This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 560 donors have already invested in our efforts to shed light on the dark and seamy corners of finance. Join us and participate via our Tip Jar or WePay in the right column or read about why we’re doing this fundraiser and other ways to donate, such as by check, on our kickoff post or one discussing our current target.
I was humbled by this comment yesterday on Bill Black’s post on our fundraiser:
2little2late says:
November 14, 2012 at 9:54 pmI just emptied my entire Paypal account in Yves direction, all $2.01 goes to aid in her upkeep.
In foreclosure, my wife and I left the house she designed (architect) and I (contractor) built. We’re in federal court pro se against the monster B of A that Yves has written about many a time. Tough go, but you have to stand up to this bullshit. Billion to one odds, but it has to be done.
These financial institutional cancers are like nothing ever before seen on this planet. They keep growing like the blob of sci-fi lore…they’re destroying the countryside like Rodan, leaving millions homeless while millions of homes lie abandoned by these same banks, who’ve stripped America naked. Societal parasites, and few anywhere else talk about it.
The bottom line is….what can be said of a society that parks millions upon millions of empty houses over here, while tossing millions upon millions of evicted citizens over there? Could any civilization be happy with that outcome? Isn’t that embarrassing at the least? Seriously inhumane at the worst? Who ordained this shit?
Thank you Yves, from the bottom of my heart. I love you dearly. When I can send more I will. Your primers on securitization and foreclosure fraud have aided me more than you’ll ever know.
Many people in America have taken huge losses as a result of the financial crisis. And some of the greatest damage isn’t just to their savings, but to their mental health: the unwarranted self-recrimination, the sense of isolation and powerlessness.
2little2late knows he will probably lose against Bank of America. But he isn’t just entering into this struggle with the primary objective of winning, he’s doing it to inflict costs on them by making them go to court, to establish a record, and most important, as a personal statement, to stand up for his dignity.
Many of us here are looking to find ways to take our power back, to demand justice and decency from an increasingly predatory financial system and its collaborators among the elites. Many of these battles will not result in victory. But the most important thing is not to give up on bringing the miscreants to heel. The failure to reform the financial system means new crises are inevitable, but if the banks succeed in reducing the public to sullen resignation, their success will be complete.
2little2late wants a different debate, a different society, and a different culture. And when you give, this is the sort of person you are helping, in joining and reinforcing his demand for justice and acountability. And helping people like him ultimately helps all of us.
69 comments
Comments are closed.
I’m in a similar boat, sent $20 bucks earlier, wish I could do more. Waiting for the other shoe to drop from BOA, we’re in “final numbers”… been there quite a few times already, its getting old.
I’m in such good company. Thanks Yves.
__________________________________________________
Dear Clive Pseudo Name,
You just set up an automatic payment profile to NC. Here are the details:
To:
NC
Profile ID:
A-NNNAAAANAAAA
Here are the details about the automatic payment you just set up:
Amount to be paid each time:
$5.00 USD
Billing cycle:
Monthly
Payments start:
15 Nov 2012
Pay with money from:
AAAAAAA BANK x-NNN
____________________________________________________
Why ? Because sometimes you realise just what exactly are the things which are really important. Hang on in there 2little2late, it’s a long shot but you might just prevail. You’re the equivalent of the abandoned kittens in the animal welfare ad but whatever, that’s the motivation I needed to make me take action rather than prevaricate.
On a more material note, being a Trustee of a small charity myself, I appreciate that — while all funding is welcome — regular donations (however small) are “nicer” than occasional large amounts because they provide certainty. Hence the little bit — that I won’t miss — every month. Not sure if NC prefers one above the other but I’m hoping that a little trickle each month is better than a one off ad-hoc.
I’ve rationalized the same as Clive. An ongoing monthly donation allows me to contribute more than I could all at once and I hope the ongoing stream helps. In my head it makes the cash flow more sustainable and predictable (at least as long as I have a job/income) so hopefully more useful to the effort. I hope it’s not more hassle for the worthy recipients.
But he isn’t just entering into this struggle with the primary objective of winning, he’s doing it to inflict costs on them by making them go to court, to establish a record, and most important, as a personal statement, to stand up for his dignity.
This resonates. I refused to vote for Obama in the interests of dignity. So you got me: I’m making my donation right now.
And for 2little2late: there’s an army behind you, brother, an army just now learning to fight.
they are tearing down 600 houses in Flint MI starting this week:
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/11/city_of_flint_genesee_county_l.html
Tearing down houses in Michigan as local solution was one of the special features on Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story DVD. Vegetable gardens made possible iirc. Maybe even clotheslines will be legal again? I know, stop me from dreaming.
I just kicked in $20 and while it’s not a lot, it’s all I’ve got right now. Well that’s not entirely true, I’ve still got my principles and my N/C contribution is a reflection of them.
Yves, et al., your collective work is extremely important to me. Keep fighting the good fight and speaking truth to power.
I suspect that your initial inclination after reading that heart-wrenching endorsement was to return his donation. Don’t. For him, I suspect that while the contribution was small, the feeling of empowerment it gives him is not. And for you, its likely the least you’ve ever been paid for your advice/opinion, but also among the most rewarding. Keep it up Yves, you are doing good – and no, I don’t mean well. Good.
I was thinking that humans’ deep needs (not wants)
are more like recognition, work that one enjoys
because it has a purpose that fits our outlook
on life, fellowship, comraderie, friendships,
sensual pleasures and emotive connectivity.
It takes a spark to start a fire.
One presumes that many NC readers work in FIRE, and government. Each should ask: whose dog am I?
I killed my corporate career, before it killed me (barely). There is life after. Good Life. And serious fun if you willing to take on the Culture of Maximum Harm, better known as the American way of Life.
I believe you’ve got it right, Gil. That Maximum Harm you refer to is the fact that War, though not obvious to most Americans, IS the American way of life. Without constant investment in new weapons, spies, and other forms of aggression, which just happens to include the medium we’re using now, there is no US economy. And now, because Obama has just stated that if addressing Climate Change impacts economic growth and job creation, then to hell with it, we’ve declared war on the planet itself. Because modern economies create neither growth nor jobs without burning constantly increasing amounts of fossil fuels. Naked capitalism is War, and that’s why the US is its Champion.
Yves, I wanted to make a donation from across the pond but I am anti-Paypal by principle. Last year, I donated by credit card through a conduit you had organized with a friend of yours. Can’t that be redone this year. I do not know of any other way to donate.
Anyway, thanks for the wonderful work!
I’ve come to realize how important influence is
in shaping public opinion.
Simply by reading and thinking critically about what
appears here at NC, we can become better
informed citizens. This can propagate.
The enslaved black people in the Southern US had a gossip
person-to-person messaging way:
“I heard it through the grapevine”.
Originally called the ‘grape-vine’ telegraph:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapevine_%28gossip%29
Why not “the cheque is in the mail”?
You beat me to it.
NC readers should boycott Paypal, which is a scheme by the heinous libertarian douchebag Peter Thiel to do an end run around the government controlled banking system. It’s the financial version of his libertarian dystopia city-states built on old oil rigs.
If you read our blurb above, it says the kickoff post describes “other ways to donate.” If you scroll down in the right column, there is a button for WePay, which is “another credit card portal.”
Sorry, didn’t read carefully enough. Donation sent by Amex.
You could deposit to my sterling account, and I would then forward the sum in USD.
Okay, that’s a better idea, forget mine.
My neighbors are hanging on paying the inflated prices of pre 2008. I couldn’t do it, so I took to the fight with the help of some very capable lawyers. They too scratch their head at how the court continues to allow the paper buying collection agency to create false paperwork with impunity and to keep biting the apple. I should have won a long time ago but now all I have is an appeal that will probably go their way too and not because of law. But the fight has hurt them and I will continue to fight till the very end. It’s all I got. Good luck 2little2late.
I’m continually amazed that Americans caught in Wall Street induced debt traps (education, housing, healthcare and credit cards to name a few) fail to see the big picture: a system of greed, power and control run amok.
Instead of clearly focused anger at this crushing system, there is personal shame, isolation, self-recrimination and redirection of fury onto others less powerful (who are hurting even more than you). I guess this is just human nature, after all this pattern has been repeated through the centuries when people are under stress. The lesson never seems to be learned and we fall into the abyss again….
2little2late is a glorious exception. He is clear and focused on “…these same banks, who’ve stripped America naked. Societal parasites, and few anywhere else talk about it.” Thank you, 2little2late and thank you, Naked Capitalism for being more than just a financial “Tin Man”—there is a robust, beating heart under all of your facts and figures.
I will mail my contribution in soon (I’m hopelessly old school).
Instead of clearly focused anger at this crushing system, there is personal shame, isolation, self-recrimination and redirection of fury onto others less powerful …
Well said. The lottery culture – with a small clique of “winners” and a large disorganized mob of “losers” – produces psychopaths at the top, and depressives at the bottom.
(Inviting comments on the role of SSRIs in (1) creating depression and psychosis, and (2) in making the ultrarich even richer.)
I have heard it said many a time that Americans
like winners and don’t like losers. I take that
as a sociological observation.
Still, being from the Great White Frozen North,
I don’t understand such an attitude …
@Stratos: How can I put this as delicately as possible?
“Instead of clearly focused anger at this crushing system, there is personal shame, isolation, self-recrimination and redirection of fury onto others less powerful (who are hurting even more than you).” All the reactions you cite are the classic and all too well documented pathetic reactions and rationalizations of rape victims. Until the US populace, which continues labouring under its own pathetic rationalizations, comes to terms with the full grotesque ugliness of what befell it ie its brutal rape and assault by a cynical leering Wall St. and ‘free market’ unregulated mortgage lending with a nut-numbed Congress watching on from the shadows…until then the victim shall remain a victim and the insidious cycle shall continue on and on.
You’re right, Mary. The American people are reacting like classic rape victims in a patriarchal system. Isolation and shame deepen the trauma of losing your home, despair at the crushing burden of student debt peonage and humiliation over job loss and long term unemployment. These are the same emotions that bedevil women and men who have been sexually violated.
If isolation is part of the problem, perhaps connection is part of the solution. In the book, Trauma and Recovery, by Dr. Judith Herman, the building of community and connection is stressed as essential to recovery. She writes:
“The solidarity of a group provides the strongest antidote to traumatic experience. Trauma isolates; the group re-creates a sense of belonging. Trauma shames and stigmatizes; the group bears witness and affirms. Trauma degrades the victim; the group exhalts her. Trauma dehumanizes the victim; the group restores her humanity.”
Many Americans have allowed social bonds to become frayed and tenuous. That lack of connection has left many of us vulnerable to the ravages of the One Percent (who are tightly organized and deeply integrated in their business and personal lives). Perhaps one of the underlying lessons of our time is that community does matter. Not the hierarchical, tightly controlled families, churches and neighborhoods of the early 20th century, but more egalitarian, diverse and—dare I say—democratic forms of community. When we grow past talking about community to living with deep connectedness, then Americans can work toward deep transformation of the decayed structures that traumatize so many of us at this time.
Hierarchichal church institutions, family institutions, etc.
may well be “meta” different than the physical buildings in which the human participants in those institutions lived out their participation.
Could it be possible that the sort of mutual co-survival and mutual co-uplift communities of shared-effort persons could physically inhabit and function in some of the physical houses, churches, YMWCAs, public libraries, etc. which physically exist at this very moment? If so, they would get more successful community successfully created than if they are confined to meeting in alleys and parking lots and municipal dumps.
I suppose it goes without saying that this is another “inevitable” outcome of the cult of the “rugged individual” that pervades our society – whereby groups, collectives, whatever, are not the first line of defense one thinks of in dealing with the “realities” we have created and grace with the name of “economy”.
So, in the name of “individual freedom”, mutual support groups, e.g. unions, are openly discouraged, beaten back, and others, while not openly disparaged are neglected and replaced with SSRIs and other drugs …
It is SOOO much easier for TPTB to beat us down when they can deal with us one at a time – so it is quite in their best interest to cultivate this cult of the individual – and once it becomes pervasive and seeps into every aspect of our lives … it ironically becomes the tool, not of our “empowerment” but of our undoing ,,,,
And the cult of the market slides right in “naturally” as in such our power springs from number of dollars, or shares in WS 401Ks, e.g. and not from solidarity with others in terms of basic human needs – and this is being teased to the max with the ability to microtarget everything from soup to votes – tailored to “YOU! Individually! Uniquely!”
It is the triumph of the Me over We that is killing us – and if we can recognize this “motif” in all aspects of our lives, then we at least will have a handle on how to combat it, ISTM
Yes. And one starting point is for small groups of “we” to start doing some things together. It could start as simply as neighborhood barter-sessions, cookout-meetings, etc. Neighborhood garden groups, etc.
Battered person syndrome-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battered_person_syndrome
Additionally, repeated cycles of violence and reconciliation can result in the following beliefs and attitudes:[6]
The abused thinks that the violence was his or her fault.
The abused has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere.
The abused fears for his/her life and/or the lives of his/her children (if present).
The abused has an irrational belief that the abuser is omnipresent and omniscient.
The comments on MMT posts are usually the best display of it around here. Growling and gnashing of teeth. One on one I imagine it’s difficult to deal with. In larger numbers….very ugly.
Everyone should listen to Sam Seder’s interview with David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5,000 Years
“Tough go, but you have to stand up to this bullshit. Billion to one odds, but it has to be done.”
Yes, you do and yes, it HAS to be done! I fought the banksters too for several years. They NEVER did prove they owned the note. They fought discovery tooth and nail and stalled, whined and delayed every single proceeding. Thus, I ran out of money in my fight against them. This is their master plan, that you run out of money and have to give up. The fight played havoc with my health and sanity. Ended up settling and they had to pay me to go away. I’m okay with it. Wish I could have gotten more out of these bastards, wish I could have prolonged the battle, but I’m in a better situation now.
“2little2late knows he will probably lose against Bank of America. But he isn’t just entering into this struggle with the primary objective of winning, he’s doing it to inflict costs on them by making them go to court, to establish a record, and most important, as a personal statement, to stand up for his dignity.”
Yes, the unfortunate truth is he probably will lose, but they will end up having to pay him to “go away”. These Too Big To Fail bastards are fully backstopped by the US gov’t. and have UNLIMITED FUNDS to fight any of us pesky homeowners, thanks to the “foam-the-runway” jack-wagon and the Bernank.
What chance do the “little people” have when the banks can hire the $1000 an hour high-powered corporate hack law firms to defend them? My $250 an hour “no-name” attorney SURE DID give them a run for “their”(OUR taxpayer!) money though.
I felt like if I did not at LEAST fight back in some way, I would be a failure. I wasn’t going to tuck my tail between my legs and just go away. So I did fight back. I hope MANY more people fight back. The deck is stacked against us, but sometimes a few of us WILL prevail.
I do indeed sympathize with the “gotta fight back” mode – I started a 10 year odyssey about a quarter of a century ago – wasn’t about saving my house, per se, but about my water supply …. And in the process I did all i could as an individual (including suing a Town Board) – won a small battle but knew it was temporary, because, like the Terminator – those guys will always be back. And that is when i realized, on a gut level, that “it takes a village”, or more precisely a polity, to win battles at a level and for a time that would really make a difference …
So those individual battles are important on a fundamental level – dignity and all – and they are occasionally won, but mostly not and they will continue to be necessary because for these big guys, this “fighting back” by the “little guy” one at a time IS annoying, but still just the quite acceptable cost of doing business ….
In the end, it is not til we band together in some organized concerted fashion, and each use our little strings all together – as the Lilliputians did with Gulliver – can we immobilize the beast ….
NC is a great help in providing the tools – the shovels, the drills, the screws of various sizes, lots of string, (and maybe a stick of dynamite or two, as in “explosive revelations”) – but in the end we must get together to use these tools ….
My experience taught me that we can do all this stuff at an individual level, but if in the end, we don’t get together and collectively pull on those levers of power we have available to us, we will wind up being squashed, albeit with our dignity intact, one at time ….
“My experience taught me that we can do all this stuff at an individual level, but if in the end, we don’t get together and collectively pull on those levers of power we have available to us, we will wind up being squashed, albeit with our dignity intact, one at time ….”
Exactly right. Thanks for the response.
One never knows which individual fighting back becomes the nucleating agent around which a movement crystallises.
A big deep broad movement to raise money to pay for the legal combat operations being waged by the 2little2lates would be very useful, I should think.
If the gang-bankers are basing their strategy of “running out their opponents’ money-meters”, then the gang-bankers’ strategy fails if their legal combat opponents fail to run out of money to keep fighting.
Also, eventually, maybe encourage citizens to
attend court proceedings.
About transcripts, judgments, they would be
at the Courthouse.
Federal courts (district, circuit, Supreme)
most often have judgments as electronic
documents. There’s also the PACER system
which, for a fee, provides access to
court filings in Federal courts.
If the foreclosure proceedings are in State
County courts, it’s harder to access them
on-line.
And just how much do you think it would take to allow every 2L2L to fight the behemouths to a standstill?
Somehow that seems to me rather like the contenders for the Greek throne picking at the Gordian Knot ….
It would take more than we have to support EVery 2L2L on the battlefield. But we could mobilize enough donatable money to support SOME of them. And SOME is more than NONE.
Also, as more get supported, they get more visibility, especially if the donor movement becomes a publicity movement making sure the 2L2Ls they are supporting in the field become more widely known.
Then too, such a movement could expand to analyzing the behavior of relevant court personell for actionable criminality or at least disbarable or disbenchable misconduct. And then pursue those complaints.
Alright. Fine. You got me you fuckers. Every weekday morning I come into work, pour myself a cup of plain hot water, and spend about half an hour reading up on the latest Naked Capitalism. And guess what? They pay me for it!
Although it’s literally the least I can do, it feels good to have this victory during my day of capitalist production. And while I could always spend that time reading TMZ or Buzzfeed, if I wanted to rot my brain I might as well just do my work. And so, it seems, it really wouldn’t be possible without you, Naked Capitalism. Enjoy your donation.
Naked Capitalism is proof that the lies are free.
Just donated $20. First time donating to any website, but Naked Capitalism has been a great part of my life for a long time. I was a financial reporter during the crisis and NC was one of the few places one could go for commentary that wasn’t pure bullshit. It’s still a daily read. Keep up the good work Yves and Co!
Take some personable responsibility.
What did BofA do to you? Forced you to take a teaser rate? Sold you a product you did not understand? Are you thinking they should willingly just give to you the house now? At closing you did get the money to buy the house right?
If you want to talk about reselling loan etc that is fine. But at a personable borrower level, one has to responsible for their actions. Even if the bank had a slick talking salesman. Sorry – everyone has tough times. Buck up and take it on day by day and you will make it better.
Tell me again what the 49-state Attorney General mortgage fraud settlement was all about? What was stipulated and immunized from prosecution?
I have a “big fairness” question. Isn’t there a maxim in court that you have to have “clean hands” to sue someone? Why in the world doesn’t the fact that the mortgage settlement establishes that the banks do NOT have clean hands, and yet they get to keep foreclosing?
@mark: I hate to think how much you overpaid for your education. Get a grip on your spelling skills mate.
Until America’s profligate banks are held responsible for their actions let me give you, Mark, a suggestion in return: Hold your breath.
How is trying to force the bank to produce the note not taking personal respomsibility?
Or are you of the view that a contract is what one of the parties says it is, even if that party can’t back up what they say with, er, a contract?
Your “personal responsbility” sounds an awful lot like pre-Magna Carta feudalism, to me!
The “personal responsibility/bootstrap” thing also sounds like an “Americans for Prosperity” meme.
So . . . the baby from whom the candy stealer stole the candy is just as responsible as the candy stealer who stole the candy from the baby?
That does not compute.
I’ve got two mortgages which I pay faithfully without incident. So long as I pay them according to the original contract, I have little doubt that I won’t be foreclosed upon. And if I stopped paying them I would fully expect my lenders to foreclose, as that’s their right – it’s part of the agreement I made with them. Although I have no love for the TBTF banks, in general, I’m quite satisfied with my mortgage arrangement.
Although I sympathize with those folks who have faced foreclosure due to errors (e.g., they made payments that weren’t recorded, etc.), I have to admit that I don’t have a lot of sympathy for folks who simply overextended themselves which comprises the vast majority of foreclosures. After all, that’s why we have rentals – for those folks who can’t handle ownership, for whatever reason. There’s nothing inherently wrong with renting… or so I’ve always thought.
Unfortunately:
1. Deceptive marketing practices really do work, and
as far as “not able to handle”
2. Not everybody was able to forsee the worst crash since ’29 and consequent lifetime disemployment for many, with loss of housing, and
3. Many bankruptcies (and I am guessing foreclosures) happen due to medical bills, and including those who have taken every precaution by purchasing health insurance.
And finally
4. Many who “took a risk” (you would say, in retrospect, “could not handle”) did so for the sake of their children’s education: As is well known, if you want your kids to go to a “good school,” odds are you’ve got to get into a “good neighborhood,” and that means a neighborhood with more expensive housing, all things being equal.
Your comment reminds me of the joke the “disabled” make about the “temporarily abled.” Check your privilege and bless your good luck, in addition to your own abilities.
People who have not even had a mortgage have been foreclosed upon. I know of at least two cases where borrowers could prove they’d made every payment on time, banks refused to stop foreclosures when borrower attorney said they had proof (one had to declare BK to stop the foreclosure). Banks have been known to hold payments to make them late, and then start piling junk fees on. Foreclosure defense attorneys say anywhere from 50% to 70% of the cases they take are servicer induced foreclosures (now this is not representative of the market as a whole, since most borrowers don’t fight).
So if a big bank third-party debt collector servicer claims to “own” the property, the homeowners and judiciary should just roll over and let them take it? No standing. No capacity. No proof of claim. And you are okay with THAT? Hope it happens to you someday. Got MERS?
Can’t we do more for 2little2late and others like him? Wish there was a tab on Naked Capitalism for dilemmas and solutions. Crowdsource? We could walk through these court cases together. People are motivated to DIY if they have knowledge and help, and I think we are all interested and care very much about people making the system work. From the side of the judges and advocates in the system, it might be wonderful to have attention. I’m aching to applaud for good guys.
(Remember Mr. Auctioneer? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3X89iViAlw Naked Capitalism helped it go viral. I still get tears.)
Yeah, we could do a hell of a lot more for folks like this – by putting folks in office who would prosecute and pass and enforce laws that would keep this sh** from happening – but we don’t do that, instead we keep electing folks who facilitate these rip offs …
I know i am a “one note pony” on this stuff, but damn it, it does get frustrating when folks are given an option to strike a blow for the 99% and fail to do it ….
But in the meantime, in the immediate battlefield now . . . is there a way to keep lonely soldiers in the field like 2little2late supplied with enough money to keep fighting in defiance of B of A’s “run out 2little2late’s money-meter” strategy?
As the person who originally made this meager pledge to NC, I appreciate the kind words and well meant tidings of all. But I most certainly am not an abandoned kitten, nor am I seeking a free home. My significant other and I are in the Appalachians in a 30’ travel trailer with large views of grand Clinch Mountain vistas with five cats fluffed in a king bed enjoying every second of every day. Yes, we’ve been robbed of our home, but present moment consciousness cannot be pilfered, even by cunning banksters.
We have no money, no retirement, no insurance, no income, but my guess is that neither will you shortly. TPTB have traded our conjoined futures, and, let’s just say that things won’t be the way they’ve been, shortly, for everyone. I’m glad I’m a savvy gardener with natural springs flowing nearby and plenty of heirloom seeds. Global austerity sucks, and can prove deadly.
Here’s the point….there are no longer any free homes to be had due to the credit default swaps, TARP, and other handouts that Yves written about so many times before. Trillions later, our homes are free and clear, albeit the titles are forever screwed. Prove me wrong.
Securitization – Gone – Wild has napalmed the landscape. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let B of A have my house for zilch because they have the money and crooked lawyers to lie before the judge about fraudulent successor-in-interest claims that they can’t possibly prove up. Trust me, I have a solid case, they’ve committed fraud at every turn, they can’t possibly win, but I have no doubt that they have a very good chance, nearing 99%, of doing just that. Check your local court proceedings for game results. It’s not pretty, but fairly common across the land.
Our government is OK with the whole land grab thing. Pity us, until enough of us turn on them. Then, pity them. Then, go sit on the mountain. And enjoy. It really is all good, once you get past Maya.
Best days of my life were spent inhabiting a 30′(?) Airstream travel trailer in rural Georgia for the meager sum of $60/mo (early 1980’s dollars). Yes indeed, those were the days! And I’m increasingly aware that they can be again if I just offload all of this civilizationally mandated CRAP that we’ve all collectively subscribed to in the meantime. You’ve got your head on straight brother – keep it that way! More power to you and continue to FIGHT THE POWER!!!
And yes, I’m going to go sit on a mountain again this weekend – twice! I sit and look up at them all week, then climb them every available weekend. I’m lucky that way. And it REALLY IS all good from that perspective.
Very sorry, I didn’t mean to imply you yourselves were the kittens, jet tried to use an analogy to list rate how your story had a galvanising effect on me.
Ah, my curiosity is piqued – no money, no income … so,
– is your trailer winterized – how do you heat it? Keep water lines from freezing? (i have a little 15 footer, but I don’t think it would get me through the winter and the heat, hot water is by propane)
– water supply?
– do you own the land it is parked on? Are you parked there for free?
– transportation, into town? supplies?
– grow all your own food?
I am really curious because what you are doing appeals to me a great deal, but i am stumbling over some of these particulars …
Aquifer, so many questions….so much time…..
I corralled the three holding tanks (clear, grey, and black) underneath the trailer in a 2” polystyrene box that I simply wedged under the metal frame (about $100), and have a well heater (yes, they make those things) that’s thermostatically controlled to heat only when needed. Much less energy usage than those specially made electric holding tank pads.
Yes, the heat is a regular HVAC unit powered by propane, but I use electric space heaters most of the time as I have real issues with propane. I know….coal and all….pick your poison. Impossible, or should I say deadly to install my wood cookstove in this tiny space. I’ve placed two – 100 pound propane cylinders next to the small grill sized propane tanks. This allows for plenty of time between fills, and also allows for filling one while one is in use. Filled, they weigh in at 175 pounds, but when close enough to the trailer tongue, all I have to do is roll it out and stand it up. It’s a one person job.
I’m on a friends land. I have a 100’ foot potable hose line with built in heat tape wrapped along with a ¾”id ABS waste line. This setup keeps the supply water from freezing while also keeping the waste line warm as well. These two ¾” lines are wrapped tightly in 1” foam sleeve insulation (a tight fit). A macerator pump installed on the waste outlet purees the waste, sending it through the narrowed pipe. It works well, even for a hundred feet. The pipe then enters into a PVC clean out at my friend’s house. I drilled out the face of the clean out and glued a plastic hose fitting in place to accept the blended waste. So far, this setup is working very well, but I haven’t entered into the coldest part of winter…..we’ll see.
I do grow most everything except staples…can, dehydrate, and save heirloom seeds. I have a truck for in and out of town. I’m into vermiculture and remineralization, which IMO is the only way to eat and grow. Hope this helps. Do it. Toss all that crap you’ve been carrying around for decades. I left with two boxes of clothes and two boxes of books and have zero regrets.
Do you have a blog so I can live vicariously?
The Tampa “honorary ambassador” of the Petraeus scandal has been living in a 1.5-million-dollar home and hasn’t made a payment since 2009, according to NPR today.
i hope 2little2late is able to take his story to local and national media and make his case there–such exposure seems to be something these banks fear most. every media report i’ve seen of an unfair foreclosure has led to the bank offering a far better deal than the victims would have got otherwise.
i am in awe of the amount of work he’s doing to uphold what he says he must uphold. hope that when this battle is over, he’ll continue to have some energy and time to invest in joining some project of the sort aquifer advocates, banding together with others. i am sure 2little2late would be a great leader of such a project–as we all need to become right now, as best we can.
happy black friday all! if we have some time off, let’s raise a little righteous trouble at our nearest wal mart, once we find out how the workers suggest we do that.
i suppose it is no secret that i have a pretty specific idea of what that banding together would look like – it has a political tag on it –
if 2l2l “merely” gets together with others in his same predicament, he might be able to put together a class action suit – but those, except in rare cases (? asbestos industry) don’t seem to accomplish a whole lot … And methinks that the banks’ Gulliver would have not too much trouble breaking even those many strings, though i could be wrong ,,,
i am thinking about a bigger effort – one where aggrieved folks like 2l2l bring their strings together with those of the XL pipeline folk, together with those of the antidrone folk, etc. etc – because the same Gulliver that is allowing and facilitating 2l2l to be whacked is the same Gulliver that is facilitating the grievances of all the rest …
“Asking the workers first” is a very good suggestion, as well as being respectful.
At the very least, action should be kept legal. Keeping it legal means delaying the onset of suppression. The workers get paid by the hour, I believe? If so, the workers lose nothing if undercover-protest “customers” move through the checkout lines verrrrry slowwwwly . . . paying with slowly counted out coins, etc. Enough of that would constipate the flow of goods through the Walmart, thereby depriving Walmart of expected cashflow-per-minute, but not inconveniencing the employees who get paid by the hour regardless ( issues of unpaid work which is oh-so-technically “illegal” aside, of course).
Hey, if you already started out broke going into the financial crisis to begin with, then seeing most everyone get robbed by the elites (and being too dumb and/or deluded to know what’s even going on)then all this stuff is actually pretty amusing.
Anyway, when all the fake paper financial “assets” are finally discovered to be worthless then I expect I’ll be moving up in the world. Meanwhile I’ll remain cynically amused watching everyone scramble around demanding what’s “theirs” and what’s “fair” until then.
That’s why I’m in favor of the elite policies that are destroying the middle class. Working hard and trying to get ahead in the market economy is a fool’s game unless you’re in the .00001%. So do what I did: grow a brain and opt out already.
So, I take it you are “broke” by choice, and not by circumstance … ?
What are some of the replicatable details of your method of dropping out, and how do you survivalize in present dropout mode?