Are you rich or poor?

[Audley Strange]

Actually Seth, it was the neo-conservatives in the U.K. that encouraged people to be home owners. In any real socialist society the state would own most of the housing and charge rents for it. We called them council houses. One of Thatcher's tactics in attempting to break the mass unions in the U.K. was to encourage working class people to buy their council homes at substantial discounts, which left them with mortgages (meaning long term strike action was all but abolished) and the government with less bills to pay for the upkeep and repair as landlords.

[Cunt]

So, Seth...are you interested in going partners on some hundred-dollar houses in Detroit?

You can't get me within 10 miles of Detroit without an up-armored Hummer and a couple of machine guns, so no thanks.

Besides, a hundred bucks is still overpriced in Detroit. They would need to pay ME about $50,000 per just to take it off their hands.

I was set to call bullshit on the hundred dollar houses. Thought to look first. Holy fuck.

Why are people not buying these, razing them, and leaving them empty lots until development makes sense? Maybe rent out the empty lots to golfers who want to work on their short game...

Why not buy one and give it to someone in the area who needs a home on the condition that they stream 24/7 live video?


I can't help but think that the property must be worth more than the hundred bucks, but I was equally sure about your being wrong on the hundred dollar houses.

I wonder if one could buy one and leave the lot empty without city bylaws forcing some sort of developmunt developmeth horseshit...?

[Seth]

So, Seth...are you interested in going partners on some hundred-dollar houses in Detroit?

You can't get me within 10 miles of Detroit without an up-armored Hummer and a couple of machine guns, so no thanks.

Besides, a hundred bucks is still overpriced in Detroit. They would need to pay ME about $50,000 per just to take it off their hands.

I was set to call bullshit on the hundred dollar houses. Thought to look first. Holy fuck.

Astonishing, isn't it?

Why are people not buying these, razing them, and leaving them empty lots until development makes sense? Maybe rent out the empty lots to golfers who want to work on their short game...

Because nobody with money sees Detroit reviving any time soon. However, I did read about a community of artists who went to Detroit and bought up several blocks of homes and abandoned businesses for back taxes and have built an interesting "art enclave." So, success is possible, but it's a fucking war zone in most of Detroit, and just like Beruit, people don't want to invest in war zones. But someone with some real cash could buy up large tracts and potentially make a non-literal killing in the future by "gentrifying" the area after it's gone so far down that even the welfare slugs won't live there and have moved on. But that's decades in the future I think.

Why not buy one and give it to someone in the area who needs a home on the condition that they stream 24/7 live video?

The problem is most of the houses are uninhabitable anyway, and nobody's willing to invest in rebuilding right now.

I can't help but think that the property must be worth more than the hundred bucks, but I was equally sure about your being wrong on the hundred dollar houses.

Probably, but it's a looooong term investment.

I wonder if one could buy one and leave the lot empty without city bylaws forcing some sort of developmunt developmeth horseshit...?

Most of them get sold for back property taxes, and as long as you pay the property tax you'd probably be fine so long as any "crack house" decrepitude was bull-dozed. They probably wouldn't do anything unless there was an "urban renewal" push, and that might work out fine if you held the property, you could likely make a tidy profit.

[Tyrannical]

Actually Seth, it was the neo-conservatives in the U.K. that encouraged people to be home owners. In any real socialist society the state would own most of the housing and charge rents for it. We called them council houses. One of Thatcher's tactics in attempting to break the mass unions in the U.K. was to encourage working class people to buy their council homes at substantial discounts, which left them with mortgages (meaning long term strike action was all but abolished) and the government with less bills to pay for the upkeep and repair as landlords.

But who gets the best council homes and how?
Friends of the governing board, or the most needy?
What decides the most needy? Is it really the most irresponsible, since the more children you have without the financial means the bigger the council house you get?

[MrJonno]

Not really that many good council houses left , all the good ones were sold of. Unlike in the rest of Europe its generally the poor who live in council houses

[Tyrannical]

Not really that many good council houses left , all the good ones were sold of. Unlike in the rest of Europe its generally the poor who live in council houses

If by "good" you mean desirable and expensive, why should there be any of them?
I know it is not typical, but the Daily Mail shouldn't have to report $1,000,000 council homes going to the impoverished immigrants.

[Gallstones]

I live pay check to pay check, but at least I have one and make my mortgage so I have my own house.
And we aren't starving and the power is still on and I have cable and internet but my car is old.

I seem to be in limbo.

[MrJonno]

Sorry clicked on Gallstones spoiler again

[apophenia]

It apparently is determined by your tax bracket in the US. If your income tax bracket is closer to 29% you are rich.
is supposed to be on the poll line for the poor.

Yup. Stupidity. I'm rich, but I'm classified as the poorest of the poor because I have zero taxable income and therefore pay zero taxes. If I were willing to lie on the welfare forms like too many other people do (by, for example, failing to declare their crack-selling income) I'd certainly qualify for every welfare program out there.

I plead ignorance of the law. I didn't realize income from selling drugs was taxable.

I guess I'm no longer in the 0% tax bracket then. Do you think they'll make me return the chinchillas too?

Btw, just a snarky point, income from selling drugs is NOT taxable, just as income you earn as a hit man, income from rolling winos, and any other ill gotten booty -- or is that ill booten gotty? -- is non-taxable because you cannot tax illegal activity, and even if you did, persons would be protected from having to declare by virtue of their fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination. (Ya know, I think I've been negligent and overlooked a perfectly nutritious source of wholesome yukks to be had just by pouring over Seth's voluminous outpourings.)

[Seth]

It apparently is determined by your tax bracket in the US. If your income tax bracket is closer to 29% you are rich.
is supposed to be on the poll line for the poor.

Yup. Stupidity. I'm rich, but I'm classified as the poorest of the poor because I have zero taxable income and therefore pay zero taxes. If I were willing to lie on the welfare forms like too many other people do (by, for example, failing to declare their crack-selling income) I'd certainly qualify for every welfare program out there.

I plead ignorance of the law. I didn't realize income from selling drugs was taxable.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse...

I guess I'm no longer in the 0% tax bracket then. Do you think they'll make me return the chinchillas too?

Btw, just a snarky point, income from selling drugs is NOT taxable, just as income you earn as a hit man, income from rolling winos, and any other ill gotten booty -- or is that ill booten gotty? -- is non-taxable because you cannot tax illegal activity, and even if you did, persons would be protected from having to declare by virtue of their fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination. (Ya know, I think I've been negligent and overlooked a perfectly nutritious source of wholesome yukks to be had just by pouring over Seth's voluminous outpourings.)

Wrong again, Ms. Snarky, income from illegal activities IS taxable. The Sixteenth Amendment says "from whatever source derived." And that's how they put Al Capone away finally. They never got him for murder or being a mob boss, they got him for tax evasion.

And the Fifth Amendment doesn't apply to declaring income. You don't have to tell them HOW you obtained the income, but you do have to declare the income and pay the taxes due on it.

Illegal activities. Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Form 1040, line 21, or on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.

Stolen property. If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner. Source: IRS publications

How's that crow taste?

[Cunt]

Wrong again, Ms. Snarky, income from illegal activities IS taxable. The Sixteenth Amendment says "from whatever source derived." And that's how they put Al Capone away finally. They never got him for murder or being a mob boss, they got him for tax evasion.

Wouldn't you say that the tax evasion was the larger of the crimes anyway?

[Seth]

Wrong again, Ms. Snarky, income from illegal activities IS taxable. The Sixteenth Amendment says "from whatever source derived." And that's how they put Al Capone away finally. They never got him for murder or being a mob boss, they got him for tax evasion.

Wouldn't you say that the tax evasion was the larger of the crimes anyway?

Well, I'd say that redistributive taxation is the biggest crime of all...but as compared to murder, not so much.

[JimC]

It's kinda schizophrenic; one arm of the government (the IRS) blithely accepting of illegal activities as long as you pay your taxes on them, where the law enforcement agencies are trying to stamp them out...

[Seth]

It's kinda schizophrenic; one arm of the government (the IRS) blithely accepting of illegal activities as long as you pay your taxes on them, where the law enforcement agencies are trying to stamp them out...

The biggest crooks around always want their cut...

[apophenia]

How's that crow taste?

Thank you sir, can I have some more?

(Humble pie is the best. They say the three jewels of Taoism are compassion, moderation and humility. Some days I'm just sure I'm missing some marbles. It's what happens when you've got a mouth you can't keep productively occupied.)