‘Commentary’ Archives
Frank Reflections – Rental housing supply and demand: gratitude or greed?
by Frank Erickson More than 42,000 renter households in Minneapolis, even though employed full-time, pay more for housing than they can afford. Without these 42,000 rental households, there wouldn”'t be the high demand for rental housing; there would be supply glut. Are there 42,000 potential renters on waiting lists who can afford the units with high rents? How can tens of thousands of renters who cannot afford their rents, be the foundation for raising all rents? These 42,000 households, who cannot afford their rent, are the core of “supply and demand.” The landlords have nothing without renters. Capitalism is wicked. Renters have no choice. Renters have to pay their rents. Ironically, they drive up their rent by paying rents they cannot afford. All “supply and demand” sees is rent paid. It doesn”'t see nor does it care if the renter went without food to pay the rent. All capitalism needs to justify raising rent is that [...]
Raise Your Voice: Blessed community
Peter Molenaar By PETER MOLENAAR Feb. 11, 2019”¦ I would brave the slippery streets, with the ongoing sixth mass species extinction in mind, in order to participate in the public visioning phase of the HOTB Mayday Parade. This was to be the last opportunity to make a modest appearance. The chairs of the Avalon meeting room were well occupied to receive Sandy Spieler”'s guidance. As it turned out, Sandy had been entitled to choose this year”'s theme, and rightfully so. In keeping with Martin Luther King”'s intent, she chose: “Blessed Community.” To develop this theme, the gathering was tasked to a rotating series of workshops, set in the auditorium. My first stop was captioned: “Barriers to a Blessed community.” The tally of square sticker tag commentary was to reveal an old question of causality: Is the human condition a consequence of “human nature,” or is human nature a reflection of social systems? An [...]
