#living in the most expensive city in canada

[mafuyuakgae]

1 billion dollar project where my job that i only get **$ an hour for to copy and paste markups

[ganonfan1995]

New landlord is now selling the new house that we just moved into less than a year ago, because we lost our last house when the old-new owners sold-bought our last place.

[golyadkin]

if I opened up commissions would anybody be interested?

[allthecanadianpolitics]

sorry if youve gotten this question before, or this just isnt what you focus on but considering all the things happening in the us right now would it be advisable for me (a trans guy) to move to canada? like how are you guys holding up in terms of policy around trans and gay people? and what city/providence would you most recommend, if any?

Things are mostly ok within the larger cities (Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, etc) but some rural communities in bible belts have not been safe spaces for LGBTQ people.

One major concern is that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is a transphobe, and based on the polls consistent over the past year or so, he has a very real chance of becoming Prime Minister.

There has been a large rise in homophobic and trans phobic hate crimes in recent years. Its definitely not as bad as the USA, but things are not necessarily trending down either.

As far as which regions in general are safest:

Canada's most left party (NDP) is in control of two provinces, British Columbia and Manitoba. The party is very LGBTQ friendly. Additionally the Liberals are in power in Newfoundland & Labrador and Yukon and are also generally pretty supportive. All other provinces in Canada right now have Conservative governments. The territories of Northwest Territories and Nunavut don't have party affiliations.

There have been some Premiers who have taken transphobic stances and policies in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta (all are run by Conservative governments).

Moving to Canada is also very expensive, very time consuming and is far from guaranteed unless you have jobs lined up for you, are wealthy, etc. I'm not saying to give up on the idea, just make sure you do the research and know what you're getting into.

Canada has a higher cost of living with especially high rent prices, particularly in Vancouver/Toronto and the neighbouring areas of BC and Ontario. So make sure to keep that in mind.

Hope this helps. I'm Trans too (Trans Femme) and happy to answer any other questions you have.

[twilightkitkat]

Ok so if technically there are 2 Logans alive in the timeline rn (which doesn't make sense thank you Marvel)

How do you think they would interact if they met each other

Assuming that Logan is still alive and just in Mexico or Canada hiding out, I think it'd be interesting as hell if he heard about a Wolverine dupe. Because he definitely didn't live in the city and judging from the rumors, they wore a yellow suit and had his signature tufted hair. ...Which he was very much not sporting right now.

Deadpool's Timeline is before the Westchester Incident so Charles isn't yet classified as a weapon of mass destruction, even if the government is definitely wary of him. Therefore, Logan could justify leaving for a bit to investigate these rumors (if just for old times' sake and for an excuse to check up on the X-men).

He expects them to be, like most things, incredibly fake.

Except when he does some digging... they don't seem to be entirely fabricated? One guy even showed him the scars from claw marks that looked identical to his own, but Logan knew damn well he wasn't in the area at the time. Much less infiltrating a drug ring.

He snoops around and hears rumors that this new Wolverine sticks close to Deadpool. That's... an interesting name. It's vaguely familiar, and something in him recognizes it, but he can't quite place where he heard it.

But the way people react to the name "Deadpool" is telling enough. Even people who are entrenched in the underground look around warily, as if afraid to give out too much information. People are hesitant to speak, fearful of the idea of him alone.

But Logan's nothing if not persistent. He settles down in a seedy bar where he knows shady business happens and listens. If this guy was as big of a deal as people act, he should pick something up.

Soon enough, the name pops up.

"I'm thinking of hiring Deadpool for this job, actually," some sleazy rich guy remarks as he leans back in his chair. Logan's senses lock onto the conversation immediately.

"Really? Isn't that a little excessive? You know how expensive he is these days," his companion replies.

"But there's a reason he's in demand. It's a two-for-one deal these days, you know," another person at the table adds.

"Exactly," the guy nods, "Deadpool is already a force to be reckoned with on his own, but with Wolverine? They're unstoppable."

"I once saw them fight," someone nearby pipes up, "it was terrifying."

"Deadpool alone is terrifying. Did you hear what happened to Francis?" someone murmurs.

By the end of the night, Logan has a rough idea of what he's working with. Deadpool seems to be a mercenary who's well-known for getting the job done for the right price, no matter how gruesome it is. He's also someone you'd hate to cross and who would stop at nothing to get revenge, which apparently became known after he killed some bigshot named Francis.

Deadpool was definitely... interesting, to say the least (it isn't often that a mercenary is feared more than major organization leaders) but it wasn't what he came for. No, the real piece of information was that his copycat seemed to hang around Deadpool. The two were inseparable, they'd said.

"The Wolverine" apparently showed up out of the blue one day and has been trailing after Deadpool ever since. The two seemed to be partners of sorts, and Wolverine never made any appearances in battles where Deadpool wasn't present. Rumors seem to be that Deadpool hired him or that he owed Deadpool a great debt, although some people who've encountered them whisper that they might be something much deeper. Lovers, almost.

Logan snorted. What was the point of someone dressing like him if all they were gonna do was run around with a mercenary helping on missions? No evil scheme, no grand imitation, and the guy didn't even make public appearances. Maybe he was just a fanboy or some shit.

Although he wasn't as wary anymore, something in him still felt the need to investigate further. And luckily, he knew who was going to hire Deadpool next and the job he was gonna give. All he had to do was intercept.

And so he did.

He turned into the alleyway to see some guy in a red suit and... himself?

It wasn't just a realistic copy. It was an honest-to-god clone. He smelled like him, looked like him, moved like him. He had adamantium claws like him and the exact same build. Except this guy actually fucking shaved from time to time and still kept his hair up.

"Ohhh, looks like we have a visitor, Wolvie," Deadpool chirped.

Wolverine shook his head, "Damn it, I told you he was gonna drop by to check on the rumors eventually. It's what I would've done."

"...Who are you?" Logan asked warily, tensing up.

"I'm Deadpool, as you probably already know, and this is you! Well, you from another universe. Say hi!" the man in red dramatically gestured to Wolverine, who grumbled in irritation.

"From another universe?" Logan crossed his arms.

"Yeah, bub. Believe it or not, I don't care. But we're not here to cause trouble, I'm just stuck with this lunatic here so there's two of us right now." Wolverine insulted him, but let Deadpool lean over to wrap an arm around his shoulder, whining about how he chose to stay here so he was stuck by choice.

It was... a lot to take in. Logan didn't really know how to feel about it. It was odd seeing another version of him so close to someone. He forgot what it felt like, to be like that with people. Hell, even when Scott and Jean were alive, he wasn't like that. He fucked off most of the time and they were happy to ignore him until something serious happened.

It was also odd to see another, apparently older, version of him look... so much younger. Well, younger wasn't the right word, but energized? Less depressed? He still had wrinkles on his forehead and a hardness in his eyes, but it was softer. Like he had something to live for and fight for. (Something Logan hadn't in a while.)

Somehow, the other version of him was both more and less jaded. He had a vaguely haunted look on his face when Logan mentioned the X-men, one even Logan himself didn't quite understand the depths of. He'd clearly been through some shit in his original world, maybe even more fucked up than his own trauma.

But it was like someone sanded down those jagged edges. Until they stopped cutting into him every time he sifted through his emotions.

(Logan never had anyone do that for him, not really. Jean cared, vaguely, but she prioritized Scott and was more focused on her own life than Logan's baggage. Charles cared too—he'd taken him in and made sure he had the necessities—but he had so many children that there was only so much attention he could give to a rugged stray. He didn't ever manage to file down his sharp ridges, he just kept cutting himself and hoping one day it'd get easier. That he'd get used to it.)

When he sees the soft look in Wolverine's eyes as he looks at Deadpool, Logan thinks he knows who's responsible.

[pogatog]

I'm really excited for the concert but also so incredibly annoyed that I'm going to be spending $600+ to see a $35 show

Guess I'm going to Seattle

[ana-bananya]

Hi! So I hit the 100 link limit tumblr has on their posts so I'll be making a new post and linking it here.

This post is mostly individual campaigns, but I have included organizations you can donate to as well.

Most of the links will take you to the posts I made for the campaigns that provide a brief summary of the family and their expenses.

I will do my best to keep this post updated with the fundraisers and their progress.

Palestine

Donate to the Palestinian Red Cresent Society

Crips for Esims for Gaza

Donate to Care for Gaza

Donate to Gaza Direct Aid

Help Mohammed Alzaanin's family evacuate from Gaza (€92,069/€118,000) Mohammad and his family evacuated to Egypt but need support to afford their father's surgery.

Help Shukri and his Family to Evacuate from Gaza ($1,440/$35,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help evacuate Adam, Iyad, and the Al-Kafarna family ($137,186/$150,000)

Help Majd Omar evacuate his family and save his mom from cancer (€8,568/€47,000 - VERY low on funds)

Raise hope and money to get out of Gaza for Shahed and her family (€75,045/€115,000) Shahed and her family have evacuated, but they are seeking help to afford treatment in Egypt.

Help Save Ahmed and His Family  ($119,881/$125,000)

Help Amer Abdelmalek evacuate his family to Canada ($62,821 CAD/$100,000 CAD - VERY low on funds)

Help Liela get medical treatment for her mother in Egypt ($2,991 CAD/$20,000 CAD - VERY low on funds)

Help Waleed's family evacuate to safety ($8,719/$36,000 - VERY low on funds)

Save Mohamed's family, refugees in Rafah (€26,299/€50,000)

Help Dr. Sarah’s family ($68,726/$100,000)

Help Afaf Masoud evacuate her family (€97,658/€110,000)

Help Ghada Karyym's family evacuate and afford medical treatment (€42,510/€60,000)

Help my family and I to evacuate from Gaza, organized by Shaymaa Abudalu ($34,592 CAD/$50,000 CAD)

Help evacuate Mahmoud's family out of Gaza (€134,937/€145,000)

Help Al Helou family from Gaza ($79,101/$110,000)

Help Save Hassan's Orphans ($13,767/$38,000 - VERY low on funds)

Support Surgeon Serving Gaza City ($149,120/$220,000)

Help Abdelfattah sami Halawa evacuate his family ($24,856 CAD/$100,000 CAD - VERY Low on funds)

Help Shehab Al-Din evacuate his family ($40,488/$60,000)

Help Nour's newborns twins and her family evacuate to safety (€10,094/€50,000 - VERY low on funds)

Evacuate Fares and his family from Gaza (£18,489/£50,000 - VERY low on funds)

Donate to help Deyaa and his family escape Gaza (€22,190/€30,000

Help Osama and his family evacuate from Rafah with their 2 infants ($7,972/$20,000)

Donate to help Ibrahim and his family evacuate (€101,951/€115,000) Ibrahim and his family evacuated to Egypt. The campaign will remain open to support them outside Gaza.

Help Israa Harb evacuate her family and afford medical care for her family (€33,351/€50,000)

Help Mohammed Elhaj Mohamed's family evacuate and rebuild their lives (€5,116/€65,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Sara Thabit Doghmash evacuate her family and afford surgery for her father and brothers (€41,022/€100,000)

Help Mona Abu Hamda evacuate her family of 9 ($88,772/$150,000) Mona and her family secured the money needed to evacuate. The rest of the fundraiser will help them in their new life in Egypt.

Help Sama and Tasneem evacuate and continue their education ($7,354/$50,000 - VERY low on funds)

Donate to help evacuate Asmaa and her sister so they can access medical care (€42,657/€100,000)

Help Reham evacuate her family of 14 to save her mother and brother (£3,011/£40,000 - VERY low on funds)

Donate to help Enas’s family escape Gaza ($18,316 AUD/$50,000 AUD - VERY low on funds)

Help Bahjat evacuate his parents and sisters ($28,530/$30,000)

Support Ziad Shaheen’s family in Gaza ($9,989/$18,000)

Help Zaina and her baby brother evacuate ($7,449 CAD/$80,000 CAD - VERY low on funds)

Help Mustafa evacuate his family and get treatment for his 8 year old son (€1,901/€100,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Moin and his family evacuate ($5/$30,000 - VERY low on funds) From my understanding his gfm will benefit all his family members, but if you would like to offer further assistance, you can find his siblings' gfms here)

Help Salem and fellow displaced families afford necessities ($13,155/$20,000)

Evacuate Fadi's Family from Gaza ($28,930/$62,500)

Help Tahani save her children and husband ($7,045/$50,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Sahar evacuate her husband and daughter (€10,191/€30,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Yusuf's family evacuate and treat his kidney failure (€37,115/€85,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Ahmed family to travel to a save place (£1,114/£30,000 - VERY low on funds)

Save a Pregnant Mother's Life and Support Her Family (€14,437/€45,000 - VERY low on funds)

Khader and Ragheb Appeal: Rebuilding Life Beyond the Horrors (€723/€55,000 - VERY low on funds)

Donate to help baby Elana and her mother (€2,976/€30,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help my Family To Evacuate Gaza, organized by Mohammed Bardaweel (€5,232/€37,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Shahd evacuate his family ($4,300/$50,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Mohammed Alanqer evacuate his wife and children (€11,398/€38,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Firas Salem save his family (€30,942/€65,000)

Save Hassan's sisters (£7,365/ £12,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Tala treat her mother's cancer (€11,457/€40,000 - VERY low on funds)

Sudan

Donate to the Sudanese American Physicians Association

Donate to Sudan Solidarity Collective

Sudan Diaspora Network's Sudan Benefit Fundraiser

Fight Hunger in Sudan: The Khartoum Kitchen appeal (£152,923/£200,000)

Twitter thread with actions that can be taken for Sudan

Help Sudan- Sudan Relief Fund ($157,717 AUD/$175,000 AUD)

Help house a homeless disabled Sudani in London (£3,983/£4,500)

Emergency Fund for Sudanese Family ($22,231 CAD/$25,000 CAD)

Help us escape the war in Sudan $55,210 raised

Help Sajida and her family evacuate from Sudan (31,014 CAD/$50,000 CAD)

One Million Sustainable Pads Campaign (€36,599/€200,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Eman and her family evacuate (CHF21,124/CHF38,475)

Help Randa's family evacuate Sudan (€18,652/€27,000)

Support Sakina's Family's Journey to Safety ($5,107/$10,000)

Help Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan

Help Sudanese refugees stranded in Ethiopia (£33,270/£30,000 - Still accepting donations)

Help Aalaa evacuate and get treatment for her mother ($4,285/$20,000 - VERY low on funds)

Support a Community Stuck In Sudan ($9,632/$40,000 - VERY low on funds)

Save a 5y old Sudanese child's life in Wad Madani (€5,115/€9,000)

Help Abudjana rebuild after war (£2,744/£5,000)

Help a Sudanese student finish med school ($2,085/$2,500)

Help a family of 13 evacuate Sudan ($40/$20,000 - VERY low on funds)

Help Refugee’s escape Sudan Conflict ($7,157 CAD/$31,000 CAD - VERY low on funds)

Safe Passage ممر آمن- Help a mom and her kids escape war ($3,054 CAD/$5,000 CAD)

Congo

Donate to Focus Congo

Friends of the Congo

Action Kivu

iheartafrica

City of Joy women's community

Support Emmanuel's Peace African Hope Orgaization ($1,473/$5,000 - VERY low on funds)

Support The Busimba Family To Rebuild Their Lives ($13,631/$20,000)

Mutual Aim team fundraiser for Congo, Sudan, and Tigray ($35,322/$35,000 - Still accepting donations)

30 Days 30 Hopes for Congo (€629/€30,000 - VERY low on funds)

Uyghurs

Support an Uyghur orphan's education (79.10% raised)

Rohingya refugees

Donate to help provide education K-12 students living in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. ($4,465/$15,000)

Stand with Rohingya Families Escaping Genocide in Aceh: The Rohingya Women's Network ($5,520 AUD/$10,000 AUD)

Tigray

Donate to Tigray Action Committee

Empowering Tigrayans: A Financial Assistance Initiative for Refugees and IDPs

Donate to Hdrina

Donate to Tigray Disaster Relief Fund

Health Professionals Network for Tigray

[forwards-beckon-rebound]

batfam and what canadian university i’m assigning them

dick - western

i live for frat boy dick

but like not the creepy frat boys

i think canadian greek life is significantly more chill, definitely a lot of drinking though

like i can already imagine him doing a keg stand

not a permanent frat boy ofc but i can kinda see him going a little wild during uni

like he’s definitely sociable and getting invited to all of the parties

but like the academics aren’t bad too so i think he’d have fun there

the campus is pretty big so you need to take the bus to different areas and it always comes late

you just know dick is ditching the bus and straight up booking it, basically doing parkour

jason - uoft

is it kind of a soulless commuter school where it’s practically impossible to make friends unless you live on res in an incredibly expensive city? yes

HOWEVER it also has the largest academic library system in the country and has so many rare books

i just know the lit nerd in him would like it

i think he would also just enjoy going to a large uni with a lot of course selections, so he can choose courses that actually sound interesting to him

he just loves learning for the sake of learning (remember guys, he’s the robin who actually liked going to school) and i think he would appreciate having so many resources at his fingertips, even if the uni community isn’t that good

has a reputation for being a really difficult school

this nerd would somehow make it work

everybody who goes here already needs therapy so he’d fit right in

also i can’t really see him outside of a city, like bro would see the toronto crime (the stabbings and fires on the ttc alone are enough to keep him busy) and be like i can fix it

literally begging him to fix toronto so i can go downtown without the ttc shutting down half of line 2 for no reason

bro would not appreciate the housing though i guess

like why is he paying $2k a month for an apartment that’s only slightly better than the one he grew up in in crime alley

and he has roommates (hear me out him and the outlaws are roommates OR alternatively the most annoying stereotypical toronto men you’ve ever seen and he tries so hard not to bash his head into the wall because of them)

tim - waterloo

listen, i don’t think tim would want to go

like i don’t think uni would teach him anything be can’t figure out on his own

BUT if he had to go, i think waterloo would probably be good for their coop program

also it’s like THE asian school and i feel like most of the fandom has basically decided he’s asian anyways

erm but idk he also dropped out of high school so if he got his ossd maybe he can go to tmu or york

feel like they have the most prodigies too in terms of comp sci and eng so he’d fit right in (but unlike them he’d actually shower)

damian - mcgill

bro is not old enough to even be thinking about uni tbh

i feel like he’d go to an ivy league though, like one of the historic “real” ones

but if he must stay in canada i feel like it would be mcgill (also bc everybody i know at mcgill wants to go to harvard and that’s probably where he’d rather be)

they’ve definitely got a lot of history, they’re part of the old four, and i think he would appreciate montreal (probably would not consider any of the small towns and would think toronto is too trashy and vancouver is rainy)

would refuse to live on campus (fair enough dorms make me depressed too) and probably get a place in westmount (iykyk)

but he’s definitely going to either university of guelph or université de montréal for their vet school

i feel like he would already know french as a kid so the language barrier isn’t even a problem (wish that were me)

[posttexasstressdisorder]

How Trump's billionaires are hijacking affordable housing

Thom Hartmann

October 24, 2024 8:52AM ET

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City, U.S., October 17, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

America’s morbidly rich billionaires are at it again, this time screwing the average family’s ability to have decent, affordable housing in their never-ending quest for more, more, more. Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and Denmark have had enough and done something about it: we should, too.

There are a few things that are essential to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that should never be purely left to the marketplace; these are the most important sectors where government intervention, regulation, and even subsidy are not just appropriate but essential. Housing is at the top of that list.

A few days ago I noted how, since the Reagan Revolution, the cost of housing has exploded in America, relative to working class income.

When my dad bought his home in the 1950s, for example, the median price of a single-family house was around 2.2 times the median American family income. Today the St. Louis Fed says the median house sells for $417,700 while the median American income is $40,480—a ratio of more than 10 to 1 between housing costs and annual income.

ALSO READ: He’s mentally ill:' NY laughs ahead of Trump's Madison Square Garden rally

In other words, housing is about five times more expensive (relative to income) than it was in the 1950s.

And now we’ve surged past a new tipping point, causing the homelessness that’s plagued America’s cities since George W. Bush’s deregulation-driven housing- and stock-market crash in 2008, exacerbated by Trump’s bungling America’s pandemic response.

And the principal cause of both that crash and today’s crisis of homelessness and housing affordability has one, single, primary cause: billionaires treating housing as an investment commodity.

A new report from Popular Democracy and the Institute for Policy Studies reveals how billionaire investors have become a major driver of the nationwide housing crisis. They summarize in their own words:

— Billionaire-backed private equity firms worm their way into different segments of the housing market to extract ever-increasing rents and value from multi-family rental, single-family homes, and mobile home park communities. — Global billionaires purchase billions in U.S. real estate to diversify their asset holdings, driving the creation of luxury housing that functions as “safety deposit boxes in the sky.” Estimates of hidden wealth are as high as $36 trillion globally, with billions parked in U.S. land and housing markets. — Wealthy investors are acquiring property and holding units vacant, so that in many communities the number of vacant units greatly exceeds the number of unhoused people. Nationwide there are 16 million vacant homes: that is, 28 vacant homes for every unhoused person. — Billionaire investors are buying up a large segment of the short-term rental market, preventing local residents from living in these homes, in order to cash in on tourism. These are not small owners with one unit, but corporate owners with multiple properties. — Billionaire investors and corporate landlords are targeting communities of color and low-income residents, in particular, with rent increases, high rates of eviction, and unhealthy living conditions. What’s more, billionaire-owned private equity firms are investing in subsidized housing, enjoying tax breaks and public benefits, while raising rents and evicting low-income tenants from housing they are only required to keep affordable, temporarily. (Emphasis theirs.)

It seems that everywhere you look in America you see the tragedy of the homelessness these billionaires are causing. Rarely, though, do you hear about the role of Wall Street and its billionaires in causing it.

The math, however, is irrefutable.

Thirty-two percent is the magic threshold, according to research funded by the real estate listing company Zillow. When neighborhoods hit rent rates in excess of 32 percent of neighborhood income, homelessness explodes. And we’re seeing it play out right in front of us in cities across America because a handful of Wall Street billionaires are making a killing.

As the Zillow study notes:

“Across the country, the rent burden already exceeds the 32 percent [of median income] threshold in 100 of the 386 markets included in this analysis….”

And wherever housing prices become more than three times annual income, homelessness stalks like the grim reaper. That Zillow-funded study laid it out:

“This research demonstrates that the homeless population climbs faster when rent affordability — the share of income people spend on rent — crosses certain thresholds. In many areas beyond those thresholds, even modest rent increases can push thousands more Americans into homelessness.”

This trend is massive.

As noted in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Meet Your New Landlord: Wall Street,” in just one suburb (Spring Hill) of Nashville:

“In all of Spring Hill, four firms … own nearly 700 houses … [which] amounts to about 5% of all the houses in town.”

This is the tiniest tip of the iceberg.

“On the first Tuesday of each month,” notes the Journal article about a similar phenomenon in Atlanta, investors “toted duffels stuffed with millions of dollars in cashier’s checks made out in various denominations so they wouldn’t have to interrupt their buying spree with trips to the bank…”

The same thing is happening in cities and suburbs all across America; agents for the billionaire investor goliaths use fine-tuned computer algorithms to sniff out houses they can turn into rental properties, making over-market and unbeatable cash bids often within minutes of a house hitting the market.

After stripping neighborhoods of homes young families can afford to buy, billionaires then begin raising rents to extract as much cash as they can from local working class communities.

In the Nashville suburb of Spring Hill, the vice-mayor, Bruce Hull, told the Journal you used to be able to rent “a three bedroom, two bath house for $1,000 a month.” Today, the Journal notes:

“The average rent for 148 single-family homes in Spring Hill owned by the big four [Wall Street billionaire investor] landlords was about $1,773 a month…”

As the Bank of International Settlements summarized in a 2014 retrospective study of the years since the Reagan/Gingrich changes in banking and finance:

“We describe a Pareto frontier along which different levels of risk-taking map into different levels of welfare for the two parties, pitting Main Street against Wall Street. … We also show that financial innovation, asymmetric compensation schemes, concentration in the banking system, and bailout expectations enable or encourage greater risk-taking and allocate greater surplus to Wall Street at the expense of Main Street.”

It’s a fancy way of saying that billionaire-owned big banks and hedge funds have made trillions on housing while you and your community are becoming destitute.

Ryan Dezember, in his book Underwater: How Our American Dream of Homeownership Became a Nightmare, describes the story of a family trying to buy a home in Phoenix. Every time they entered a bid, they were outbid instantly, the price rising over and over, until finally the family’s father threw in the towel.

“Jacobs was bewildered,” writes Dezember. “Who was this aggressive bidder?”

Turns out it was Blackstone Group, now the world’s largest real estate investor run by a major Trump supporter. At the time they were buying $150 million worth of American houses every week, trying to spend over $10 billion. And that’s just a drop in the overall bucket.

As that new study from Popular Democracy and the Institute for Policy Studies found:

“[Billionaire Stephen Schwarzman’s] Blackstone is the largest corporate landlord in the world, with a vast and diversified real estate portfolio. It owns more than 300,000 residential units across the U.S., has $1 trillion in global assets, and nearly doubled its profits in 2021. “Blackstone owns 149,000 multi-family apartment units; 63,000 single-family homes; 70 mobile home parks with 13,000 lots through their subsidiary Treehouse Communities; and student housing, through American Campus Communities (144,300 beds in 205 properties as of 2022). Blackstone recently acquired 95,000 units of subsidized housing.”

In 2018, corporations and the billionaires that own or run them bought 1 out of every 10 homes sold in America, according to Dezember, noting that:

“Between 2006 and 2016, when the homeownership rate fell to its lowest level in fifty years, the number of renters grew by about a quarter.”

And it’s gotten worse every year since then.

This all really took off around a decade ago following the Bush Crash, when Morgan Stanley published a 2011 report titled “The Rentership Society,” arguing that snapping up houses and renting them back to people who otherwise would have wanted to buy them could be the newest and hottest investment opportunity for Wall Street’s billionaires and their funds.

Turns out, Morgan Stanley was right. Warren Buffett, KKR, and The Carlyle Group have all jumped into residential real estate, along with hundreds of smaller investment groups, and the National Home Rental Council has emerged as the industry’s premiere lobbying group, working to block rent control legislation and other efforts to control the industry.

As John Husing, the owner of Economics and Politics Inc., told The Tennessean newspaper:

“What you have are neighborhoods that are essentially unregulated apartment houses. It could be disastrous for the city.”

As Zillow found:

“The areas that are most vulnerable to rising rents, unaffordability, and poverty hold 15 percent of the U.S. population — and 47 percent of people experiencing homelessness.”

The loss of affordable homes also locks otherwise middle class families out of the traditional way wealth is accumulated — through home ownership: over 61% of all American middle-income family wealth is their home’s equity.

And as families are priced out of ownership and forced to rent, they become more vulnerable to homelessness.

Housing is one of the primary essentials of life. Nobody in America should be without it, and for society to work, housing costs must track incomes in a way that makes housing both available and affordable.

Singapore, Denmark, New Zealand, and parts of Canada have all put limits on billionaire, corporate, and foreign investment in housing, recognizing families’ residences as essential to life rather than purely a commodity. Multiple other countries are having that debate or moving to take similar actions as you read these words.

America should, too.

ALSO READ: Not even ‘Fox and Friends’ can hide Trump’s dementia

[mmmichyyy]

weekly tag wednesday ⭐

tagged by @heymacy @energievie @crossmydna @sgtmickeyslaughter @lingy910y 🖤

name: michelle

pronouns: she/her

what year did you graduate high school? 2010

tell me where you live without telling me where you live: the most expensive city in canada

tell me what you do for work: paperwork, reports, customer service

caffeine source of choice: english breakfast tea and matcha (coffee gives me a headache)

do you have a skincare routine? i've switched over to korean/japanese skincare and i'm still trying to figure out what products work for my face

how often do you do laundry? whenever i run out of clean clothes and sheets

favorite flower: tulips, daffodils, baby's breath

your go-to karaoke song: i can't reach a tune for the life of me but recently i've been blasting close to you - gracie abrams in the car

what kind of phone do you have? google pixel 6a

do you wear contacts/glasses? i wear glasses when i drive, watch movies in a theatre, or when i'm ordering at a counter and can't read the menu lol

what color is your hair right now? black but looks really dark brown under the sun

you’ve just been handed $10,000 cash, what are you spending it on? putting it towards savings & rent (see above re: living in the most expensive city) and treating my parents out to a nice meal

how many pets do you have? zero

have you ever been on a train? yes in multiple cities

and finally, tell me something about yourself people might be surprised to know: i smoked daily for around ten years from when i was sixteen and quit four years ago during the pandemic. every time i have a drink i think about smoking a cig but otherwise i don't really miss it

tagging @gallawitchxx @thisdivorce @gardenerian @heymrspatel @spoonfulstar @sam-loves-seb @blue-disco-lights @whatthebodygraspsnot @catgrassplantdad @callivich @sickness-health-all-that-shit @stocious @loftec @darlingian @jrooc @crestfallercanyon @suzy-queued @mybrainismelted @creepkinginc @palepinkgoat @burninface @deedala @deathclassic @vintagelacerosette 🌸

[chemicallady]

I'd like to say something at this point.

I'm reading here and there that some of you are changing their vision about Noah or reaching the point to ask yourself if you still want to be a supporter of him because of what that blog said about him.

I believe that what happened between Noah and this person is probably true, I don't have any reason to doubt about her. But.

As we say in Italy, you can't fully believe to a story if you ear just one-side bell. Noah doesn't have the chance to tell his side of the story because he has better things to do than care about gossip. More than that, it's a human being. We have to look at the big picture. I don't want to defend him at all costs, I actually really don't care because untill he will be a decent person in public (not saying bullshit like Ronnie, for instance) and continue to be polite to his supporters, we are cool. I think I'm far older than more than half of the rest of this (sometimes really bad) fandom because I was a teen in the years of the emo wave. You maybe don't know about the Used, early MCR, Radke himself, Oli Sykes before Sempieternal...

They were drugs addicted. Always drunks as skunks. Pissing on people, throwing mic stands in the pit, get FULLY NAKED on stage (I'll never forgot about this, Quinn Allman). They did some awful shit in front of they supporters and to their supporters. Things that nowadays would get them canceled. You have no idea (maybe, or maybe you have) of what was Warped Tour 2005. Or maybe it was 2004? I can't recall.

Bad Omens are TODDLERS compared to this people. Innocent, pure babies. They are nice, extrovert maybe but nice. No one can deny that. They dont do drugs, they dont get drunk on stage or fuck around this supporters. They have an healthy routine in tour, they are teaching people to not fucking fight, they don't fuel fights! Its NORMAL in metal to have a couple of injuries at concerts. Collateral damages. I was nine at my second concert and I saw Slipknot. One dude broke his nose in the pit. Blood everywhere.

It's not a fucking Hannah Montana show. Those dudes are suppose to be badass. Noah is not pretending to be someone else or faking a new personality. He is doing is job and he is delivering pretty good shows. In no time he will grab his crotch around moaning like Oli, give him fucking space to express himself and be feral. Like any other metal artist.

Another thing.

Bad Omens vip experience is not expensive. I don't have interest in buy vip pass for 30 second of nothing, I'd rather wait after the gig is over. I met so many artists this way and usually they are more appreciable if they don't have to move to the next city. BUT the costs is not that high. I bought vip pass for LP once and I had to work 3 months to save enough for it. And I was still living at my parents'!

The merch is high quality, they make new pieces every time.... that's their way to get real cash guys. During a tour you have to pay tons of shit: the venue, flights, hotels, your crew. And you pay in advance most of the time. I don't think they are rich bitches rn. They are doing fine probably but still many of them lives with friends. Having flatmates is many time a signal that you can't afford Ronnie Radke house in Paradise Palisades.

I heard that they weren't really nice during the set in Canada. Maybe Montreal or Toronto. Someone felt bad, someone dropped a surfer I don't know. I didn't follow this I here for dirty smutty ff. If I want to see them play I have tiktok. By the way you have to know that most of the time you can't see shit from stage. Because you have lights in your face pointing your eyes. So probably noah just say a crow surfer falling and thought 'here we go again, this people has no fucking etiquette', and he left the stage. Or maybe who owned the venue asked them to do so in case of emergency.

BTW there is no fucking etiquette at their concerts. I stand with him if he's pissed off about that. It's not that hard to understand that you have to stay at the sides if you're not used to metal shows or you don't want to be pushed. Other people is ruining your experience or maybe its simply not for you. I grew up in the moshpit and that's how we like our shit. We have no time for filming or make tiktoks, we live the moment (we, people who like metal music, I'm not gatekeeping. If you wanna learn how to survive the pit and enjoy the experience just message me.)

So, to sum up.

My point is that every one of us has that friend that was a dick with one or more girls we still love him because we know that he's a weirdo an not a bad person.

My advice is stop being obsessed with Noah and just enjoy his work. You dont know him, you cant tell. Don't believe everything, stories are getting bigger and bigger everytime their are told, and think about the fact that straight guys are mostly jerks. They take more time to mature and act like adults. We know that Noah is in therapy now, he open up about it, so he is aware that he is not perfect.

BECAUSE HE IS NOT. HE IS A HUMAN BEING AND HUMANS MAKE MISTAKES.

That's it.

I don't want to fuel fights as well but please stop being ridiculous and acting like he is insulting you personally. It's fine to be delululu but your pushing the limits.

Peace and love.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Revelator:

Thirty minutes’ drive outside northern Canada’s largest city lies one of its best-kept secrets.

The Yukon Wildlife Preserve spans more than 700 acres and features 12 iconic Yukon species in their natural habitat: wood bison, mountain goat, woodland caribou, mule deer, muskox, red fox, thinhorn sheep, moose, elk, Canada lynx, arctic ground squirrel, and arctic fox. It has a long history of rehabilitating injured animals and breeding rare species, and it also serves as a critical stopover and monitoring station for migratory birds.

The site, which celebrates its 20th anniversary as a preserve in 2024, dates back to the 1960s and a man the Canadian Broadcasting Company once called “one of Yukon’s most colorful characters.”

Founder Danny Nowlan was a former forest ranger and preeminent falconer who grew up skipping school in favor of trapping animals and selling their pelts. In 1967 he purchased the property north of Whitehorse, “determined to build not a zoo, but a showcase for northern species in their natural habitat,” the Yukon Times wrote.

Over the next 35 years, Nowlan and his wife would turn the empty property into what they termed a “game farm,” although they didn’t raise animals for hunting or trapping, as the term typically implies. They raised and sold animals to zoos and game farms throughout Canada and the United States and used the earnings to build a wildlife rehabilitation center. As the years went on, they offered educational tours to allow visitors to see native species in large, semi-wild habitats.

Among the many species the Nowlans raised, in custom-built breeding pens and an avian hospital, were peregrine falcons and other birds of prey. The falcons raised there were either sold — using the proceeds to mitigate the poaching of wild populations — or rewilded as nearby populations declined.

Their conservation efforts garnered a national spotlight, and notoriety, when the couple were swept up in a falcon-trafficking sting, arrested, and charged with laundering wild falcons to Arab royalty. Depending on the telling, Nowlan and his wife were either ruthless masterminds who had found a way to finance their conservation habits by trafficking the very birds they were protecting or arrested without merit.

All the falcons were seized. After three years of a trial that at the time was the longest and most expensive in Yukon history, and the Nowlans’ near-financial ruin, they were acquitted of all charges.

When Nowlan and his wife retired in 2001, they put the site up for sale. Members of the community began advocating for the property to become a public facility, and in 2004 they succeeded.

The site is now owned by the Yukon government and operated by the nonprofit organization formed by those neighbors, the Yukon Wildlife Preserve Operating Society. It received accreditation from the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2012, joining the ranks of the Toronto Zoo and the Vancouver Aquarium.

[spaghett-onaplate]

Oscar my good fellow, does your house include a fan system? how do you stay cool in the summer?

We don't have any built in fans! There is an aircon system but this is a rental that has remained largely unchanged since the 70s so it does not work, probably has not ever worked during this century. Ok so granted all the following will be from anecdotal experience, but as far as I can see this is how other houses in the area operate:

Well apparently the ideal Australian house has a metre wide wraparound porch and awning to keep the heat out. Don't think I've ever seen a house meet this, inner city at least. More rural areas maybe? And that is where they'd need it more

So to keep cool in the summer my house has a lot of tabletop fans and a big fan on a floor stand. Also use wet washers on the back of our necks and just experience general suffering. Most houses aren't well insulated for the cold or the heat!! Even tho our winters aren't nearly as bad as many places, my brother's gf from Siberia and my family that moved between here and Canada find Australian winters unbearable compared to the Russian or Canadian winters just bc the houses are barely warmer than the outside!! Often in the morning it's colder inside than out

A lot of houses (from anecdotal experience I would say maybe half? most new houses would) do have aircon tho, which is enough to keep things cold or warm enough. By aircons I mean these ones, units rather than built in ones

But houses do have the inbuilt aircons too, the nonfunctional one in my house has vents in each room like this (in ceilings other than the tile ones pictured here tho)

It's not uncommon but I'd say not a massive amount of houses have them? I think newer builds would be more likely to have these ones. Tho idk all new houses kinda look the same like. Wait I remember a further out gross looking suburb I'll find it on Google maps

this is like, 2 hours out from the CBD?? a lot of developments are popping up further out as the city expands. cheap* and uglay housing it reminds me of the american suburbs tbh

anyway. that is mostly unrelated to aircon and fans. yeah i dont think we have thermostats? at least i've never seen anyone call it that but im assuming the built in aircons work like that. bc they do can do heat or cool temperatures

i did have one friend who lived in a big house that had all three - an aircon unit in the parents room, inbuilt aircon throughout the house, and fans in most/every room. never seen that anywhere else tho and i considered her to be pretty rich, plus i'm sure they did renovate to include some of those.

yeah overall to stay cool in the summer people without aircon kinda. don't. i miss my first house with its aircon unit </3

*cheap to build, expensive to buy.

1mil AUD for a house hours away from the inner city!! for a very soulless, gross, not particularly big (all those rooms look pretty tiny) house. our housing market is absolutely fucked

anyway yeah a lot of houses have aircon to help endure the summers and winters, a lot do not. prolly the same most countries? lmk how the US does compare tho

i think my second/previous house was better in summer than this current one bc it was an old (by our standards - 100 years?) house with double brick walls that somewhat kept the heat out, whereas this one isn't as old so the inner walls don't have brick. summer is a big blur of lying down with a fan constantly pointed at me with a wet washer on the back of my neck rip

[myloveforhergoeson]

Hiya! 😊 You're now a writer for the show. What three episode storylines are you gonna write? (In other words, what are you gonna make the boys do?)

ohm y god i literally have so many episode ideas but i'll try not to repeat any of the ones i've made posts about (except my first bullet bc im so passionate about it) so i'll give you my big list. most if not all will likely be something i DO end up writing about in my own story because ehehe i love making them do things

ones i think i've mentioned before:

a returning to minnesota chapter!! not for anything but nostalgia, getting to see the guy's favorite places, seeing their friends and families, bringing them back to realize how far they'd come. not so shy spon for my fic but i wrote a chapter like this last month and it's probably one of my favorite things i've written to date. it let me explore some of the boys' past, family dynamics, a little bit about Katie and agh i can't believe btr didn't capitalize on that at least once. ik its expensive to fund sets and hire new actors but idk i imagine it like an hour special where they could afford to shell out a bit more. idc when it happens, could be after they sign their record contract or the last episode or whatever :)

sketch comedy episode, something akin to saturday night live or so random

graduation! like you and i talked about lol i think it would be sweet

get me in the writers room stat:

originally i'd planned a "home alone lost in new york" like chapter for my story around thanksgiving where the boys are going to perform at the parade in town but they end up having their own adventure around the city beforehand. boyish antics, screaming gustavo, beautiful scenes, the works. i was just in too much of a slump to actually put it to paper :)

more tour-focused chapters (again, spon for my own fic lol) the episode in Canada was cute and the one on the bus was fun but idk there's just so many elements toward touring that i think they could've capitalized on; homesickness (for CA or MN), hardship of a go go go schedule, or fun things like being able to travel with your best friends and not ending up on the world's most wanted list lol. i know they tried really hard with this one so i don't blame them too much but my vision is just different and that's okay!

crossovers! while i'm so very happy dan schnider didn't have either of his disgusting hands in big time rush, i do remember watching the icarly/victorious crossover for the first time and wishing big time rush were there. it takes place in LA! the victorious kids are singers! carly, sam, and Freddie are pop culture experts! it would've worked really well :) so i'm writing that as a chapter for my fic LMAO

generally either an episode focusing in on or more scenes including james and lucy since the writers wanted them to be together so bad. inherently there's nothing wrong with them being together, but i do not think the relationship was given enough time to develop. give me lucy discovering her feelings for him, give me james not being creepy and obsessive about her; something more needed to be done on both of their parts to make me believe in it

additionally on that note more with jo/kendall and logan/camille; i love them both but they also had little development, just more than james/lucy. maybe they give carlos a gf (not alexa IMO, sorry. that got into weird territory for me idk why they made him be with a "real" person when he isn't other than they were already together irl) earlier and they can all have like conversations about their gfs and how much they love being together idk

and another generally, there were many songs btr put out that i love so much and feel like deserved their own episodes for hehe. i know not all of them have storylines easily transposed but i think they used confetti falling like four different times in the last season when any other love song from their third album could have been placed instead

and also another generally, and i know the early 2000s would've never allowed this for children's television but they should have and i'm the writer now!!!, but more representation all around. maybe some episodes about cultural heritage that didn't make stereotypes the main focus, canon LGBTQIA+ characters, holidays that aren't christmas, aspects like that where all kids can see themselves represented... LA is such a huge melting pot, it's not all white kids trying to make their dreams come true!

good god that was long SORRY AKJBSKJGBAB i have a lot to say and there's a lot im trying to incorporate into my story to add in what i think enhances the already present storyline. that's what's so beautiful about fandom, i love that we can have conversations like this :)

but what about you? anything you'd like to add in? i'd love to know <3 thank you for the question!

ask me a question! save my life!

[major-trouble]

Okay I got the job, now what?

1. Packing

2. Finding a place to live in the second most expensive city in Canada (probably).

3. Budgeting like a person used to eating Ramen 4 nights a week.

4. Trying to rehome my cats because 2 elderly cats + one work at home person + bachelor suite = Not A Great Time

5. Also budgeting, but this time in Panic Mode

6. ?????

7. Moving day.

I have approximately a month to get this all done. I'm going to try not to shoot myself into the sun instead.

[toxinellebug]

It’s The Supreme’s World: We just live in it…

Some world building and character info for the Re-Verse and how it affects Marinette, Adrien, and Gabriel before we get into the next Kamikotized hero.

Peace was never an option… It was an ultimatum.

While World Peace Day is celebrated everywhere, truly, only Capital Cities are able to host the full splendor of such a magnificent event.

        Paris is famous for never being outdone when it comes to this extravagant and cherished celebration:

Throughout the day, on every corner of the city, you could find a rare sight you would not see any other day of the year- flower carts.

     Usually, flowers were too expensive for just anyone to purchase, so florists only sold the finest, most delicate and exotic flowers to appeal to the high class.

           But on World Peace Day, cheap, less popular flowers were made available so even those of low income could enjoy the rare luxury of owning a real flower;

      Perhaps it is a frivolous purchase, but even the most stingy of penny-pinchers could not resist the urge to loosen their purse strings when offered a single pink carnation for the ridiculously low price of only €20!

Flowers weren’t the only thing worth buying-

     There were street vendors with international fare offering a variety of delights one would expect from a carnival or festival. Each seems so exotic when they come from a culture different than your own; takoyaki from Japan, bratwurst from Germany, frappe from Italy, Cotton Candy from the United States of America.

(Yup, spun sugar is originally a traditional american food invented in 1897 by American citizens William Morrison, and John C. Wharton, and it remained a unique American speciality until it was introduced at the 1904 World Fair. The irony? One of those dudes was a dentist.)

It is a culinary trip around the world without the cost of voyage.

Unless you were a vendor, of course.

While plenty were local, many more would venture from their homes to capital cities for World Peace Day, knowing they could make a larger profit than if they were to sell their goods at smaller towns. 

     Some even traveled from out of country, it was a huge investment for a single day, but one that would immensely pay off if they could convince customers that their goods were more authentic.

There was also a lavish parade with floats decorated in peace lilies, white poppies, hyacinth, cosmos, pincushion flowers, red peonies, and lavender, all carrying red banners with the symbol of The Supreme.

      Marching bands play folk music, and talented performers in costumes from all over the world perform traditional dances.

          It is a feast for the eyes seeing all the different cultures that were united for the sake of Peace.

Of course, the most beautiful sight (that you have to pay an admission fee for) is in the Jardin des Tuileries where all the metal sculptures and plastic foliage are removed to make room for impressive, imported floral displays;

Tudor roses from Britain, Quatre–temps from Canada, Dahlias from Mexico, Cattleya orchids from Brazil, Meihua from China, and naturally French Iris at the center… All countries in the world are represented by a display of their national flower, to symbolize how all nations came together under the guidance of The Supreme. 

—

Roland Dupain loves World Peace Day more than Christmas!

Poverty had become common place after the Great war- the whole world seemed dull and grey. But the people endured to rebuild what had been lost. Roland Dupain’s grandfather had perished in the war, and his grandmother had to raise 2 sons on her own, one of which would marry Roland’s mother. 

Then, WW2 began. 

     Both his father and his uncle went off to fight, following in their father’s footsteps.

       5 months passed before Mrs. Dupain received word that Roland’s uncle had been killed in action.

A miserable year passed and the world descended into Hell-

     Nazi’s invaded France and took control of Paris.

         Parisians lived in fear and battled with hunger every day. A pregnant Mrs. Dupain cried herself to sleep, having lost all hope of ever seeing her husband alive again, resigning herself to her fate of having to bring a child into the world that would never know their father…

Then, the unthinkable happened;

         The Axis Powers abruptly and unanimously surrendered!

Not to the Allies Forces…. No, something far greater and more powerful.

There was dancing in the streets! Peace at long last! 

     Tanks and weapons were disassembled, materials and rations that had been collected for the war efforts were donated back to the people, armies were permanently disbanded, and Roland’s father came home.

Oh, that euphoric feeling of relief and utter joy when Mrs. Roland leapt into her husband’s arms, weeping tears of joy.

      No more war, no more bloodshed, no more hiding in fear, no more starving!

From now on, theirs was a world of everlasting peace!

ALL HAIL THE SUPREME!

2 months later, Roland Dupain was born, and every year until his father’s died from Tuberculosis, Roland was regaled with stories of the suffering caused during the War, and how The Supreme was their savior.

Ever since, Roland Dupain has celebrated Peace Day with fond memories and a sense of pride…

Which is why his greatest shame is his wife, Gina.

The same woman who hard the nerve to lecture him about about family values when he was ready to disown his son for marrying an outrageous woman who wouldn’t even take her husband’s last name and who had nonsense ideas about experimenting with time-trusted recipes, (flour from rice?? Peuh! That’s not how it’s done!).

     Gina, with her big speech about how nothing was more important than family…

     She brought disgrace to their family when she was arrested 2 years ago for civil disobedience and public disturbance!

Well, there was no way he was going to allow his granddaughter to go down a criminal path!

The world was tough but fair; so long as you work hard and follow all the rules, no questions, you won’t have any problems.

So simple!

Marinette needed to learn to how lucky she was to live in a world under The Supreme’s protection. 

What better way to do that then helping her grandfather sell traditional Pain de campagne to tourists on World Peace Day?

It was a tradition started by his father, that he had carried on and tried to continue with his own son (until that wife of his put crazy ideas in his head like how pain au chocolat would be more popular.) but now, he would continue this tradition with Marinette- she would become part of a proud history, develop a sense of service, and most importantly, stay on the straight and narrow!

Children need discipline, after all! 

She would thank him, one day.

-Marinette strongly disagrees.

Up until she was 11 years old, for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, World Peace Day was all about yummy treats, exciting parades, and pretty flowers.

    While her parents sold pastries, her Nonna would take her strolling around the city to enjoy the excitement!

Then, just a few months before she turned 12, Nonna was sentenced to 8 years in a penitentiary labor camp.

Now, World Peace Day was about carrying baskets of rye sourdough bread, lectures on how things were and were not done, and the same old stories Grandpa Roland had already told her hundreds of times before, all while watching everyone get to have fun.

      It was like having detention outside of school! 

The worst part was the elderly tourists who would gush over her and pinch her cheeks for ‘being such a good girl who helps out her grandfather!’

Apparently being a “good girl” didn’t entitle her to personal space.

    Seriously, why did people feel entitled to put their hands on her just because she was a kid?

Mom and Dad were no help; her Mom believed this was important quality time with her grandfather that she’ll appreciate someday when she’s older.

     Dad’s opinion was, as always, that her mother was right.

You know what’d she’d really appreciate?

      Getting to celebrate World Peace day instead of lugging around crusty bread made from overly fermented yeast!  It was like her grandfather had an allergy to delicious food and having fun!

      Grandpa Roland claimed World Peace Day was his favorite holiday, yet he spent the whole day either selling bread or complaining about how other people were selling bread wrong, how people dressed was wrong, or how people looked at their phones while walking around was wrong!

      No one seemed to know how anything was “done,” save for him, and honestly? Marinette was 100% done with all of it.

—

For Adrien, World Peace Day is now the one time the city doesn’t stink in the literal sense.

The amount of actual flowers should help offset the stench of chemical fumes.

But he didn’t use to think that way…

World Peace Day used to make him happy, because it made his mother happy.

When he was little, his mother would giggle at the spectacle of Adrien-tallest in the world, as he sat atop his father’s shoulders for the best view of the parade in all of Paris.

Her smile was even sweeter than the sticky residue she tried in vain to wipe from his cheeks because Père didn’t hesitate to buy him every sugary treat that caught his eye.

Her voice was like a song as she pointed out and named each and every flower in Jardin des Tuileries to him, and as much as he wanted to pay attention, it was a hypnotic lullaby paired with a sugar crash that left him in a sleepy daze in his father’s warm embrace as he was carried home, his last conscious thoughts his mother’s kiss upon his forehead as his blanket was tucked tight around him.

As he got big enough to walk without being carried, he toured the celebrations with his parents each holding his hands in theirs.

     Father still had his sweet tooth, despite mère playfully scolding him, reminding him of the lecture Adrien would get from the dentiste.

He was old enough to listen to her name all the flowers now, but too excited about the exotic music and the foreign dancers to really pay attention to what she said.

Though he did hear, and make a face, at his father’s mushy declaration that mère was the most beautiful rose in the world.

He never really noticed that mother’s grip on his hand was starting to weaken.

Years passed and he was too busy checking that the path ahead was clear of bumps and dips to notice any candy vendors or dances. His father was also more focused on pushing mother’s wheelchair than enjoying the parade.

Mother’s tone was still cheerful as she admired the flowers, but Adrien was too worried about whether the outdoor air was making her cough worse, her words went in one ear and out the other.

Last year she had been too weak to get out of bed. She had been too exhausted to watch the entirety of the parade on TV- visiting Jardin des Tuileries was out of the question.

     Adrien would have given ANYTHING to listen to her list off the different flowers, he swore he would commit each one to memory.

Now….

Was there really any point?

He’d seen all the dances dozens of times, the music was also pretty boring.

There was nothing special about the food vendors, and too much sugar was terrible for your skin anyway.

He honestly didn’t care about flowers.

World Peace Day was just another over-rated holiday that people obsessed over to temporarily forget the mediocrity of their dreary lives.

What a joke.

—

For a young Gabi Grassette, son of a pommes frites vendor, World peace day meant sweets; Barbe à papa, English toffees, Mexican chocolates, and Polkagris!

Their family didn’t have a lot, but on this most special of days, his Papa would allow him some spending money to enjoy what the world had to offer~

At 8 years old, he was practically grown up, and able to walk up and down the street by himself.

It was the first World Peace Day he had a clear memory of, it was also the first time he saw a real flower up close.

Back then, he hadn’t really understood what his parents meant; things were either “real” or “imaginary”, weren’t they? 

        He was able to touch the plastic flowers his mother decorated their kitchen window with, and last week in L'Ecole Primaire his teacher taught him how to fold fleurs de papier.  Those were plenty real enough!

      Why would adults waste euros on something silly like flowers when they could buy candy instead?

           Gabi couldn’t believe he was already so much smarter than everybody else! That was probably why he was allowed to enjoy the celebration by himself unlike other children who still needed adults to watch them.

  That was until he stumbled across “it”.

A single blossom that had fallen off a parade float, carried off by a gentle breeze, only to land delicately at his feet.

It was so much more fragile than he’d imagined;

    The petals were just as thin as paper, yet surprisingly soft to the touch.

        Its center was fuzzy? A scent not unlike the perfume he was used to, but not the same either- it was both more airy yet more bold, but like a passing whisper- there was no strange undertone to remind him of cleaning sprays.

    The stem was flexible, to a point. It was smooth with a certain give. If he pressed a fingernail to it, it tore a little, but instead of revealing wire inside, it was just more green- a sticky green.

     The leaves had… creases? The lines weren’t painted on, they were embedded in the leaf itself almost like…. like… veins.

        Veins, as if it were….

                 Alive.

This tiny thing in his hands wasn’t made in a classroom or a factory… it was ALIVE.

He had been told that flowers and other plants were things that grew from the ground, but he had never fully understood what that truly meant until now.

    Flowers, REAL flowers, were delicate, fragrant, colorful, and ALIVE and it was the most amazing thing Gabi had ever seen!!!

But, why was something so precious only celebrated one day of the year?

   Why were there so few?

         Why didn’t the adults grow them everywhere?  Why did they have to settle for paper or plastic ones when real ones were so much better?

It wasn’t the first time he, or any child for that matter, had questioned why the world was the way that it was, but for Gabi, it was the first time he had questioned why no one was trying to make the world better.

While his childhood had given him the blissful ignorance of believing that a certain holiday was all about delicious treats and beautiful flowers, with adulthood came the wisdom of understanding that World Peace Day was supposed to symbolize the end of the violent history of the world that would never again be repeated.

But only the enlightened were able to realize what World Peace Day was really about;

      Worshipping The Supreme.

Some speculated that The Supreme was a small group of the world’s greatest minds.

Others suggested The Supreme was a single individual, appointed by the Divine Almighty to lead the world to salvation.

A remaining few even dared to imagine The Supreme as God himself; righting the wrongs of humanity and guiding them to the perfect world they could have been before the Tower of Babel. 

Perhaps that last one wasn’t too far fetched-

After all, the way all the World Leaders agreed to surrender their power after WW2 without hesitation was almost as if they were compelled by some supernatural force…

In order to ensure everlasting peace for generations to come,The Supreme reshaped the nations of the world;

    Monarchies were archaic- being able to trace your incestuous genealogy back to the dark ages didn’t qualify you to have any sort of authority.

     Elections were flawed and allowed money, baseless propaganda, and empty promises, to fool voters and keep the greedy and corrupt in power.

   That’s why wars over natural resources, religious superiority, or ethnic cleansing used to be commonplace throughout history- the wrong people were put in charge of governing the masses.

         Only exceptional individuals who will uphold the ideals of a utopian society should be given that kind of power.

              Mayors, Governors, Senators, and Prime Ministers/Presidents were replaced with High Officials, Grand Officials,  Executive Officials, and Executive Administrators… 

      All of which were selected by The Supreme, and who answered only to The Supreme.

Only The Supreme could decide what those “utopian ideals” were, and no one else had any say.

 Once, Gabi had been foolish enough to believe that was what was best.

After reinventing himself, from his name to the people he associated with, becoming a member of high society allowed to walk amongst the rich, the powerful, and the celebrity elite, Gabriel Agreste was finally able to see past all the bureaucratic smoke and mirrors.

No one truly had the best interests for the whole of humanity at heart. 

Those with authority obeyed The Supreme out of fear and a lust for power.

      Connections with the rich and influential were shallow at best; today you were friends and colleagues, but tomorrow they may very well stab you in the back to turn a profit.

In the end, the power to decide what was justifiably right or criminally wrong belonged to The Supreme, and their word was absolute.

If there was anything to take away from that, it was that absolute power corrupts absolutely.