marshlander wrote: How often really are squatters like your ideal and how many trash the place and wont move out - or am I just believing propaganda? Is there any way of knowing?
Yep thats the tricky one is it not, I have met some squatters that have got right up my nose and really are freeloaders then again I have met some that would move out and not trash the place. I guess that issue is down to the fact that you get good and bad people in all walks of life. There is no real way of knowing as some landlords will allow squatters into the house then trash it themselves, blaming the squatters to claim on insurance. So they might get a bad name whilst being respectful citizens.
I did read about the green party trying a policy of "right to rent" that might be of interest -
Any house owner who cannot pay their mortgage and is threatened with repossession would have the right to sell to the council and then continue to live in the property and pay rent. This would avoid the disruption of repossession and in many cases the need for councils to find new homes for families.
I wonder how many houses that are left empty are there because of repossessions? Would certainly stop squatting if people could keep their homes and I am sure this would keep us both happy.
Rod in Japan wrote:Those Greens are so unrealistic. They have no chance at the polls. Who would ever vote for them? etc. etc.
Me! Me! Me!
They have no chance at the polls because of the daft system that doesn't even want to give small parties a chance... I well remember the time when the Greens in Germany were seen as weirdoes (in the 70s), without a chance in hell. They started off small, and in the end became quite important, as suddenly none of the other parties could govern without them!
Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
Just look at the SNP, they were considered a fringe small group of nutters a few years back. The people of Glasgow East seem to think a little differently now.
In fact the tories were a smaller party compaired to the whigs some time ago. Things can and do change.
Actually I've always voted Green and I'm a member. I wasn't aware of this particular plank in their platform, but as usual it seems well thought out.
But they're nutters all the same, and you should vote for a party that wants prison sentences for people who want affordable housing. Or vote for the party who wants something not quite as stupid as that, to stop the more stupid party getting in. Yesh.
Sorry, just being ironic. The Green manifesto is full of commonsense measures for a lot of ills, but the Greens are considered 'unrealistic' and 'unelectable' by the common run of voters. So instead of voting for a party that will sort out a lot of problems in a cheap and fair manner, people keep voting for the same 3 parties that have patently ineffective policies.
Ohh right. It looked like you were one of those people who think 'well the green party wont get in so id best not waste my vote on them even though i agree with their policies' of which i have met a few people which always astounds me. call me naive but voting for the party you want should always be priority whether you think they'll win or not! (and obviously the'yll never win if you dont vote for them!)
anyway that was a bit off topic. back to freeganism. with the points about it being unsustainable - well yes it is, but i dont think anyone is suggesting everybody should go and do this but nature, and society, relies on different people to take care of different jobs so it can work as a whole. if freegans can support themselves by living off other peoples rubbish then fair play to them - personally i think the people who throw this stuff away should be more ashamed than the freegans.
Off grid retreats, rustic cottages, yoga holidays and more in the midst of nature in Central Portugal
Freecycle was featured on Looks North this evening. Peter Levy reported it was
new
here's the link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7536171.stm if you're interested. I was disappointed with the item - challenges to furnish a room for free and all that tosh. Chap with a wobbly ph4lic cactus wasn't the best ambasador either!
Terri x
“I'd rather be a little weird than all boring.”
― Rebecca McKinsey
marshlander wrote: I was disappointed with the item - challenges to furnish a room for free and all that tosh.
That is the TV world and probably the only way they could package the item. I thought that it was pretty good considering at least it showed that people give stuff away and not just took with the arrows to the bin and all.
I agree about the wobbly cactus man though, seemed like a good bloke if a little strange but obviously nerves got the better of him! Why was he carrying that sign?
The comments on the Telegraph article infuriate me. I try to "live lightly" and would be more than happy to eat freegan food. I use Freecycle weekly - this week I got rid of a big bag full of toys & some kid's football boots and I received a flowery sun umbrella for the garden & a toy garage I happily accept my next door neighbour's offcuts of wood & garden slabs so he doesn't take them to the tip. There are loads of things which I'm happy to accept for FREE. However I pay my own NI contributions since I am technically self-employed, even though I've not earned any of my own money (I have worked mainly voluntarily or in exchange for bed & board) for over a year now because I have a baby. I feel I contribute to society in a number of ways so should I be judged if I was found accepting left over food?
I have to admit that i sit on the fence with both issues.
Again, it goes to good and bad people, and only the bad people being highlighted. I knw a bloke who squatted for 7 years. All the people working there had full time jobs, and they did the house up and made it livable, rather than the dilapidated tip that was there before. Sadly, they had to move out because they couldn't keep the section 6 up after a couple of them got new jobs.
However...i've also known people who have squatted and turned a respectable house into a drug den in a matter of weeks (to be fair, i've known paying tenants who have done the same thing...).
Housing is a big issue, especially for me and the other people the same age round here. Most of my friends have to live with their parents because to rent is unaffordable. The local wage is not enough to rent successfully, or get a mortgage. Maybe things will change when the house prices keep dropping (which, in turn will ruin it for my parents who want to sell the house and retire...).
The freegans on Wife Swap were ridiculous. Sorry Andy, but it wasn't the editing that made them look bad - they did it all on their own! They talked about being anti-consumerist, and anti-society, yet they were happy to collect Giros and go through supermarket bins, They lived off of society and consumerism, but didn't give anything back. They didn't work, yet they didn't volunteer anywhere...
I do like 'proper' freegans (i hate using the P word when classifying people, butits late and i can't think of any other one to use) the people who are freegans to substitute (that's not the right word either...but i can't remember what the real one is...i know it starts with an s) their lifestyles. They do skip dive (i love skip diving!) and they do get food from places, but they also contribute to the society that is contributing to them...if that makes sense...
I do believe that if people throw things away, they give up their right to say that its theirs. If you want something, keep it, don't throw it. If someone's throwing ut a sink for example, and i walk past and decide that it'd be perfect as a planter, then why can't i re-use it? They have made a conscious decision that they don't want it anymore, and that it is no good for them, so why is it wrong for me to take it and reuse it rather than it going into landfill?
There are so many questions and answers for both sides of the arguments here. I don't agree that all property is theft, i do work, and i have worked hard for my property, for someone to claim that i have 'stolen' because i own something is ridiculous, unless i throw it away...then i believe that i have given up my right to say that it is mine. When i take the sink to the tip after using it as a planter, if someone comes up and decides that they want to use it for whatever then good on them. They're not stealing something from me, i dn't want it anymore.
Sadly, the whole movement is being ridiculed by those who can afford to throw things away, those who believe that landifll is there for them to dispose of the stuff that they don't want anymore, stuff that is no longer 'to their taste'.
And why is it ok for supermarkets to throw away millions of pounds worth of food every year? Surely there should be some investigation into that practice...i would have thought that any shareholders would be horrified and start asking questions about where the profit is going...straight into the bin! Its got to be bad business practice to throw stuff away that could ebe sold...even for a few pence. The same goes for charity shops, mind you, i don't lto see them throwing stuff away either...i'd rather see them sell a teddy or a top for 10p than throw it away!
oooh ad there's a load more pro-freegan comments now.
And...i added a comment pointing out that Andy and Dave are nothing to do with the Gianstefanis. Otherwise people keep confusing them with being part of the strange cult.
They might be strange cult leaders, but not the Gianstefani type!!
the.fee.fairy wrote:
And why is it ok for supermarkets to throw away millions of pounds worth of food every year? Surely there should be some investigation into that practice...i would have thought that any shareholders would be horrified and start asking questions about where the profit is going...straight into the bin! Its got to be bad business practice to throw stuff away that could ebe sold...even for a few pence. The same goes for charity shops, mind you, i don't lto see them throwing stuff away either...i'd rather see them sell a teddy or a top for 10p than throw it away!
Unfortunately, prices are set more by scarcity than abundance. Too much available food (or anything else) destroys its monetary value. Shareholders would get a smaller return if the supermarkets didn't maintain a certain degree of scarcity by throwing food away, and trying to keep it thrown away. That's why freeganism is subversive of the current economic norm. That's why I'm also glad that even 'parasitic freegans' exist, to create pressure for a new paradigm, whatever that might be.
I happily accept my next door neighbour's offcuts of wood & garden slabs so he doesn't take them to the tip. There are loads of things which I'm happy to accept for FREE. However I pay my own NI contributions since I am technically self-employed, even though I've not earned any of my own money (I have worked mainly voluntarily or in exchange for bed & board) for over a year now because I have a baby. I feel I contribute to society in a number of ways so should I be judged if I was found accepting left over food?
Ratty
