since gay sex was considered a criminal activity, landlords would use it as an excuse to deny lgbt people housing or evict them.
Sociologist Matthew Desmond has an amazing book called Evicted that talks about criminal act evictions and profiles people who have been the target of them. The book follows very low income renters in Milwaukee through years of their struggles to find and keep housing. It also follows individual landlords from the same neighborhoods. It’s technically an academic subject and is impeccably researched (the notes section in the back could be its own book) but it reads like a novel. It won a Pulitzer iirc.
He also just published Poverty, By America last year. I’ve only just started it, but it’s just as readable. He explains overly-complicated regulations and social services red tape in a way that’s concise and easy to understand, and he illustrates their consequences through his interviews with real people. His books should be required reading for every American.
The global economy is the reason I can’t take civilization seriously, or even be on its side.
All I can do is appreciate the morbid gallows humor of it.
Billions of people self-flagellating on the false promises of a few thousand capitalist sociopath families. We were conquered by the modern contemporaries of the traveling snake oil salesmen of old. They’ve got most of the peasants so fucking snowed they don’t even have to run away to the next county after they poison you anymore 🤣
I feel like I do this alot, except it’s the Aztec Empire instead of capitalism.
FWIW I’m one of those people who would rather hear about Aztecs than today’s weather, so thank you.
Pre-Columbian American civilizations are incredibly interesting. It’s absurd how far they got without wheels, iron tools or animals like horses and cows. I guess I wouldn’t mind listening about the Aztecs constantly.
Mesoamerican fact of the day:
The wheel was actually known to Mesoamerica pre-European contact. Archeological finds included toys, food preparation tools, seal rollers, and spindle whorls for textile making.
I’m a history nerd and Mesoamerica is quality content.
Their secret was murdering their children to win the favour of their gods.
I do too, except it’s billionaires instead of capitalism.
I believe in capitalism, it just needs to be very tightly controlled and heavily skewed in favor of the disadvantaged to keep it fair.
Capitalism always exploits someone whether the bulk of the exploitation is within your country’s borders or not. Being perfectly comfortable within capitalism comes at the expense of someone else regardless of regulation.
One, I don’t believe it has to be that way. With enough taxes on the wealthy, regulation on commerce, and social programs for the poor, I think a system of fairness can be achieved.
Two, I don’t believe that communism of any form result in a sense of fairness for anyone. I believe most humans have an innate desire to work to improve their lives, and I don’t believe communism offers the same freedom and opportunities for self improvement through honest work that can be offered by tightly regulated capitalism in combination with strong social programs.
What would it be to have a market economy with private investments and also a system that ensures the tax system ensures everyone has at least basic housing and access to vocational schools and higher education? I don’t want to completely upend the system but tweak it so Kevin Griffin cries himself to sleep at night
Typical Lemmy experience
All my friends be like “hehe I’m a socialist” and then they never come out they room
