World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[MrPopo]

One of my coworkers is a landlord on the side (he's got a couple 3 and 4 family units) and his priority is having stable tenants who don't kick holes in the front door when they forget their key and pay on time. Evicting is a pain in the ass, because you spend money to kick them out and now the unit isn't bringing in money. That said, his units are more of a standard midrange apartment, rather than the hovels described in the review. But my take away was that poverty just all over sucks, because all your money is going to the basic necessities of maintaining your existence.

[marurun]

Landlords who rent hovels to the poor and for whom eviction is an effective tool are a different class of landlords altogether. Also, racism.

[Ack]

A friend of mine actually got into the real estate business and has recently become a private landlord after having grown up in poverty with only his mother after his father left when he was a little kid. He now rents out a few houses and warehouses, usually to poor families in the same situation he was in. The only time he had to evict someone, it seriously bothered him. The guy also hosts an annual charity event for local schools. In fact, I need to reach out and talk to him about other possible charity work that we could do together. I've got a hell of a lot of respect for him, and I've never met someone with a bigger heart.

[Xeogred]

That guy sounds awesome.

[marurun]

A high-profile Kentucky coal museum has had to put solar panels on its roof to keep electricity costs affordable. I would say it's prophetic, but the writing's been on the wall for more than long enough.

https://arstechnica.com/business/2017/0 ... -its-roof/

[MrPopo]

If the upkeep costs are less than the cost of the kWh they're replacing there's no reason they shouldn't be supplementing their power with solar on their roof. And that would be true even if they're being fed by hydro, wind, or a solar farm not owned by them.

I don't think it's worthwhile to fixate on coal, when the actual problem is "lots of blue collar work is going away thanks to automation and changes in what we want to consume." I'm fairly certain a modern coal mine doesn't need as many workers to produce the same amount of coal as one from 100 years ago did thanks to the various improvements in technology and many other industries have gone through the same thing. Blacksmithing went artisanal when factory mass production shoved them out for your everyday objects, for example.

[BogusMeatFactory]

If the upkeep costs are less than the cost of the kWh they're replacing there's no reason they shouldn't be supplementing their power with solar on their roof. And that would be true even if they're being fed by hydro, wind, or a solar farm not owned by them.

I don't think it's worthwhile to fixate on coal, when the actual problem is "lots of blue collar work is going away thanks to automation and changes in what we want to consume." I'm fairly certain a modern coal mine doesn't need as many workers to produce the same amount of coal as one from 100 years ago did thanks to the various improvements in technology and many other industries have gone through the same thing. Blacksmithing went artisanal when factory mass production shoved them out for your everyday objects, for example.

It is sexy when you talk blacksmithing.

[MrPopo]

Got my toolmaking class tonight.

[marurun]

I agree, Popo. But the coal towns can't see past coal, because its often all they know. And when politicians latch onto that it makes it look like they cannot see the reality of markets and are not prepared to offer workable solutions.

On another note, Sean Spicer is the worst press secretary ever.

[MrPopo]

I'm pretty sure they teach in PR class that it takes something truly special to actually make someone "worse than Hitler".