Ooh, I hadn't realized the possibility of saying a nice word, and I wonder if that can be lumped into the "burn it down" options.
In the real world, some people do suffer, but it's possible to live a happy and productive life without trying to add to anyone's suffering.
I was just reading up on Kevin Paffrath (the only Democrat with any traction in the recall election), and his success with real estate get-rich-quick methods, with the moral implications of that. It's possible to take damaged or dilapidated houses, fix them up, and sell them for a profit, because most people don't have the time or skill to do that, so the work is valuable. On the other hand, people owning or living in houses that are becoming dilapidated seem particularly vulnerable to exploitation -- these schemes seem to take advantage of recovering the sunk costs that others have invested and lost. What would it take for me to be comfortable flipping houses? Houses sold for back taxes or defaulted mortgages seem to be exploiting anonymous poor people (so I don't know who they are, but I know they existed). Houses sold by family heirs seem OK, as do homes sold by people upgrading or downsizing as their needs change, but those houses are probably in better condition, and closer to market price, without so much exploitable depressed equity, since those sales are more voluntary. I guess fire or flood damage (hopefully after an insurance payout) could also put buildings on the market, but it all seems like exploiting people in distress.
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In the real world, some people do suffer, but it's possible to live a happy and productive life without trying to add to anyone's suffering.
I was just reading up on Kevin Paffrath (the only Democrat with any traction in the recall election), and his success with real estate get-rich-quick methods, with the moral implications of that. It's possible to take damaged or dilapidated houses, fix them up, and sell them for a profit, because most people don't have the time or skill to do that, so the work is valuable. On the other hand, people owning or living in houses that are becoming dilapidated seem particularly vulnerable to exploitation -- these schemes seem to take advantage of recovering the sunk costs that others have invested and lost. What would it take for me to be comfortable flipping houses? Houses sold for back taxes or defaulted mortgages seem to be exploiting anonymous poor people (so I don't know who they are, but I know they existed). Houses sold by family heirs seem OK, as do homes sold by people upgrading or downsizing as their needs change, but those houses are probably in better condition, and closer to market price, without so much exploitable depressed equity, since those sales are more voluntary. I guess fire or flood damage (hopefully after an insurance payout) could also put buildings on the market, but it all seems like exploiting people in distress.