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The American Renter - A theory
Posted By: karibkween In Response To: Re: Common Ground? (karibkween)
Date: Wednesday, 1 September 2010, at 2:22 p.m.
I'm not one for conspiracy theories but I'm observing a process of cause and consequence unfolding before my very eyes.
My first exposure to alternative energy was through the innovation of independent minded property owners; those who were trying their best to exist outside the 'grid' but didn't possess the wondering spirit of the 'trailer park or RV" class. Many were having their homes outfitted with solar panels or similar technologies made and installed by Canadians; at that time the Canadians were ahead of the Californians; I never saw the trend as a viable alternative because it was at that time too expensive. But as with all things human, more people equals more innovation and before we knew it purchasing and installing solar panels became affordable to the middle class. One recognized that it was becoming a problem because California Utility companies began offering deals to homeowners; paying for the installation so that the utility company could postpone having to pay the homeowner for his solar generated energy.
As it stands now any independent minded home owner with a do it yourself attitude can purchase a self-installation kit for solar panels on line and thus purchase his freedom from years of slavery to energy companies. Its not difficult to imagine what an all out rush by America's middle class to convert their homes to clean energy would have on the bottom line of America's fossil fuel giants; enter the housing crisis, and the prospect of millions of Americans losing their homes in the years to come and having to resort to renting. As I've posted in the past residential rental properties are still being constructed all over California, while banks are destroying whole communities of newly built homes; in fact in my +/- 20 miles to and from work I need more than my ten fingers to count the number of residential developments in various degrees of completion. Some are completed but sit empty; what could they be waiting for? Owning a home used to be the way many small businesses generated capital to fund their visions, many middle class families improved their lot by using the equity in their homes to fund their children's education, older Americans used the proceeds from the sale of their homes to retire early in some tropical paradise, how will these dreams be realized in the future?
The public outrage for the bank bailouts was missing one key ingredient, a knowledge or realization that the banks weren't really being bailed out, but the members of the public who invest their money in whatever form, with those banks. So really the government was in fact bailing out the same citizens protesting the bailout. Many still lost money, such as those who had on deposit, amounts above the FDIC threshold which was then 100k, and those who saw the value of their mutual funds and 401ks dwindled, but since the crash many have seen some gains and still hold out hope of a return to their former values. For those its back to business as usual. The failure to make that connection however, has left them still vulnerable to future schemes that will be conceived in the minds of the Super rich. Next time there'll be less Americans with hard/tangible assets like a home, if they do have assets it will be in the form of the same house money I mentioned above, CDs, mutual funds and 401ks and unless the CDs are less than or equal to 250k ( the new FDIC threshold) none of those assets will be guaranteed.
So in the end middle class Americans will be rendered more vulnerable than they were before the crisis. Yet developers are still being granted bank loans to finance their projects while individual homeowners are being foreclosed upon; and the middle class American investor cannot see that he is digging his own grave; by not being aware of who gets access to the money he freely leaves on deposit at big banks, or where his employer invests his 401k funds. The elite are allowed to continue to gamble with house money, and America's middle class is relegated to serfdom/slavery in the Feudal society of America's future.
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