This was so disgustingly relatable this morning when I read it 😂 Have a libertarian landlord who traps you to discuss his opinions on the housing crisis and the cost of living crisis (while being a millionaire business and property owner) and all you do is nod as he name drops Andy Ngo, Tim Poole and every other far right dipshit he reads online. Thankfully he leaves and I’m back to peace and quiet. It’s difficult to dispute with these people as you realize how much power they have over you. Also laughed at the part where you got rid of the flag. I also cut the Canadian flag off the pole at my rental. Thank you for the insights and laughs you brought my morning!
Jul 18, 2023·edited Jul 18, 2023Liked by Peter Gelderloos
Querido Peter,
Enquanto escrevemos desejamos de coração sua plena restauração ao melhor estado de saúde,e que você se fortaleça com os muitos ninhos das muitas e diversas criaturas que povoam os lugares que habitamos.
Precisamos dos contadores de histórias,das pessoas que catam miudezas por onde passam,e as repassam adiante, tornando nossa jornada rica e dando sentido às nossas vidas,pois sem isso,sem as histórias que vivemos e contamos só nos resta o vazio dos senhorios do mundo. Mas não podemos nos dispersar, precisamos dos Territórios livres mais que nunca,necessitamos mais que antes preencher os muitos vazios que nos impõem o destruidores de planetas.
Jul 18, 2023·edited Jul 18, 2023Liked by Peter Gelderloos
This text works on so many levels. But to weave it around the birds nest is awesome, it's the perfect image here.
Imagine if there were landlords among birds. Ha!
But also. We recently chased a blackbird couple away while we were trying to protect their birds nest. Unbeknownst to us they had built a nest into the branches of an elder tree. As we were cutting some fresh shoots we exposed their nest. Since it was located close to a path we built a contraption that we carefully placed in front of the nest, hoping it would protect them from view. But the birds left the nest. Maybe because of the smell of our hands on the contraption? Thankfully this happened before any of the eggs were laid.
Let’s hope the birds just squatted another tree in the vicinity.
I hope so too! But I would guess they were more worried about the cutting of the tree than the smell. Different birds probably have different things that stress them out more though, when it comes to nesting.
Hi Peter. Your post comes on the heels of a recent experience of my own regarding the destruction of more of the tiny amount of natural ecosystem we have around where we live ...
A very sad accidental death in the duplex across the street from us began a chain of events where the property changed hands, being purchased by a white, Porsche-driving couple who evidently intend to flip it after building some sort of structure on top of what was once a vibrant, wild/partially-tended square of land. I was completely unprepared a week ago when I heard and then saw someone chainsawing down the trees and bushes that looked at least 50 years old... clearcutting the land. Not to center myself too much here but I had a panic attack in reaction to witnessing it, with so much of the macro sadness of the world being destroyed for money compacted into an act happening across the street from me, in front of my eyes. The land, with its plant life, bugs, animals, that used to have stewards and people who loved and advocated for it, now being destroyed with no one to advocate for it. It was heartbreaking and enraging. My partner and I decided to send her over to figure out what was happening but much of the damage was already done. We still fear for the 100+yr old 7-story tall maple tree just next to the cleared spot. Anyway... I do not want to despair and submit to this kind of thing going forward and have subsequently begun connecting to some tree-protection orgs in my city as a result of this whole experience. We'll see how that goes but there are more things for me to learn and more people for me to meet for sure.
It feels serendipitous to read a post by you that hits a couple of those same notes :) That's neat. I also recently scowled at how pro-police Spider Man is, although for me it was playing a few minutes of the latest video game version. It's pretty uncomfortable.
Grateful for your post and I will be sending positive thoughts and vibrations to you and your loved ones. Cheers.
I’m a landlord. When I lived in the UK I planned to stay there but visa troubles meant I had to leave pretty quickly. I’d bought a flat, thinking some permanence, paid it off as quickly as I could, but on leaving, the housing market was so down that I would have lost a lot of money on it and struggled to sell it at all. So we rent it out. I didn’t raise the rent for ten years and it was only after the tenants left that I refurbished it and upped the rent a little. That rent covers the cost of our family of four, with a massive simplification in living, to leave my job (which was often for the big energy companies) and our consumerist lives in the city and concentrate on rewilding our little plot of land here in the boondocks of the majority world (third world). I don’t get paid for planting native trees or restoring the ecological function of my soil and water, there’s no financial reward in doing work like this, no one donates me money, the government couldn’t give a shit (except wants a record of what I’ve planted and makes sure I don’t cut it down, maybe future “resources” to “manage”).
I hope we’re not all arseholes and money hungry fuckers. I use a management agency to “look after” my property, my first tenants contacted me out of the blue complaining that I’d withheld their deposit (unbeknown to me) and I helped them get their deposit back and sacked the management company. I now contact my tenants on the sly and let them know if they aren’t getting what they need from the management agencies to let me know and I’ll either cover their costs or push the management company to do the work.
I try to be as anti-arsehole as I can. I’ve been a tenant for years too and was lucky to always have good responsive landlords and I’d hope to be the same.
Yep, I understand the capitalistic nature of this beast, but here I am and I’m not sure how I’d make our life here work without that precious rental income, because there sure ain’t any money in farming here in the Philippines and I’d have to compromise a lot of what I try to do for nature in order to generate $$$ from it.
Thanks for this. I hope we can create a world, as soon as possible, in which property doesn't exist, but in that world borders, money, police, and scarcity don't exist as well, and we are all engaged in healing the effects of capitalism, racism, colonialism, and patriarchy as thoroughly as possible! In the meantime, we have to be critical of capitalism, but also critical of white supremacy and colonialism and recognize how all these things intersect while looking for the best ways to survive. The typical landlord under a capitalist model has multiple properties and doesn't have to worry about deportation, so I think your experience is quite different from what I am criticizing! Wishing you the best of luck in dealing with precarity and borders!
This was so disgustingly relatable this morning when I read it 😂 Have a libertarian landlord who traps you to discuss his opinions on the housing crisis and the cost of living crisis (while being a millionaire business and property owner) and all you do is nod as he name drops Andy Ngo, Tim Poole and every other far right dipshit he reads online. Thankfully he leaves and I’m back to peace and quiet. It’s difficult to dispute with these people as you realize how much power they have over you. Also laughed at the part where you got rid of the flag. I also cut the Canadian flag off the pole at my rental. Thank you for the insights and laughs you brought my morning!
Ugh, rich people who fool themselves into thinking they're subversive!
I'm glad you liked it though!
Being an antivaxxer is subversive to these people haha
Querido Peter,
Enquanto escrevemos desejamos de coração sua plena restauração ao melhor estado de saúde,e que você se fortaleça com os muitos ninhos das muitas e diversas criaturas que povoam os lugares que habitamos.
Precisamos dos contadores de histórias,das pessoas que catam miudezas por onde passam,e as repassam adiante, tornando nossa jornada rica e dando sentido às nossas vidas,pois sem isso,sem as histórias que vivemos e contamos só nos resta o vazio dos senhorios do mundo. Mas não podemos nos dispersar, precisamos dos Territórios livres mais que nunca,necessitamos mais que antes preencher os muitos vazios que nos impõem o destruidores de planetas.
De algum lugar no chamado Brasil
Scleroderma minutispora
Obrigado!
This text works on so many levels. But to weave it around the birds nest is awesome, it's the perfect image here.
Imagine if there were landlords among birds. Ha!
But also. We recently chased a blackbird couple away while we were trying to protect their birds nest. Unbeknownst to us they had built a nest into the branches of an elder tree. As we were cutting some fresh shoots we exposed their nest. Since it was located close to a path we built a contraption that we carefully placed in front of the nest, hoping it would protect them from view. But the birds left the nest. Maybe because of the smell of our hands on the contraption? Thankfully this happened before any of the eggs were laid.
Let’s hope the birds just squatted another tree in the vicinity.
I hope so too! But I would guess they were more worried about the cutting of the tree than the smell. Different birds probably have different things that stress them out more though, when it comes to nesting.
Hi Peter. Your post comes on the heels of a recent experience of my own regarding the destruction of more of the tiny amount of natural ecosystem we have around where we live ...
A very sad accidental death in the duplex across the street from us began a chain of events where the property changed hands, being purchased by a white, Porsche-driving couple who evidently intend to flip it after building some sort of structure on top of what was once a vibrant, wild/partially-tended square of land. I was completely unprepared a week ago when I heard and then saw someone chainsawing down the trees and bushes that looked at least 50 years old... clearcutting the land. Not to center myself too much here but I had a panic attack in reaction to witnessing it, with so much of the macro sadness of the world being destroyed for money compacted into an act happening across the street from me, in front of my eyes. The land, with its plant life, bugs, animals, that used to have stewards and people who loved and advocated for it, now being destroyed with no one to advocate for it. It was heartbreaking and enraging. My partner and I decided to send her over to figure out what was happening but much of the damage was already done. We still fear for the 100+yr old 7-story tall maple tree just next to the cleared spot. Anyway... I do not want to despair and submit to this kind of thing going forward and have subsequently begun connecting to some tree-protection orgs in my city as a result of this whole experience. We'll see how that goes but there are more things for me to learn and more people for me to meet for sure.
It feels serendipitous to read a post by you that hits a couple of those same notes :) That's neat. I also recently scowled at how pro-police Spider Man is, although for me it was playing a few minutes of the latest video game version. It's pretty uncomfortable.
Grateful for your post and I will be sending positive thoughts and vibrations to you and your loved ones. Cheers.
Thanks Sofie <3
I’m a landlord. When I lived in the UK I planned to stay there but visa troubles meant I had to leave pretty quickly. I’d bought a flat, thinking some permanence, paid it off as quickly as I could, but on leaving, the housing market was so down that I would have lost a lot of money on it and struggled to sell it at all. So we rent it out. I didn’t raise the rent for ten years and it was only after the tenants left that I refurbished it and upped the rent a little. That rent covers the cost of our family of four, with a massive simplification in living, to leave my job (which was often for the big energy companies) and our consumerist lives in the city and concentrate on rewilding our little plot of land here in the boondocks of the majority world (third world). I don’t get paid for planting native trees or restoring the ecological function of my soil and water, there’s no financial reward in doing work like this, no one donates me money, the government couldn’t give a shit (except wants a record of what I’ve planted and makes sure I don’t cut it down, maybe future “resources” to “manage”).
I hope we’re not all arseholes and money hungry fuckers. I use a management agency to “look after” my property, my first tenants contacted me out of the blue complaining that I’d withheld their deposit (unbeknown to me) and I helped them get their deposit back and sacked the management company. I now contact my tenants on the sly and let them know if they aren’t getting what they need from the management agencies to let me know and I’ll either cover their costs or push the management company to do the work.
I try to be as anti-arsehole as I can. I’ve been a tenant for years too and was lucky to always have good responsive landlords and I’d hope to be the same.
Yep, I understand the capitalistic nature of this beast, but here I am and I’m not sure how I’d make our life here work without that precious rental income, because there sure ain’t any money in farming here in the Philippines and I’d have to compromise a lot of what I try to do for nature in order to generate $$$ from it.
Thanks for this. I hope we can create a world, as soon as possible, in which property doesn't exist, but in that world borders, money, police, and scarcity don't exist as well, and we are all engaged in healing the effects of capitalism, racism, colonialism, and patriarchy as thoroughly as possible! In the meantime, we have to be critical of capitalism, but also critical of white supremacy and colonialism and recognize how all these things intersect while looking for the best ways to survive. The typical landlord under a capitalist model has multiple properties and doesn't have to worry about deportation, so I think your experience is quite different from what I am criticizing! Wishing you the best of luck in dealing with precarity and borders!
Welcome back. You’ve been missed in this space.
I appreciate that. I've missed it too!
Thank you for your words. I took the time to read them and it felt like quiet reflection or meditation.
It's really sad when the place you grow up gets bulldozed or built up or killed in some other way. But flowers can always grow from the cracks!