More About Garbage, and Affordable Housing

This post is building on my previous post.

"Happy New Year and How to Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis in Canada." If you haven't read it, please do.  If you read it before yesterday evening, please read it again as on Jan 5th I've added a preamble that clarifies my intentions with sharing the story.

I have to share something.  I have to share that this whole thing with how my property is being treated has been stressing the hell out of me, up until this morning.  Why? Because I have had a lifelong struggle with worrying too much about what other people think.  This experience has helped me work on that, so for that I am grateful.  Yes.  Grateful for the trash heap around my house.

You see, when the window was first broken and the trash started to pile up my first reaction was "Omg, we need to jump in and fix this right away."

"No." Said Brendan, "They signed a lease let them handle it."

I was resistant because I felt embarrassed.  And fearful that others would judge me for the condition of my property.

Aha, today I realized so what.  Our tenants wanted to lease our house and be treated like adults.  We gave them that opportunity.  I'm giving the opportunity to provide me with feedback and start a dialogue.  I hold positive thoughts that they will make good on this agreement, and if not, yes I agree with Brendan we should use the legal system to hold them accountable for any damages we may incur. 

We're not doing this to be jerks, it is called "tough love".  We just want our tenants to take responsibility.

You see, if this is happening, for whatever reason, it isn't just our tenants that need to take responsibility.  If we can't get them to do that, maybe there are bigger issues at play.  Is this happening because they don't know any better?  Then their families, and more mature members of their communities need to take responsibility.  Maybe other adults can step in and help us teach these people to become mature, responsible adults.

 Is this happening because they are feeling overworked, over expensed and broken down?  Then everyone as a society needs to take responsibility.  Yes even the rich people who I'm scared might pass by, see my house and think "tsk tsk, how terrible I would have cleaned up that house right away."  You know what, I've realized that that would have been the easier, more comfortable thing to do.  Now I'm glad I've let myself stay uncomfortable.

Maybe employers, investors, politicians, other landlords, everyone in positions of higher wealth and power need to take responsibility for the challenges being faced by our young people.  Because this hasn't just happened in my house, from what I've heard it is pretty common behaviour among tenants.  Maybe we all need to realize this is the generation that we're counting on to run the planet, to care for us in our old age.  If they can't even figure out how to take out their trash, or feel like it isn't their responsibility, or are mentally or physically unable to take responsibility, then we're in big trouble.

Maybe Monsanto needs to take responsibility for poisoning our food supply with Genetically Modified Organisms.  Maybe the producers of sugar, flour and factory farmed animal products need to take responsibility.  Because my suspicion is that the young people responsible for my trash are living on a cheap, low nutrient diet full of highly addictive substances.  Hey, young people - and everyone else - if you want to feel better, eat clean. Try a vegan diet free of flour, sugar and GMOs. I've been doing it since Jan 1 and I feel great.  And no, eating well doesn't have to be expensive.  Eating cheaply doesn't have to mean no nutrition, I think a lot of the world lives on lentils and rice.  Maybe in the future when Brendan and I get better at gardening we'll be able to provide our tenants with affordable food as well as housing.  Why not!

I'll end this post with what I've realized is the problem I have with the solution to Affordable Housing set out by the Killam guy I linked to in my last post.  I think this solution leans too much on government handouts.  Harvesting rent from tenants is something that is being done by the private sector for investment purposes, I'm not convinced it makes sense, as a long term or complete solution, to lean on government assistance for this kind of arrangement. 

You see, Killam guy,  I've personally known a lot of people who have had to struggle with low wages and high expenses, drug addiction and mental illness.  The brightest and shiniest souls I've met among these would do anything they could to stay off of assistance, though some have had to use it as a last resort.  By promoting assistance, there is a danger that you could be promoting dependence and saying maybe we need a class system where we accept that there are poor people who can't get their shit together so let's keep giving them handouts for long periods of time.  I am NOT by any means saying that there isn't a place for assistance, there absolutely is.  And we absolutely need to help those people who need it.  I'm just hopeful that it would only go to the people who really need it.  I would not want this kind of solution suggested by the Killam guy to be become the only way people could find affordable housing.  Because if and when the people who are on assistance, are ready to get off of assistance, where are they supposed to move to, if there is no other affordable housing?  Instead, my preference is that as a society, we figure out ways and systems to redistribute wealth in a way that would empower, encourage, and lift people up from despair, while still benefiting those who share.  It could be a start.  One day, maybe we could help figure out what everyone's strengths are, what they love to do, and help them create a decent lifestyle where they get to contribute to society doing what they love.

Speaking of mental illness, in an effort to eliminate the stigma surrounding it I'll admit right here that I have had a lifelong struggle with PTSD.  In the future I plan on blogging about how I've learned to cope with it, as I think this might be helpful to returning military people who have developed this condition.  Lol, it really is not our faults.

If housing was more affordable, people would have more money for healthy food, relaxation, and higher pursuits.  They would have a chance to build up savings.  They could buy their own homes.  Or, if they'd rather be renters than take on the burden of home ownership, we could ensure that they wouldn't have to worry about having a selection of affordable, nice places.  Can't we see how this would help all of us, as we grow a stronger economy?

There.  I feel even BETTER.  Now I love the garbage in my yard as it has taught me something and improved my philosophy.  And I hope my tenants feel better, I really do want to turn what at the outset could have just been another story of tenants being disrespectful, and landlords cleaning up a mess into a positive experience for all involved. 

Let's all watch Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein, I've posted this before but it is great.