[Noisebridge-discuss] [intellectual claptrap] Toward a theory of utilization

[Garrett Smith]

On 2/20/13, Tony Longshanks LeTigre <anthonyletigre at gmail.com> wrote:
> *Take things forcibly, but without violence? While hinging ostensibly
> *
>
>> * on the greater good?
>> --
>> Garrett
>> Twitter: @xkit
>> personx.tumblr.com*
>
>
> What I meant is that they may be taken & used by those who need them, if
> they are lying idle somewhere else, & it should not be viewed as violence.
> Especially if it's to fill a need, like shelter, warmth, hunger. There was
> a news clip a while back about blue painter's tape that was showing up on
> people's doors. The cops in the clip made it out to be a burglary threat.
> It caught my attention b/c I happen to know they got the motive wrong in
> that particular "crime" spree. I wondered what difference, if any, it would
> make to the TV-watching public if they thought people were sussing out the
> occupancy of their house not with the intention of breaking in & stealing
> things of potential value, but for shelter, a place to sleep.
>
This touches on an issue that is covered very well on a blog I found
recently: Veresapiens.
http://www.veresapiens.org/blog/category/thou-shalt-not-steal/

I agree with enough of what he says and find his way of thinking inspiring.

We need a home to keep stuff and have some privacy. Trying to get that
need met requires commitment and energy to an rigged, oppressive
system. It's not like I can go tear up an unused parking lot and build
an Earthship -- and that is something I want to do. I can't do that
for many reasons. #1 is I can't afford the land. #2, even if I could,
it still wouldn't really be mine, #3, Earthship does not meet building
codes and would be prevented by government.

My recurring dream is that I have my own house, growing food. Then I
wake to a freeway view; stuck with the reality of unaffordable rent,
no money, debt, and potential that I can't ever seem to reach.

I don't have an answer or solution to homelessness and housing
problems. I also know very little about real estate. But ISTM
generalized, centralized control (by government or banks) will
continue make the situation worse.

Now if we could have real property owners -- people, not banks -- then
they would mostly want to care for with vacant properties by
minimizing vandalism and maintenance.

Surely you've seen cases where tenants were driven out and the
property was vacated, then vandalized -- an eyesore! And to what
benefit to anyone?

ISTM that if property owners could contract more affordably with
occupants, the space could be maintained and they could get some
money. Maybe not the same controlled "market rate," but something
perhaps much lower; closer to a free market rate.

Such living contract could include such things tenant must keep the
place clean, deter vandals, mow the lawn, not party, etc. The occupant
would get a place to live out of the deal! If the red tape could be
mitigated, you could make a webapp out of that!

/** MPL, Open-source Idea, VoluntaryLiving.org */

| Welcome to VoluntaryLiving.org
| Where a home comes before red tape
|
| I am:
| [ ] a property owner
| [ ] a prospective tenant

Zip code: [_____]

> I've gotten quite a bit looser with my own material possessions (letting
> things come & go without attaching emotional significance) over the past
Good.

[...]

> We're raised to believe that taking things that don't belong to us is
> wrong, but I think we should also be taught that hoarding way more things
> than you need when other people's basic needs are unmet is wrong. I'm not
> categorically opposed to private property, things that are YOURS that
> others shouldn't take. I def still have a few things I'd be really sad to
> lose, so I secure those items or take them with me everywhere. They are
> things I use more or less every day, hence tools of a sort. (A computer is
> just a fancy tool.) There's nothing wrong with having tools, that's legit
> (although the sharing thing comes to mind here, too....does every person
> really need a full set of every kind of tool in every variation?)  I feel
> we (Americans in particular, though not exclusively) imbue our "stuff" w/
> far too much significance; "liberation" from that impulse is what I was
> describing.
>
Quality food, housing, and water are humans' most pressing needs. Our
water and food are poisoned and land is controlled.

> Maybe I'm just trying to find philosophical justification for self-serving
> criminal behavior. I hope not. The truth is probably complicated, as usual.
>
AISI, it is the system with corruption and money that complicates
things the most.

> Oh, one last thing re: houses & such—you don't "forcibly" enter, because
> The Door Was Already Open.
>
Stay safe and warm!
-- 
Garrett
Twitter: @xkit
personx.tumblr.com