"Mine?" A Deeper Look at the Realities of Home Ownership, Taxes and Government...

When I was a teenager and young adult, it was eternally being "imprinted" on me that the ideal in life — in terms of building personal success — was to become a home owner.

You didn't want to rent, because that meant you were "throwing your hard-earned cash at someone else." Being a home owner made you "respectable." It meant you "owned your own piece of dirt." It meant you were a "stable" person, and committed to being "part of a community."

Plus, it was "a great investment!"

This is our view... but is it really "ours?"

In Search of Stability

I must confess, that I have never looked at home ownership from the perspective of it being an INVESTMENT.

Well, maybe not exactly, but that "investment" wasn't monetary to me, it was an investment in my own stability of life.

My primary reason for not wanting to rent was to avoid the situation of having to make an involuntary move because the landlord decides to sell the property, or they want to use it themselves, or (this happened to me, once) even that they want to renovate the property so they can charge higher rent.

Suddenly you get a letter from the landlord, letting you know you have 30-60-90 days (or whatever) to find another place to live. I hate feeling uprooted and shuffled about... perhaps an eternal "hangover" from my childhood, where we were constantly on the move.

For me, home ownership meant that I was the one who got to "dictate the terms" about my life; specifically about my living circumstances. Hereunder... valuing the fact that I would not be at risk of suddenly having to make a forced move.

But IS Homeownership Really "That?"

Technically speaking, if you buy a piece of land and the sticks and stones on it — outright — it would make the most sense that you "have" that property, as yours.

Except, of course, you don't.

At least, if you live here in the US of A, you are encumbered by this thing known as "property tax."

Which basically amounts to "a tax on people who choose to own something outright, rather than just borrow it from a bank — who ACTUALLY owns the property."

And here in the state of Washington, they (meaning local government) can come and take "your" house away from you, if you don't pay aforesaid property taxes in a timely fashion.

So is that really a good deal? Moreover... does something even constitute true "ownership" if some "authority" can come and take it away from you. Sure, there has to be "due process" (also known as "tax foreclosure proceedings") before "they" can do that, but fact remains that you have to "pay the piper" in order to assure ongoing "ownership" and possession.

Which doesn't look a hell of a lot different from renting, from where I am sitting. Except for the fact that you can't call your "landlord" to come fix a broken pipe or a leaky roof — at their expense — when you're a "homeowner."

Something seems not quite right about that.

Which, I guess, is why so many "alt thinking" anarchists, Libertarians and "Freedomists" are part of a community like this one.

VOLUNTARY Taxes?

Of course, many are quick to point out that what we think of as "civilization" would quickly descend into some form of "feudal/tribal chaos" absent some sort of centralized system/body (funded by "something") because a large number of the people walking around on this planet are simply NOT — by any figment of anyone's imagination — what we might consider "Good and well-intentioned actors."

Of course, some may like aforesaid "feudal/tribal chaos," but I am sure as shyte not one of them! A lot of people do seem to prefer a "Wild Wild West" lifestyle to something more... genteel. I'm not here to judge that... it's just not my thing.

Which brings me to thinking about this notion of whether or not you can have such a thing as Voluntary Taxation that is not what many think of as "theft?" If you knowingly agree to something, presumably that removes it from the realm of theft.

I mean, I'd much rather drive on a smooth and well-maintained road than a set of dirt ruts through the woods. And I'd like to be able to pick up the phone and call someone if my house is on fire, rather than have to organize a "bucket brigade" of neighbors. Things definitely worth paying an annual "tax" for.

But immediately, there are "problems," aren't there?

Because now we are talking about a "structure" with "someone" in charge... and compensation. And the moment you involve compensation for something that other bugaboo known as Human GREED gets into the picture.

My point here being that many are willing to dismiss government as "evil" and yet they can offer few functional alternatives. There are a lot of ideas that look good "on paper" but they fall apart the moment you include actual human beings in the equation. Because a lot of human beings are... basically... shitty.

Memories of the UK

Some of these issues bring to mind my years of living in the UK, several decades ago.

In many cases, the idea of "buying a property" was — technically speaking — described as a "99-year leasehold," a tradition traceable back to the 11th century.

Red autumn leaf

Only a "freeholder" actually owned land and property — and collected taxes — while everyone else was a "leaseholder," no matter how "permanent" their living situation might seem. In some slightly twisted way, it would almost seem like local municipalities who collect the taxes have become the de-facto freeholders of modern times; we are all "beholden" to them, in some fashion.

Now don't get me wrong: This is really more of an "observational" post designed to explore and shed light, than an angry "railing against the machine" post.

As I mentioned earlier, if we don't have some kind of working system, we fall into uncivilized tribalism/feudalism.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go do something income producing so I can afford to maintain my desire for "stability!"

Thanks for reading!

How about YOU? Are you a "home owner?" What does "home OWNER-ship" suggest to you? Is it really "ownership" if it can be taken away from you by law? Or do you agree to "the law" by implication, when you agree to this form of "ownership?" Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190209 13:23 PST
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