solarpunk memes

a note for some of us here. (The specifics are US-centric, but the overarching concept can apply outside of the US.)

Things like vandalism, breaking and entering, and theft are illegal. I would advise folks not to do anything like that to their neighbors who are unlikely to be rich and are just trying to get by honestly for the most part.

Some things that are good are also illegal, however. Some places, may be illegal to garden on your own land. Did your neighbor's water get shut off, and you want to share some of yours? You can get fined for that. Do you not have much (and therefore truly do not have space in your home to allow someone to stay), but want to allow someone to sleep in their car on your property? Depending on where you are, also possibly illegal.

Respectfully, as a resident of Oakland CA, I kinda hate this, even as a joke.

Nationally, we're the stand in for conservative fearmongering. But Oakland has big dreams. We're a town with incredible culture and community trying to do the best we can with limited resources in the face of so many oligarchs who just see endless opportunities to kick us while we're down.

Oakland wants to be Wakanda. But most residents feel like we're getting mugged by landlords, then having our shoes swiped while we're bleeding on the concrete by thieves.

My former neighbors never truly appreciated the 4 cars in various states of disrepair taking up the majority of my driveway. I'm not a hoarder, I was just trying to keep our taxes reasonable.

I feel like there's a disconnect between "crime" and building communities of mutual aid, respect, and love. Also there's an irony in focusing on the qualitative nature of property values in this kind of space? Regardless, the vast majority "crime" doesn't really help anyone--stealing someone's bike for resale is shitty, shoplifting from a local store is shitty (and tbh even the big ones bc then they pull out of the neighborhood, leaving us w/o a pharmacy), and tagging stuff up is a shitty exercise in ego-boosting. IDk, I think people have a right to feel safe in their communities no matter the affordability of housing

Does it tho? And even if it does, arent there ways to keep housing prices low with less downsides? I would be sincerely interested in examples where this actually worked.

I think I might have lived in the criminal neighbourhood because all the burglaries seemed to happen in the neighbouring affluent postcode.