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First they lose the house, then the storage unit

Bob Morris, on May 12, 2008, 6:52 am

Defaults on self-storage units are becoming more common now, so the contents are auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Category: News | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)

  • http://www.radicalglasgow.me.uk John Couzin

    Surely this must epitomise the capitalist system. First you lose your home and when you store your bits and pieces in the hope of getting another home along comes capitalist economics and takes those as well. This is done so that others can make some money from your misfortune, and still people don’t seem to look for an alternative, where is the outrage?

  • http://www.asymptoticlife.com DJ

    The irony is that much of this behavior is forbidden by the Bible, yet our so-called Christian nation engages in it with such relish. Loaning money at interest is forbidden in most religions, not just Christianity. But the Bible goes further, to forbid foreclosure and require feeding those who can’t afford to buy food– not by the government, but by their neighbors (us).

    When you get down to it, not much remains of Biblical Christianity in this country. No wonder some people think we’re better off without God!

  • http://www.radicalglasgow.me.uk John Couzin

    The Bible says a lot more than not loaning money with interest!! But it is nice to cherry pick the bits we like and ignore the bits we don’t. Mutual aid is not the prerogative of Christianity nor any other religion, it exists outside religion and has done so since man took up with his mate.

  • http://www.asymptoticlife.com DJ

    It has indeed existed, but also often been ignored. It would seem that human nature is to help oneself, and that the urge to help others is somewhat less common. We can argue about where that comes from– inside or outside the human being– but the fact remains it is not and apparently has never been universal.

  • http://www.asymptoticlife.com DJ

    BTW, the foundation of the Bible is justice for the poor. There’s plenty of other stuff in there, but if you miss the part about justice, you’ve missed the point.

  • http://www.radicalglasgow.me.uk John Couzin

    The bible is just one book on the myths of a primative people, why that one, there are plenty of better books written in a more rational and human style and with more relevance to today’s world. You are belittling those who don’t believe the bible and those who don’t know of it but live a caring and compassionate life. As I have said before, why quote a book as if that gave some validity to your opinion. Others can quote other books that differ. Mutual aid has indeed been often ignored but so has greed by many many people. to say that the urge to help others is less common seems to fly in the face of the evidence when there is any form of disaster, people across the world respond with generosity and compassion. You seem to have a very poor view of your fellow man, you seem to put most of them below you on the moral ladder.

  • http://www.asymptoticlife.com DJ

    Wow, such defensiveness! I quote the Bible because it is the book our nation claims as its moral compass (obviously without much basis).

    My view of my fellow man is mixed, neither pure Hobbes nor pure Rousseau. Yes, [some] people step up quickly when there’s a disaster. I note that the first ones to put a plane in the air are usually the Mormons, who don’t just give money, they fill a 747 with supplies and go there. They’re not the only ones: nations, other religious organizations, and even a few secular organizations also step up. So yes, there is generosity in humankind

    OTOH, in those very same disasters some people take the opportunity to make money and/or increase their power– witness that despite an influx of aid, Myanmar cyclone victims are in danger of starvation because the aid isn’t reaching them. It would be easy to write this off as an anomoly, except that when I was last in Sri Lanka’s east (18 months ago) there were still warehouses full of aid that had not yet been distributed from the 2001 tsunami, and the estimates of what had been stolen and sold out the back door for profit were staggering.

    Meanwhile, the quest for power leaves the vast majority of the world in poverty you and I can barely imagine (and I say this even having seen it). Half the world’s population lives on $2 a day or less, and roughly only 10% has internet access. As one of those, you are (and I too am) a member of the privileged few whose luxurious lifestyle rests on the backs of the downtrodden majority.

    Now let’s talk about how magnanimously generous we are.