kingston NY residents win rent DECREASE

[asher2789]

What strikes me the most about your posts, Asher, is that you're angry about your lot in life, and you've directed that anger toward "the system." I think it's misplaced. You want to use that violin icon? I think you should apply it to yourself - oh boo hoo, you didn't get a free college education. Well nobody else here did either, and many of us started where you started and managed to get a lot further.

I agree with some of your criticisms of the system. I think your proposed solutions don't really take into account the realities of the last 100 years of history. For example, the current inflation we are facing has nothing to do with corporate greed. It has to do with Congress injecting trillions of dollars into the economy in the form of covid relief payments with no strings and getting nothing productive in return for it. Economists warned that would cause inflation and nobody listened, and here we are.

I am not opposed to government stepping in and directly building some housing units. On the other hand, I think if you try to replace the entire private market by removing for-profit building, you're going to create more problems than you solve.

china doesnt have a homeless problem, depsite having way more people and less land the US. because they build housing for their people because it doesnt need to be profitable for them to do it.

the system is f***. my parents did EVERYTHING right. my dad is no longer alive, but my mom is on the verge of homelessness because her rent just went up 108% despite the fact she owns her own business (and has since the 80s with my father when he was live) she got hid hard by the recession and my fathers medical bills. they lost the house, and now my mom is at the whims of the almighty god capitalist market. shes worked her entire life, shes saved, it doesnt matter. THE SYSTEM ITSELF IS f*** AND THE ONLY REASON YOU CAN'T SEE IT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE WHO DOESN'T CARE UNTIL IT AFFECTS YOU SPECIFICALLY. regardless of who you vote for or how you identify. you specifically need to be f*** by the system to see that the system is f***. quite a privileged take if you ask me.

[daytripper]

What strikes me the most about your posts, Asher, is that you're angry about your lot in life, and you've directed that anger toward "the system." I think it's misplaced. You want to use that violin icon? I think you should apply it to yourself - oh boo hoo, you didn't get a free college education. Well nobody else here did either, and many of us started where you started and managed to get a lot further.

I agree with some of your criticisms of the system. I think your proposed solutions don't really take into account the realities of the last 100 years of history. For example, the current inflation we are facing has nothing to do with corporate greed. It has to do with Congress injecting trillions of dollars into the economy in the form of covid relief payments with no strings and getting nothing productive in return for it. Economists warned that would cause inflation and nobody listened, and here we are.

I am not opposed to government stepping in and directly building some housing units. On the other hand, I think if you try to replace the entire private market by removing for-profit building, you're going to create more problems than you solve.

china doesnt have a homeless problem, depsite having way more people and less land the US. because they build housing for their people because it doesnt need to be profitable for them to do it.

So why don't you move to China? If the USA is so horrible then leave.

[Mister Moose]

she got hid hard by the recession and my fathers medical bills. they lost the house, and now my mom is at the whims of the almighty god capitalist market. shes worked her entire life, shes saved, it doesnt matter. THE SYSTEM ITSELF IS f*** AND THE ONLY REASON YOU CAN'T SEE IT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE WHO DOESN'T CARE UNTIL IT AFFECTS YOU SPECIFICALLY. regardless of who you vote for or how you identify. you specifically need to be f*** by the system to see that the system is f***. quite a privileged take if you ask me.

I agree with you that the current medical system is a morass of corporate medicine, big pharma, and insurance companies. There are holes that some people fall through. It needs fixing.

Capitalism isn't perfect either. However it has provided the biggest lift for the most people over time. You want to condemn it because it isn't a universal success story. There is no universal success story.

You are living in a resort town complaining about the tough economics of running from your obligations and living in a resort town, and you might be the only one that doesn't see the unrealistic aspect of that.

You are not putting your career first. You are putting your winter sports first. Until that changes, you will likely not have a solid career and financial security.

Many people sacrifice financial security for their kids, or for a lifestyle, or to pursue a dream. They don't complain about it as much though, and I suspect they are happier with their choices.

[spanky]

I agree with you that the current medical system is a morass of corporate medicine, big pharma, and insurance companies. There are holes that some people fall through. It needs fixing.

Capitalism isn't perfect either. However it has provided the biggest lift for the most people over time. You want to condemn it because it isn't a universal success story. There is no universal success story.

You are living in a resort town complaining about the tough economics of running from your obligations and living in a resort town, and you might be the only one that doesn't see the unrealistic aspect of that.

You are not putting your career first. You are putting your winter sports first. Until that changes, you will likely not have a solid career and financial security.

Many people sacrifice financial security for their kids, or for a lifestyle, or to pursue a dream. They don't complain about it as much though, and I suspect they are happier with their choices.

POTY goes to Sec'y Moose! I only wish I had your patience to help asher see the light. But, I choose not to piss into the wind!

[easyrider16]

china doesnt have a homeless problem, depsite having way more people and less land the US. because they build housing for their people because it doesnt need to be profitable for them to do it.

While I agree that there is a homeless problem in the U.S., you should probably know that China has a very large for-profit housing construction market. In fact recently one of their large private developers, Evergrande Group, almost went belly up and China's government refused to bail them out. While China is nominally communist, it has largely adopted capitalism in many forms, and it is the capitalist aspects of its system that are producing the most economic opportunity (see e.g. Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, etc.).

Also, side note: the homelessness rate per 10k population is pretty much the same in China as it is in the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... population

the system is f***. my parents did EVERYTHING right. my dad is no longer alive, but my mom is on the verge of homelessness because her rent just went up 108% despite the fact she owns her own business (and has since the 80s with my father when he was live) she got hid hard by the recession and my fathers medical bills. they lost the house, and now my mom is at the whims of the almighty god capitalist market. shes worked her entire life, shes saved, it doesnt matter. THE SYSTEM ITSELF IS f*** AND THE ONLY REASON YOU CAN'T SEE IT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE WHO DOESN'T CARE UNTIL IT AFFECTS YOU SPECIFICALLY. regardless of who you vote for or how you identify. you specifically need to be f*** by the system to see that the system is f***. quite a privileged take if you ask me.

I think your characterization of me is off base. I get that there are gaps in the system and the U.S. could do a better job of addressing them. But you don't junk an entire system that works for most people because a certain percentage aren't well-served by it. The U.S. system does work for most people - median income per household is about $70k, which is well above the poverty line. The percentage of people who live below the poverty line is around 12% - too high for my liking, but not a number that suggests the system is a failure. I'd argue that the system needs tweaking, not scrapping.

I don't know the details of your parent's specific situation, and I grant you that it's possible to do everything right and still not be successful. But the kind of hybrid capitalist system that is prevalent among developed countries like the U.S. has improved life for all who live in those countries. Even the poor in the U.S. and Europe live a lot better than the poor in undeveloped countries. It would be foolish to scap such a system, especially when you can't offer a viable replacement.

[asher2789]

she got hid hard by the recession and my fathers medical bills. they lost the house, and now my mom is at the whims of the almighty god capitalist market. shes worked her entire life, shes saved, it doesnt matter. THE SYSTEM ITSELF IS f*** AND THE ONLY REASON YOU CAN'T SEE IT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE WHO DOESN'T CARE UNTIL IT AFFECTS YOU SPECIFICALLY. regardless of who you vote for or how you identify. you specifically need to be f*** by the system to see that the system is f***. quite a privileged take if you ask me.

I agree with you that the current medical system is a morass of corporate medicine, big pharma, and insurance companies. There are holes that some people fall through. It needs fixing.

Capitalism isn't perfect either. However it has provided the biggest lift for the most people over time. You want to condemn it because it isn't a universal success story. There is no universal success story.

You are living in a resort town complaining about the tough economics of running from your obligations and living in a resort town, and you might be the only one that doesn't see the unrealistic aspect of that.

You are not putting your career first. You are putting your winter sports first. Until that changes, you will likely not have a solid career and financial security.

Many people sacrifice financial security for their kids, or for a lifestyle, or to pursue a dream. They don't complain about it as much though, and I suspect they are happier with their choices.

you seem to think i dont have a professional job, and youre wrong. the problem is that ALL of the jobs around here dont pay enough compared to the overall cost of living. i am lucky, because i have cheap rent and a great landlord. so long as nothing changes in my landlords situation where he would need this apartment back, im set for a while. but the day i lose this apartment (if that day ever comes) will be the day i will likely be forced out of town. im fighting on behalf of all my friends who are struggling right now to make it work in this town, all working people, many of them FOR THE MOUNTAIN, while the guests of the mountain collectively spit in their faces, tell them to get "ReAl JoBs" and then have the f*** audacity to wonder why certain lifts dont run when they want them to or why there's no longer tickets the way it used to be or how there isn't a retail shop at every base lodge or why they have to wait a million years for other local professional services. its because people cant afford to live here, and then wealthy vacationers feel entitled to an exclusive resort town where the local workers are essentially excluded from having any sort of security or stability.

[asher2789]

china doesnt have a homeless problem, depsite having way more people and less land the US. because they build housing for their people because it doesnt need to be profitable for them to do it.

While I agree that there is a homeless problem in the U.S., you should probably know that China has a very large for-profit housing construction market. In fact recently one of their large private developers, Evergrande Group, almost went belly up and China's government refused to bail them out. While China is nominally communist, it has largely adopted capitalism in many forms, and it is the capitalist aspects of its system that are producing the most economic opportunity (see e.g. Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, etc.).

Also, side note: the homelessness rate per 10k population is pretty much the same in China as it is in the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_s ... population

the system is f***. my parents did EVERYTHING right. my dad is no longer alive, but my mom is on the verge of homelessness because her rent just went up 108% despite the fact she owns her own business (and has since the 80s with my father when he was live) she got hid hard by the recession and my fathers medical bills. they lost the house, and now my mom is at the whims of the almighty god capitalist market. shes worked her entire life, shes saved, it doesnt matter. THE SYSTEM ITSELF IS f*** AND THE ONLY REASON YOU CAN'T SEE IT IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A CONSERVATIVE WHO DOESN'T CARE UNTIL IT AFFECTS YOU SPECIFICALLY. regardless of who you vote for or how you identify. you specifically need to be f*** by the system to see that the system is f***. quite a privileged take if you ask me.

I think your characterization of me is off base. I get that there are gaps in the system and the U.S. could do a better job of addressing them. But you don't junk an entire system that works for most people because a certain percentage aren't well-served by it. The U.S. system does work for most people - median income per household is about $70k, which is well above the poverty line. The percentage of people who live below the poverty line is around 12% - too high for my liking, but not a number that suggests the system is a failure. I'd argue that the system needs tweaking, not scrapping.

I don't know the details of your parent's specific situation, and I grant you that it's possible to do everything right and still not be successful. But the kind of hybrid capitalist system that is prevalent among developed countries like the U.S. has improved life for all who live in those countries. Even the poor in the U.S. and Europe live a lot better than the poor in undeveloped countries. It would be foolish to scap such a system, especially when you can't offer a viable replacement.

the problem is capitalism itself, it requires endless profits and growth on a finite planet. every single problem we are facing from climate change to poverty is because of capitalism. liberals cannot seem to wrap their minds around the fact that the system cannot be reformed and must be overthrown. some conservatives get it, as they see some of the problems, but their solution is to double down on capitalism. so long as we have black trans woman fighter pilots all is good with liberals.

you say that the median income is 70k, which sounds about right (for the country, no way for VT), but you dont say how the price of everything has gotten completely out of control, especially housing, healthcare and higher education. those three categories far exceed normal inflation and wages have not remotely kept up. your pay can double but it means nothing if your expenses triple...

[easyrider16]

the problem is capitalism itself, it requires endless profits and growth on a finite planet.

I don't think that is a problem for two reasons. One, knowledge and technology can grow without taking additional natural resources, doing more with less, and that can fuel growth indefinitely. Two, as technology improves, we will be able to tap into resources of the universe outside our planet, and the universe is infinite.

every single problem we are facing from climate change to poverty is because of capitalism. liberals cannot seem to wrap their minds around the fact that the system cannot be reformed and must be overthrown. some conservatives get it, as they see some of the problems, but their solution is to double down on capitalism. so long as we have black trans woman fighter pilots all is good with liberals.

I disagree. Most of the problems we are facing are related to human greed and short-sighted selfishness. That's not an indictment on capitalism, which is just a system of organizing the economy. It's an indictment on human nature. Human nature is the real problem, and you won't fix that by swapping the economic system from capitalism to something else.

you say that the median income is 70k, which sounds about right, but you dont say how the price of everything has gotten completely out of control, especially housing, healthcare and higher education. those three categories far exceed normal inflation and wages have not remotely kept up. your pay can double but it means nothing if your expenses triple...

When have expenses tripled? For whom? This does not sound like our reality. I agree that housing, health care, and higher education are problematic in the U.S. It is not so in many other capitalist countries. The problem is not capitalism, it is how the U.S. implements and manages it.

I am not opposed to replacing capitalism if you can find something better. It's not a perfect system. But what do you offer that is better?

[asher2789]

What strikes me the most about your posts, Asher, is that you're angry about your lot in life, and you've directed that anger toward "the system." I think it's misplaced. You want to use that violin icon? I think you should apply it to yourself - oh boo hoo, you didn't get a free college education. Well nobody else here did either, and many of us started where you started and managed to get a lot further.

I agree with some of your criticisms of the system. I think your proposed solutions don't really take into account the realities of the last 100 years of history. For example, the current inflation we are facing has nothing to do with corporate greed. It has to do with Congress injecting trillions of dollars into the economy in the form of covid relief payments with no strings and getting nothing productive in return for it. Economists warned that would cause inflation and nobody listened, and here we are.

I am not opposed to government stepping in and directly building some housing units. On the other hand, I think if you try to replace the entire private market by removing for-profit building, you're going to create more problems than you solve.

china doesnt have a homeless problem, depsite having way more people and less land the US. because they build housing for their people because it doesnt need to be profitable for them to do it.

So why don't you move to China? If the USA is so horrible then leave.

i looked into immigrating the f*** outta here. i hate this far right wing conservative christian nutjob country hellbent on waging war around the world to protect american corporate interests. ive hated this country since the second iraq war or so, which happened when i was in the early years of highschool. couldnt go to college abroad because i had a sick parent. sick parent died while i was in college, i have no siblings, i cant just run off to another country and leave my mom here by herself.

outside of family obligations, have you ever looked into immigration standards for other countries? if i continue on the path i am on i might be able to get a sponsored visa in a couple years for new zealand, but its not likely as i believe i aged out of the program that i would of fallen under. i dont have any traceable ancestry to EU countries so i cant get a visa that way (i am of russian ancestry but my gay ass sure as hell is not moving there plus i have only one distant known relative there). most of the english speaking countries around the world have visas for people under 30 that are much easier to get than visas for people over 30, but again, the requirements are pretty onerous and you essentially have to be pretty well off in the country you are emigrating from.

you cant just leave, thats the problem. if i could start over in another country, even in my mid 30s, i would. i wouldnt need to worry about the tons of scam student loan and healthcare debt weighing me down and i would be able to work a job with worker protections (something that pretty much exists everywhere but the US), with fair pay, and not have my scam credit score (invented in 1989) preemptively make my decisions for me.

[Bubba]

the problem is capitalism itself, it requires endless profits and growth on a finite planet.

How Malthusian of you.

[asher2789]

the problem is capitalism itself, it requires endless profits and growth on a finite planet.

I don't think that is a problem for two reasons. One, knowledge and technology can grow without taking additional natural resources, doing more with less, and that can fuel growth indefinitely. Two, as technology improves, we will be able to tap into resources of the universe outside our planet, and the universe is infinite.

every single problem we are facing from climate change to poverty is because of capitalism. liberals cannot seem to wrap their minds around the fact that the system cannot be reformed and must be overthrown. some conservatives get it, as they see some of the problems, but their solution is to double down on capitalism. so long as we have black trans woman fighter pilots all is good with liberals.

I disagree. Most of the problems we are facing are related to human greed and short-sighted selfishness. That's not an indictment on capitalism, which is just a system of organizing the economy. It's an indictment on human nature. Human nature is the real problem, and you won't fix that by swapping the economic system from capitalism to something else.

you say that the median income is 70k, which sounds about right, but you dont say how the price of everything has gotten completely out of control, especially housing, healthcare and higher education. those three categories far exceed normal inflation and wages have not remotely kept up. your pay can double but it means nothing if your expenses triple...

When have expenses tripled? For whom? This does not sound like our reality. I agree that housing, health care, and higher education are problematic in the U.S. It is not so in many other capitalist countries. The problem is not capitalism, it is how the U.S. implements and manages it.

I am not opposed to replacing capitalism if you can find something better. It's not a perfect system. But what do you offer that is better?

the bolded part is magical thinking and thinly veiled billionaire dick sucking. daddy musk is gonna save us all on mars! man wasnt there a movie about billionaires saving the planet by mining a comet that was in collision course with earth instead of blowing it off course and then (spoiler alert) failing? starring leonardo dicaprio? this magical thinking is the same leap of faith one requires to believe in any of the major world religions. also besides being magical thinking its plain wrong from a physics standpoint, its simply impossible to not use more natural resources. you can't create things out of thin air. can you create more efficient things? sure. but not something out of nothing.

your points on human nature arent accurate either. human nature up until the agricultural age (the majority of human history) relied heavily upon cooperation. we are on the top of the food chain because we are a social species who learned from each other to create and use tools and make fire. with the introduction of agriculture came the introduction of bean counters, greed and by extension the divine right of kings to enforce it all, which in some form or another was "human nature" up until the enlightenment. during enlightenment capitalism was born, (over)throwing away the divine right of kings and establishing the beginning of liberal representative democracy. the leaders of the enlightenment thought that a form of government could be devised that had checks and balances to prevent corruption, selfishness and greed. but even in the structure of government they made sure to maintain class order and protect class interests (capital) of the upper class - look to the US senate here or the house of lords in england for example. and of course, our longstanding history in this country as seeing black people as less than - at one point, 3/5 of a white person. our very government structure is inherently flawed and designed intentionally this way to keep yesterdays landed gentry and todays billionaires in power.

the biggest problem with capital is that one must have capital to acquire more capital. there's an inherent flaw in the power dynamic, as labor will never be on remotely equal footing as capital, unless labor is strongly unified (see france currently for a lesson as they are collectively piling up garbage in front of their politicians houses in response to retirement reforms). that power dynamic is what makes capitalism inherently exploitative - those of us with the least amount of capital are forced to sell our bodies in one way or another, often in poor conditions. the second biggest problem is that capitalism encourages the big to eat the small, and establish monopolies or pseudo-monopolies of a few massive companies controlling their industries, across the entire economy. and with the size comes capital's ability to capture the government that "regulates" it. and therein is why i argue strongly that capitalism and the structure of our government are beyond reform. conservatives have one thing right - more regulation just leads to regulatory capture where the big companies can comply and lobby for onerous regulations that put the smaller companies out of business. unfortunately, at the same time, some regulations are necessary or our environment would be destroyed and what little labor rights we have gone.

as for inflation:
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for housing are 921.90% higher in 2023 versus 1967 (a $921,903.30 difference in value). oh, only 921.90% higher. way more than triple. nearly 10x!!!! thanks for all the gaslighting!
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for medical care are 5,296.61% higher in 2023 versus 1935 (a $52,966.13 difference in value). oh yeah, what is that, 52x inflation?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for college tuition and fees are 1,482.01% higher in 2023 versus 1977 (a $296,402.59 difference in value). oh good, only 14x inflation.

my math might be a bit wonky with the x but its waaaaaay more that 3x for the categories i specifically called out. im just a whiny entitled millennial complaining about how ive been scammed since i was a teenager by this country. there's nothing wrong and i should shut up and work harder.

i am for some form of libertarian socialism. i dont have all the answers, but capitalism due to its inherent flaws definitely aint it.

[asher2789]

the problem is capitalism itself, it requires endless profits and growth on a finite planet.

How Malthusian of you.

i dont advocate for population control or other forms of ecofascism except under a voluntary basis. for example, i have no intention of ever having kids. i would never take that away from someone else nor advocate that. i do know quite a few people who are refusing to have kids due to the multiple ongoing simultaneous crises that our political leaders around the world seem incapable of or impotent at addressing.

i dont think the decision will be up to humans - i do agree that if we overrun our bounds (which it appears we are in the process of doing) that nature will majorly correct us one way or another. my bet is on another far worse pandemic caused by a novel bacteria, virus or fungi introduced into the world again by melting permafrost, but world war sparked by climate change is also a possibility. maybe nuclear winter will bring record snowfalls!

[easyrider16]

I don't think you managed to understand anything I wrote. For example, you accuse me of billionaire dick sucking, but you don't seem to grasp that many of the science, tech, and space advances I am talking about have come from government sponsored programs, and may in the future.

You're not in a place right now where you're able to learn. You're angry and on your soap box, so I won't continue to try anymore.

[Bubba]

your points on human nature arent accurate either. human nature up until the agricultural age (the majority of human history) relied heavily upon cooperation. we are on the top of the food chain because we are a social species who learned from each other to create and use tools and make fire.

Are you seriously comparing early human societal development to the humans that developed from them? Yes, we are a social species (sometimes way too social - as in tribal) but we are also animals at the most basic level; animals that develop pecking orders, alpha behaviors, etc.

with the introduction of agriculture came the introduction of bean counters, greed and by extension the divine right of kings to enforce it all, which in some form or another was "human nature" up until the enlightenment. during enlightenment capitalism was born, (over)throwing away the divine right of kings and establishing the beginning of liberal representative democracy. the leaders of the enlightenment thought that a form of government could be devised that had checks and balances to prevent corruption, selfishness and greed. but even in the structure of government they made sure to maintain class order and protect class interests (capital) of the upper class - look to the US senate here or the house of lords in england for example. and of course, our longstanding history in this country as seeing black people as less than - at one point, 3/5 of a white person. our very government structure is inherently flawed and designed intentionally this way to keep yesterdays landed gentry and todays billionaires in power.

All of this is part of human development. Greed is human nature. Capitalism is merely the best system we humans have developed (so far) to improve the human condition. It is not perfect as humans are not perfect. We regulate capitalism to limit human greed.

Democracy as a concept developed out of the enlightenment but only really formed here in America as an experiment in self-government, and it is constantly evolving. As a form of government, it does not require the economic system we call capitalism; rather, a capitalist economy eventually requires some form of democracy to succeed and grow. Democracies are not perfect either but they do allow for course correction through the ballot box. Dictatorships have no such ability and eventually fall of their own weight and their inherent corruption.

[asher2789]

I don't think you managed to understand anything I wrote. For example, you accuse me of billionaire dick sucking, but you don't seem to grasp that many of the science, tech, and space advances I am talking about have come from government sponsored programs, and may in the future.

You're not in a place right now where you're able to learn. You're angry and on your soap box, so I won't continue to try anymore.

were not talking about the past when the space programs were government funded against the soviet competitors. we're talking about NOW, which is a mostly privatized system led by dick-rocket launching billionaires with space conquering ambitions. so yeah, billionaire dick suck is an appropriate criticism since you believe in the hopium that technology (built, funded and ran privately by billionaires) is going to save us.

and yeah, im angry and i have every right to be. the unchecked greed of previous generations f*** over current and future ones.