hello7there

[hello7there]

My posting of these articles is a few days late admittedly.

But still.

Feel free to reblog.

Feel free to reblog.

[hello7there]

[hello7there]

Mutualssss !!!! Life updates ?!?!!? Pls provide ?!!?!?!

[hello7there]

Protests against ICE deportations that have engulfed San Francisco’s streets this week took an antisemitic turn when Manny’s, a local Jewish-owned event space, had its windows smashed and walls defaced with slurs including “Die Zio.”

Owner Manny Yekutiel believes the protests against ICE are “necessary” because ongoing deportations are “stoking hatred” and “we need to stand with immigrants.” While Yekutiel says he will continue identifying with left-wing causes, he also said the attack on his business makes the protests concerning for Jews.

[hello7there]

25 years ago an unknown Chinese protester stood in front of a tank in defiance of the government. No one knows the identity of the man but he was given the nick name “Tank Man”. This is one of the most iconic photographs of the century.

[hello7there]

Wait omg same birthday??? Happy birthday!!!!

Omg, thank you!!

Happy birthday to you, too!!

[hello7there]

If you condone/celebrate the DC shooting or the Boulder Colorado attack that happened today block me

[hello7there]

Donate to Ukraine

United 24: General fundraising

Come Back Alive: Specific projects

Prytula foundation: Specific projects

Dzyga’s Paw: General fundraising (animal themed 🐶)

They need all the help they can get.

🇺🇦

[hello7there]

Do Americans realize that for the most part other countries just do not have military bases in foreign countries. And of the other countries that do its like usually less than 5. The fact that we have huge carve outs in the territory of so many other countries just for power projection is actually fucking unusual

[hello7there]

living in the USA rn means every news headline every day is like BREAKING NEWS: The Universal Free Puppy Plan guaranteeing every USA resident receives a free puppy has been terminated. Funds for this initiative will instead be going to the ‘GUNCH IT UP’ act, ensuring that every item on grocery store shelves now contains at least 25% coal tar

[hello7there]

[hello7there]

I have always been a Liberal. Even with the India-Pakistan war, I have always scoffed at the people that tried to say that Islam is the problem and not just the extremist, terror cells in Pakistan. I wasn't excited about the idea of a war, but I saw it as the result of literally nothing else working out. I heard about Kashmiri Pandits, but I thought what happened to them was because of the militant groups coming in. I was sure that they'll be helped to go back home in time.

Now the Hindus in West Bengal are being slaughtered.

West Bengal has been one of the leading forces of the freedom struggle in our country. We have had brilliant philosophers, artists, dancers, poets, singers, screen play writers, writers everything from West Bengal. It is a state that produces brilliant intellectuals every year. Liberals and socialists. I don't know if you've ever talked to a Bengali, but they're the most capable, well spoken, talented people you will ever come across. It's the stronghold of the Shaktism sect in India. Ma Durga is revered the most in that land.

And now our people are being slaughtered. Hindus are being driven out of their land by the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and certain extremist Muslims. It's like watching the Kashmiri Pandit exodus in real time. For centuries they've coexisted together with no issues, enriching the culture of Bengal, and suddenly brother has turned to foe. Houses and businesses are being burnt. They're looting people and issuing rape threats to women. People are being killed. They're throwing around bombs. They're attacking the police forces.

This is a land that has embraced refugees and shared everything with them. There was no reason to attack these people.

People had to cross rivers in boats to escape. 500 people had to leave their homes overnight because of the sudden extremists. Only Muslims were spared.

Locals say this has been going on since 2020.

Please, I'm begging with folded hands, keep the Bengali Hindus in your mind. Look at what they're facing. This is scary. If even the Liberal and safe Bengal can be turned overnight, no place is safe. What tf are people supposed to do?

[hello7there]

I guess my main complaint with the complaints about "AI" is that I feel like they put the horse behind the cart. I don't think AI is "creating a generation of people who can't think critically", I think we already had a "people who can't think critically" problem and that makes those people very susceptible to misusing AI.

If people can't evaluate "hey, this answer doesn't make sense" then it doesn't really matter where the answer came from.

[hello7there]

Spread the word.

[hello7there]

Favorite color: purple

Last song: that cover of Fantastic by King Princess the live version

Currently reading: webcomic called The Legend of Redneck on Canvas. Read another webcomic by the same author called Trailer Park Warlock and that was really good

Currently watching: Nothing right now

Currently craving: regular apple

Coffee or tea: If I had to choose tea, but I like any chocolate drink

get to know your mutuals post I stole from someone else bc I wasn’t tagged but want to tag my friends hehe

Rules: answer 6 questions, tag 6 mutuals

Favorite color:

Last song:

Currently reading:

Currently watching:

Currently craving:

Coffee or tea (or if ur me and don’t like either, a secret third option):

[hello7there]

Actually I have a post I want to make about Property Value.

Which is a topic that comes up a lot in discussions of rich people hoarding wealth, in NIMBY panics, and in the ever-increasing prices of homes. But I don't think we talk much about how the perniciousness of property value goes deeper and basically holds middle class people who own a home hostage.

So the set some context here: in 2025 the median US home sold for $416,000. Say you have a working class family who can't meet median, but who scraped and saved and penny-pinched their way to a $300,000 home.

Typically, when buying a first home, you pay 20% down directly, and take 80% out as a mortgage from the bank. For this family, that means $60,000 of their liquid money (and let's say it took them 10-15 years to save that amount), and a $240,000 loan from the bank.

That's $240,000 in debt the family is. Which will be repaid over 30 years, with interest, at a rate that usually means for the lifetime of the loan, they end up paying back double the original loan.

However this massive $240,000 debt is generally considered "okay" debt to have, because it's backed by the house. If things go truly sour, the bank can take the house (and what's a little homelessness between friends).

That $60,000 the family put down is considered equity, and equity is money you "have", but isn't accessible.

Scenario: Now let's say something happens. Someone in the family loses their job, and the only job they can find requires moving. Or a family member across the country can't care for themselves anymore and so this family needs to move to be closer to them. The family gets divorced. Someone in the family is allergic to material in the home. Someone in the family is being stalked or abused and needs to leave the town. Anything at all, which would require selling the home and moving.

Case 1: The family is able to sell it for exactly what they paid (same property value, no increase or decrease). You would think the math is clean. They are paid $300,000 for the house. $240,000 repays the bank loan. The remaining $60,000 of equity goes right back to them. And they can use it (which took 10+ years to save up) to move across the country and buy a different $300,000 house.

Except no, it does not work like that.

The seller of a home is on the hook to pay commission to their realtor and the buyer's realtor. This is usually ~6% of the home value. They have to pay legal costs. There are taxes. There are miscellaneous costs. It can easily be 6-9% of the selling price of the house.

The bank NEEDS its $240,000 back. So those costs come from the equity. This family is not getting their $60,000 back. They're getting $30,000-$45,000, and now no longer enough money for a downpayment in their move. They're back to renting. Back to penny pinching. They can get by, but homeownership is now out of their grasp once more. Maybe in another 5 years, they'll have enough (unless home prices have increased too much by then) then they'll maybe never be homeowners again.

Case 2: The property value has DECREASED... Family is only getting offers in the $260,000 range.

If the family accepts a $260,000 sale, well $240,000 goes to the bank. This is genuinely non-negotiable. And that leaves.... maybe not enough money to even close on the house. Not enough to pay the realtors and the fees.

That $60,000 is wiped out, and the family is incapable of moving. Never mind losing 10+ years of savings--they're below $0. They don't have the money to close. It's financially impossible to sell. They are stuck with the mortgage. They are stuck with the house. (Maybe they'll rent it, if they can. And now they're landlords by circumstance, which is often NOT profitable when you're not a trust fund baby renting out a totally-paid-for no-mortgage home.) But whatever the case, they cannot sell it. And if the reason for selling was a job loss... well, they can be homeless soon. And if the property value dropped below $240,000, they can be homeless AND owe a bank debt. A $60,000 nest egg wiped completely out, with a bank debt owed on top of that.

So how do people avoid financial destitution when moving?

The most sensible answer is building up equity by paying down the loan--but it's important to know that mortgages are super interest heavy in the early life of the loan. With a 5% interest rate (BETTER, btw, than current rates) this family would be paying $15,460 the first year, and only $3,540.88 is actually chipping at that $240,000 principle. The other $11,919.59 was pure interest to the bank.

So after 1 year, the family went from having $60,000 equity in the house to $63,540.88 equity in the house. This buys a little extra wiggle room when juggling closing costs. But not very much. Even after 3 years, the family has just a little over $70,000 of equity, and just under $230,000 still left on the loan. So if the family has to move for any reason (sickness! death! job loss!) in those 3 years, it's probably financially devastating.

But there is a second answer to avoiding financial ruin: and that is Property Value going up.

Any amount of property value increase is PURE equity. The bank only cares about the amount of money is gave you. If after 3 years, that house is now worth (and can sell for) $315,000 (which is appreciation of only 1.6% a year. Most home appreciation is closer to 3%), that's more equity increase than they got from 36 diligent months of mortgage payment.

If they can sell for $315,000, pay $230,000 of that to the bank, that leaves $85,000. $25,000 goes to paying the realtors and the closing costs and.... the family is back to their $60,000 downpayment. Not trapped. Able to sell. Able to buy a new $300,000 home in the place they moved. Able to just maintain homeownership status.

But wait, if their home appreciated to $315,000, didn't all the other homes do the same, so now $60,000 isn't enough

Smart eye, lad! You've identified why this is a TERRIBLE rat race for the people scraping money together to live, and is ONLY a profitable leisure activity for rich people who sell homes like collectables.

Now because the increase is pure equity, a similar family with decent property value increase can funnel that extra equity into affording to meet the new higher down payment (remember the downpayment is only 20%, so even if the new place is similarly higher in property value, you only need to match that increase 20% for the downpayment). Which gets their foot in the door. But now their new mortgage is higher than the old one. More expensive. More interest.

But there is a losing scenario here--if home property values increased everywhere else, but not where you live. Then this family is back to surrendering homeownership. Because even if they can sell their place, they can't buy the next home.

It forces them to care about their own Property Value increase because, if it doesn't increase while everywhere else does, it traps them.

So what do I mean by all this

If the value of all homes dropped 50% overnight, I assume most people here would celebrate. Affordable homes! Rich people upset and crying! So much to love.

But in reality, that 50% drop would likely continue to mean no home for most of us, because the people who could sell you the homes would be financially incapable.

For the family above with the $240,000 mortgage, that mortgage does not reach halfway-paid-off until year 20 of the 30 year mortgage (remember the interest frontloading). If a family still owes $230,000 in bank loans on a place that can only sell for $150,000, they can't sell it to you. That house is the bank's collateral securing the loan. Their mortgage is underwater. They're trapped. They cannot sell it. You cannot have it.

Something similar happened in the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, and the only people who got out okay were ones who could stay the course, keep making the mortgage payments, and wait it out long enough for property value to recover.

Those who couldn't got foreclosed on. Those who couldn't were left in financial devastation.

So in conclusion?

Banks profit off of mortgages. Rich people profit off of hoarding housing stock and selling it as the property value increases. Real estate companies profit off of home sales. And the regular people, who managed to achieve home ownership, are shackled to the price-go-up system to avoid financial ruin. They're forced to care about their property value because it is the singular determinant of whether they're trapped in place, whether they'll be okay if they lose their job, whether they could move due to an important life event.

It's a profit system for the rich where the cogs are middle class people who could achieve homeownership, running a machine where every single crank locks the poorer and younger generations out of home ownership forever.

[hello7there]

Reminder that most immigrants in the US are Catholic and anti-Catholic talking points here are often thinly disguised xenophobia and/or racism. Never hurts to be precise with your wording so as not to denigrate an extremely vulnerable population that is presently under pretty extreme threat.

Obviously I'm not saying nobody's allowed to criticize Catholicism or its lasting impact and legacy. Just, you know, don't be a nationalist anti-immigrant reactionary dick when you do it.