There are so many “luxury” and “exclusive” experiences to have these days that the average worker can barely keep count, for two reasons. First, we are busy working and the idea of spending more than the bare minimum on our experiences feels stupid. Second, we realize that we would have to contend with the tired trash that look at such experiences as a “birthright.” The empire has created all these “wonderful” experiences, and at first glance, they look like good times that everyone should aspire to–and as a Yale graduate who went to Europe, I remember my first thoughts on the experiences. Consequently, the fact that the empire has become addicted to exclusion makes me consider that the majority of the country is addicted to excluding as many people as possible from reasonable lives.
Developers are still brainwashing cities and politicians into believing the supply economics lie, and they are receiving tax incentives for building luxury. Riddle me this: if a building/complex stays empty or listed as a short-term rental, what problem has the developer solved? Answer: none. Building luxury towers and isolated, segregated suburbs all over the country may be employing the five tradespeople not facing ICE discrimination, but such activity is not housing anyone. The reason that real estate prices are going down is because rich people are greedy, and they overplayed their hands to the point that no one can afford to pay most of the prices they charge, even working multiple jobs.
My favorite story about private school is about when I went to visit one for the day, and answered a 10th grade math problem while being an 8th grade student. Despite being initially impressed with myself, I later realized the reason for the existence of private schools in the United States was for segregation. Rather than being further impressed, I am now disgusted at the provision of vouchers for private schools with dubious standards. Just because a school excludes other people does not mean that it has a good reason to do so. Actually, the reason some schools discriminate is not only that they are racist, but they know they are bad schools and have no intention of fixing their issues.
All these big businesses keep running up their tabs with local governments for tax incentives for jobs that they bring other people for, but people keep falling for the same lies. Google lied about wanting to change their hiring practices, but then had to pay a settlement once it was clear that they were underpaying some employees. In Austin, they were wined and dined to build here, but their demographics have remained the same–similar to other tech companies that like to build in the middle of nowhere to avoid the “urban element.” Imperial technoligarchs hate anyone that is not a white male, and even their employees are kidding themselves, as has been proven over the last year. There is no interest in anything but exclusion and resource hoarding with technology, and a bunch of “rejected nerds” wanting to screw robots will not change those facts.
For all the farmers who thought that people were enticed by the “romance” of farming, they have been very disappointed from learning about the subsidies for farms that take over other farms. No, the government and the “elites” are not interested in helping poor farmers who may feed their local communities. They want monopolies that run on slave labor and have questionable funding practices, making it next to impossible for anyone looking to enter agriculture. Food is a human need, but the “elites” did not self-style themselves as such to offer global opportunities to just anyone. Without excluding most people, even food seems like it tastes less appealing.
Finally, most of the public infrastructure has been built by private contracts and prison labor. Government contracts for highways which, by definition, require vehicle ownership continue to make socioeconomic and racial segregation possible. Firefighting is now covered under convict leasing, and disaster relief is probably headed the same way since national guards are busy attacking nonwhite people in urban areas. Public employees and small business owners without administrative staff never have the chance because getting those contracts requires expensive courtships, which only rich contractors can consistently provide. Imagine having expensive dinners as part of nonnegotiable operating budgets.
If the empire is ever going to improve–unlikely–it must get over its need to smirk and reject the majority of people just trying to make lifestyles and exist. No more tax incentives for doing a job that “needs” doing. If developers can only build unaffordable luxury styles for white people who hate any expression of culture, then they can pay full costs. Cities funding exclusion do not get to own the “liberal” definition if they only adhere to wishes of rich, white people. People need to be able to live, not just get in the “club.”
Chasing A Dying Empire 