Money and Second-Class Citizenship

from Consortium News:


Money and Second-Class Citizenship
June 2, 2014

As America divides more and more into a class-stratified society, the idea of “gated communities” has spread into other areas of separation in which the rich get special benefits, the middle class is treated shabbily and lower-income people face outright disdain, Lawrence Davidson reports.

By Lawrence Davidson



There are many forms of discrimination, but one that Americans seem to have a high tolerance for is bias based on class, a discrimination that is a natural outgrowth of capitalist ideology which, in turn, has been assimilated into American culture to the point that even the poor accept it, hoping that they or their children might someday become rich themselves.

Thus, unlike race and sex bias, discrimination based on class has been under-regulated with lower-income groups left to largely fend for themselves. That has led to a number of examples of abuse, such as what happened in New York City’s housing market, as described in an exposé on the front page of the New York Times’ real estate section on May 18.

First some background: Since 1943, New York City has sought to protect the income diversity of its population by classifying a percentage of its housing market as “rent-controlled” or “rent-stabilized.” There are technical differences between these statuses, but we will refer to them both as part of a regime of “rent-regulation.”

Landlords and developers who provide a certain number of such “affordable housing units” (particularly rent-stabilized units) alongside apartments renting or selling at market rates can qualify for city-or-state-subsidized low-interest loans and tax breaks. Even though the landlords and developers are thereby benefiting from publicly provided money, they still complain that the rent-regulation regime is a burden. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2014/06/02/money-and-second-class-citizenship/