Wednesday 28 September 2011

save us

With land, food and water running out for the human race, we need to start working on sharing more systematically and fairly.  In housing in Britain, with a completely unregulated market, that means clubbing together to afford mortgage loans.  That doesn't just mean sharing the financial commitment: it also means becoming your own landlords and learning to work hard together to administer and maintain the property you occupy.  There is no longer a "landlord:" who will take care of a blocked drain or a slipped slate  It means getting to grips with the real cost of running a building.  (And forget that old chant about "rent being wasted money".  A lot of rent goes on maintenance; and only if the landlord is a bastard or overcharging, does he make a profit once he has serviced his debts and mended the house.

What it amounts to is learning to take responsibility - as chair, secretary, treasurer, housekeeper - like a grown-up; not always looking for a "leader" or Mummy or Daddy to see to everything.  Government from the grassroots up.

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