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(Common Dreams)   "Americans aren't serfs". Of course not, serfs are granted protection and justice by their lords   (commondreams.org) divider line
46
    More: Murica, Single-family detached home, Semi-detached, Wall Street greed, House types, nation's housing crisis, Wall Street, huge numbers of single-family home, private equity firms  
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1461 clicks; posted to Politics » on 08 Nov 2022 at 8:20 AM (18 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



46 Comments     (+0 »)
View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest
 
yohohogreengiant [TotalFark]
2022-11-08 4:51:20 AM  
Serfs can overwhelm and overthrow governments without the guarantee of right to arms.

Take that anyway you want.
 
MrBallou [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 5:42:15 AM  
Corporations are not people, my friend.

The name "corporation" literally means given bodily form, but it doesn't mean given a soul. We've created soulless entities and given them power (through vast amounts of money) to rule our daily lives. Skynet never dreamed of that kind of power.
 
Devolving_Spud [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 5:48:52 AM  
Maybe if we vote away more of our rights, things will turn around.

//and throw in some tax cuts for the wealthy
 
snocone [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 8:24:03 AM  
IMHO, USA has the worst slavemasters on the planet.
 
RobotSpider
2022-11-08 8:24:47 AM  

Devolving_Spud: //and throw in some tax cuts for the wealthy


Exactly! Surely if we give the rich more of what they already have, which is more than we'll ever have, eventually it will be "enough" and they're sure to start handing out money, right?
 
lilbjorn
2022-11-08 8:27:22 AM  

Devolving_Spud: Maybe if we vote away more of our rights, things will turn around.

//and throw in some tax cuts for the wealthy


Surely the reason the wealth never trickled down before is because the tax cuts weren't BIG enough.
 
70Ford
2022-11-08 8:28:34 AM  
i.imgflip.comView Full Size
 
Tyrone Slothrop
2022-11-08 8:36:19 AM  
"House Democrats Propose End to Wall Street Rent-Gouging"

Unfortunately after today it will be a moot point.
 
BitwiseShift
2022-11-08 8:42:36 AM  
Serfs are chattel.  They are free so long as they don't hire out to anyone else except for one week a year, they can look for better work, unless there's an "emergency."   Serfdom's benefit is that the runaway serfs actually colonized areas it was difficult to populate.
 
saintstryfe [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 8:43:25 AM  
My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.
 
Bondith
2022-11-08 8:46:56 AM  

saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.


Is that even legal?
 
mrparks
2022-11-08 8:57:46 AM  
No, wrong.

We are whores.
 
hairywoogit
2022-11-08 8:59:35 AM  

Bondith: saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.

Is that even legal?


Depends on the contract he signed.  "Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is a poison pill to watch out for.
 
WrongTrousers
2022-11-08 8:59:36 AM  
Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Abox
2022-11-08 9:00:26 AM  
The legislation would also prohibit federal lending institutions Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Gennie Mae from purchasing and securitizing mortgages

Nothing's changed in this regard.  It's amazing that a signature on any lending contract becomes instant money that is traded away almost immediately by the lender.  As soon as you agree to pay, people are cashing in on your final payment whether or not you can make any at all.
 
fragMasterFlash [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 9:04:54 AM  
Serfing with the illegal alien.
 
saintstryfe [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 9:18:15 AM  

hairywoogit: Bondith: saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.

Is that even legal?

Depends on the contract he signed.  "Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is a poison pill to watch out for.


I love my brother but I could totally see him missing something like that.
 
macadamnut
2022-11-08 9:30:03 AM  
winnipesaukee.comView Full Size
 
cards fan by association
2022-11-08 9:41:21 AM  
The more we allow billionaires to run amok and suck up all the resources, the closer we get to having a permanent subservient underclass of people who effectively do not have any remaining resources available to them to rise out of it.
 
bluejeansonfire
2022-11-08 9:44:51 AM  
Capitalism is absolutely serfdom for the working class.

Eat the rich.
 
mongbiohazard
2022-11-08 9:45:58 AM  

saintstryfe: hairywoogit: Bondith: saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.

Is that even legal?

Depends on the contract he signed.  "Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is a poison pill to watch out for.

I love my brother but I could totally see him missing something like that.


*I* could miss something like that and I've been working my whole adult career in the rental housing industry. Because I'm not a lawyer. I've caught some things before when reviewing contracts/leases/laws but I'd only be fooling myself to think I caught everything. People go to school to specialize in that kind of law, and you as a non-lawyer are probably just not going to be able to fully understand a lease and all its provisions without legal assistance.

Leases are legal contracts that we landlords hire lawyers to craft to protect ourselves, but vanishingly few people can afford to have a lawyer review their lease before they sign it. And even if they did it's often moot as it might be a challenge to even find a lease in the area he needs without the provision.
 
BMFPitt
2022-11-08 9:47:57 AM  

hairywoogit: Bondith: saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.

Is that even legal?

Depends on the contract he signed.  "Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is a poison pill to watch out for.


"Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is not a thing, and if it was, it would be laughed out of court.  It's possible that there's something in the lease about fuel oil, but that sounds incredibly odd.  Especially the "due immediately."  I would absolutely ask for a look at the documentation.
 
SirGunslinger
2022-11-08 9:56:06 AM  

BMFPitt: hairywoogit: Bondith: saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.

Is that even legal?

Depends on the contract he signed.  "Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is a poison pill to watch out for.

"Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is not a thing, and if it was, it would be laughed out of court.  It's possible that there's something in the lease about fuel oil, but that sounds incredibly odd.  Especially the "due immediately."  I would absolutely ask for a look at the documentation.


It is most likely quite illegal, but the time and resources to fight in court can be pretty daunting if you are broke and working hourly.
 
BMFPitt
2022-11-08 10:02:32 AM  

SirGunslinger: It is most likely quite illegal, but the time and resources to fight in court can be pretty daunting if you are broke and working hourly.


All of those costs are borne by the landlord, who would be the one who would be the one who would have to sue.  If that was the actual language, I would be very comfortable going to court pro se.

I've had a lawyer for my old apartment call me once, and laughed at him when he said I owed them money after moving out.  I told him I was very much looking forward to the court date.  Never heard from him again.

A friend of mine actually did end up in court getting sued by the same company and ended up with a few months of free rent after getting it dismissed with prejudice.
 
GhostOfSavageHenry
2022-11-08 10:10:17 AM  
God damn this country is so farking stupid. How. HOW!? does it come down to a dead heat between "Americans are not serfs!" And "How dare you expect to make a living wage you greedy, lazy, prole?!, Now gbtwafo!"
Absolutely madness.
 
DarkSoulNoHope
2022-11-08 10:14:50 AM  

Tyrone Slothrop: "House Democrats Propose End to Wall Street Rent-Gouging"

Unfortunately after today it will be a moot point.


Actually January 3, 2023, but your point still stands.

/Hell, it's a moot point now considering how Manchin and Sinema are always on the Republicans' side when it comes to coddling businesses and colluding with Republican fascism (preventing non-Republicans from being allowed the right to vote)
 
SirGunslinger
2022-11-08 10:16:30 AM  

BMFPitt: SirGunslinger: It is most likely quite illegal, but the time and resources to fight in court can be pretty daunting if you are broke and working hourly.

All of those costs are borne by the landlord, who would be the one who would be the one who would have to sue.  If that was the actual language, I would be very comfortable going to court pro se.

I've had a lawyer for my old apartment call me once, and laughed at him when he said I owed them money after moving out.  I told him I was very much looking forward to the court date.  Never heard from him again.

A friend of mine actually did end up in court getting sued by the same company and ended up with a few months of free rent after getting it dismissed with prejudice.


If one is familiar with their rights and basic legal procedure then it is a simple thing, but if someone is stressed and not very legal savvy or well educated then it can be pretty damn intimidating.
 
karl2025
2022-11-08 10:17:00 AM  
The the protections given to modern serfs is health care. As long as you work for a corporate lord you get their health care plan, that binds you to the company.
 
moresugar
2022-11-08 10:17:17 AM  
serfs are granted protection and justice by their lords

Not really, subby.  Feudal obligations didn't extend to serfs, who were basically zeroes in the feudal system.  The serfs owed their lords a labor obligation (corvee in the west, robot in the east) and usually some kind of in-kind rent, but they couldn't call upon their lords to protect them as a matter of right.  Serfs weren't exactly slaves - at least not in the way we usually think of the term.  The lords didn't own their serfs, but they did own the land that the serfs were on, and the serfs couldn't leave the land without their lord's permission, so it was more like the lords owned the land and the land owned the serfs.
 
Rent Party
2022-11-08 10:18:31 AM  
We aren't sliding into fascism, we are sliding into feudalism.
 
NuclearPenguins [TotalFark]
2022-11-08 10:20:23 AM  

Rent Party: We aren't sliding into fascism, we are sliding into feudalism.


Sweet! I own enough land to start a modest manor farm. I'll be taking applications for peasants soon.
 
DarkSoulNoHope
2022-11-08 10:23:11 AM  

Rent Party: We aren't sliding into fascism, we are sliding into feudalism.


Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Pats_Cloth_Coat
2022-11-08 10:34:14 AM  

SirGunslinger: BMFPitt: SirGunslinger: It is most likely quite illegal, but the time and resources to fight in court can be pretty daunting if you are broke and working hourly.

All of those costs are borne by the landlord, who would be the one who would be the one who would have to sue.  If that was the actual language, I would be very comfortable going to court pro se.

I've had a lawyer for my old apartment call me once, and laughed at him when he said I owed them money after moving out.  I told him I was very much looking forward to the court date.  Never heard from him again.

A friend of mine actually did end up in court getting sued by the same company and ended up with a few months of free rent after getting it dismissed with prejudice.

If one is familiar with their rights and basic legal procedure then it is a simple thing, but if someone is stressed and not very legal savvy or well educated then it can be pretty damn intimidating.


Friend was renting..landlord wasn't paying the mortgage . Bank was sending notices which her roommate had been tossing. Bank sends eviction notice, we needed a 30 day stay. Trying to figure out what to file and how to file it was maddening.  Actual hearing was easy but getting there was a nightmare
 
saintstryfe [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-11-08 10:34:29 AM  

mongbiohazard: And even if they did it's often moot as it might be a challenge to even find a lease in the area he needs without the provision.


That's what I assume. I trust him to control his life, and I'm happy big sis can be there to help him out when he needs it, so long as he makes good, which he always had to this point.
 
Rent Party
2022-11-08 10:36:07 AM  

NuclearPenguins: Rent Party: We aren't sliding into fascism, we are sliding into feudalism.

Sweet! I own enough land to start a modest manor farm. I'll be taking applications for peasants soon.


Sorry man, you're going to get relocated, a new landlord will be appointed for you, and you can rent the land you used to own.  This is the way.
 
TheOtherGuy
2022-11-08 10:41:51 AM  

hairywoogit: Bondith: saintstryfe: My brother had to come to me hat-in-hand yesterday - his landlord just charged him for a fuel oil surge charge that was basically a month's rent - due immediately. I let him use my credit card - he's always been perfect about paying back, and he can afford it but not an extra month's rent at once immediately, and his credit is crap. So he's lost. I'm happy to help but it's infuriating to know this can happen. And my brother's a reasonably well compensated corporate employee at Best Buy in Minneapolis, he's not some arse making crap at a grocery store.

Is that even legal?

Depends on the contract he signed.  "Additional costs incurred may be charged at the discretion of the landlord" is a poison pill to watch out for.


Fun fact:  Landlords - especially "mom and pop" private ones, though sometimes the corporate ones do, too - very often put patently illegal and unenforceable things into their lease agreements.  One very common example is that all pest control expenses are the responsibility of the tenant.  In many jurisdictions (though not all), this is illegal and unenforceable, because the law mandates something called a Warranty of Habitability that is the financial and legal responsibility of the tenant.

But just because people see things in print, in a contract they signed, they presume it's legal, enforceable, and unavoidable.  Many times, it is none of those things, but landlords will try anyway.  They're only dicking around with part of their supplemental income.  You have to dick around with your living arrangements if you want to contest something like that, so they're betting you wont' even look into it.
 
EyeballKid
2022-11-08 10:43:16 AM  

Tyrone Slothrop: "House Democrats Propose End to Wall Street Rent-Gouging"

Unfortunately after today it will be a moot point.


As many Democrats as there are that are also bought by Wall Street, it was always going to be strictly performative.
 
EyeballKid
2022-11-08 10:45:17 AM  

GhostOfSavageHenry: God damn this country is so farking stupid. How. HOW!? does it come down to a dead heat between "Americans are not serfs!" And "How dare you expect to make a living wage you greedy, lazy, prole?!, Now gbtwafo!"
Absolutely madness.


The perfect symbol of America is the Confederate soldier fighting for a cause he's too poor to enjoy the exploits of under the delusion that some day one of his children will get to own slaves of their own.
 
sinner4ever
2022-11-08 10:48:59 AM  

EyeballKid: Tyrone Slothrop: "House Democrats Propose End to Wall Street Rent-Gouging"

Unfortunately after today it will be a moot point.

As many Democrats as there are that are also bought by Wall Street, it was always going to be strictly performative.


It wasn't anyone with leadership. It was Ro Khanna. The people you expect to try and help are trying while the others have been running on "Republicans bad" while trying to pretend Americans aren't suffering.
 
serfdood [TotalFark]
2022-11-08 10:49:43 AM  
I approve of this headline.
 
GhostOfSavageHenry
2022-11-08 11:38:09 AM  

EyeballKid: GhostOfSavageHenry: God damn this country is so farking stupid. How. HOW!? does it come down to a dead heat between "Americans are not serfs!" And "How dare you expect to make a living wage you greedy, lazy, prole?!, Now gbtwafo!"
Absolutely madness.

The perfect symbol of America is the Confederate soldier fighting for a cause he's too poor to enjoy the exploits of under the delusion that some day one of his children will get to own slaves of their own.


Reminds me of a line from the movie The Free State of Jones which was basically "your more of a n***** than he is. He was only picking their cotton, you were willing to die for their cotton."
 
groppet
2022-11-08 12:08:01 PM  
Well not yet but I am sure the American oligarchs are working on a plan to put everyone into indentured servitude and have their descendants pay off the debt for eternity.
 
bzdrummer
2022-11-08 12:15:40 PM  
Fark user imageView Full Size
 
UndeadPoetsSociety
2022-11-08 12:21:46 PM  

GhostOfSavageHenry: God damn this country is so farking stupid. How. HOW!? does it come down to a dead heat between "Americans are not serfs!" And "How dare you expect to make a living wage you greedy, lazy, prole?!, Now gbtwafo!"
Absolutely madness.


The main answer is racism, with a large side of the system being rigged to favor racism.
 
UndeadPoetsSociety
2022-11-08 12:24:58 PM  

EyeballKid: GhostOfSavageHenry: God damn this country is so farking stupid. How. HOW!? does it come down to a dead heat between "Americans are not serfs!" And "How dare you expect to make a living wage you greedy, lazy, prole?!, Now gbtwafo!"
Absolutely madness.

The perfect symbol of America is the Confederate soldier fighting for a cause he's too poor to enjoy the exploits of under the delusion that some day one of his children will get to own slaves of their own.


Although many Confederate soldiers were conscripts who didn't want to be there; as much as a third of the Confederate army was listed as missing or AWOL at the end of the war. It wasn't nearly as popular among the general public as later revisionist history painted things.
 
AAAAGGGGHHHH
2022-11-08 12:26:46 PM  
How Charles Koch, the Mercers, the Fascist Society, and the GQP want to see America in the future:

Fark user imageView Full Size
 
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