Rent Woes Issues

By: C. Harrison/Feb 17, 2015/ 1:35 AM

It never faze me to take the J-train to Brooklyn, and this particular afternoon was no different. I got off the train and was on my way to the A-train, when I ran into a couple of guys handing out a pamphlets-a book entitled “Rent Is Theft.”  Being a Journalist I am always on the lookout for a good story or lead, so naturally, I was curious. Walking seriously fast I quickly walk up to them and almost grab one pamphlet, of which I quickly shove it into my bag. And that was that until I picked it up and curiosity got the better of me, I kept reading and reading.

It was not to say, that what the author is saying was my first time hearing this kind of languages regarding Rent; because years ago we reported on these subject matters and on such landlords but, it was a piece of Brooklyn that was described Bushwick, in the pamphlet that fascinated me and with that lingo one could really gravitate to the author’s mind frame, thus get taken in. I am going to give you synopsis of what the authors and publishers are talking about and you decide if you want to read the book.

“The real estate of Brooklyn is set up to be a wealth extraction machine via rent. (well known verse) In other words, we’re all extorted by landowners for the right to live in our neighborhoods.”

“The average mortgage would run them (Brooklynites) between $3, 500- $4, 500/mo. Considering the generally accepted wisdom is to apply a third of your income to housing a luxury that most Brooklynites  are ill-compensated to afford, that means a salary of $126,000/yr after taxes at minimum.”

“So-called affordable housing, is usually a ploy to use city subsidies to flip a dilapidated property into a massive financial profit for developers.”

“The modern state is a compulsory association which organizes domination.”

“German sociologist, Max Weber, who described the State as a compulsory political organization with a centralized government that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.”

“The crisis of democracy: On the Government of Democracies.” In this report the group concludes that unrest in the United States and Western Europe in the 1960’s did not stem from racism and inequality but rather an “excess of democracy.”

You read it and draw your own conclusion.