Big L walked into work, head buried in his phone. George sat on his stool stooped over the counter. They worked at a small authentic bait shop and boat repair that George’s father passed down to him. Big L wore a scowl, George knew this was going to be the start of another argument based off of Big L’s principles and his news feed that fed him rage every Wednesday. Turns out Mike switched the tuning settings so that every Wednesday Big L would be fed anger inducing content and stories. Personal control of the algorithm’s recommendations was part of an EU law and just like every digital EU law it meant it was practically American as well.
Big L “I thought this was the land of the free.” said as he put his phone away.
“Freest land we got.” George switched the toothpick he was smoking from one side to the other.
“Then how come the government can come round and steal a man’s land right from under him.”
“They can’t legally, you know, he has to be paid.”
“Here, let me take the shirt off your back and toss you a dollar. Still a theft.”
“Alright, what news has got you this riled up today L ?”
Big L sent the link to George who read over the article, and a few commenter blogs. While Big L clocked and made his first round, checking on last night’s deliveries. “Ah, I see. You’ve mistaken the land of the free for a land with free rent.”
“Huh, Look at the guy in the article. Ted, he owns that house and he doesn’t want to sell. He shouldn’t be forced to do something he doesn’t want to do.”
“In an ideal world, yeah he wouldn’t be forced to do anything. But Ted here isn’t being forced off his land, he is refusing to sell for 300% above market rate and trying to get people to donate to pay off his new tax bill.”
“I read that article and it didn’t say anything about him refusing to sell.”
“Didn’t they teach civics in school?”
“Yeah, after we memorized the 65 states and what the vice-president’s star signs were.”
“The article doesn’t need to say that Teddy here is refusing to sell his land to a buyer because that’s the only way that the Government can take his land. Whenever a buyer wants land someone else has they have to pay that person and pay the local government taxes for a period of years. Let’s say I find out my neighbor has a diamond mine under their property and I have the money to hire crews to come and mine it but my neighbor doesn’t want to sell it to me. I’d go down to city hall to see what if any taxes they are paying on that property and make both them and the city an offer. If I can convince the mayor or his tax collector that I can pay more in taxes and I’ll buy the land from my neighbor, then the government will go to my neighbor and let them know look George here would like your land and is offering you this much money and he is willing to pay us this much in taxes. My neighbor could go, alright I’ll pay that much in taxes and tell George to fuck off. That’s roughly the way the system works. Teddy here could buy a yacht with how much money he is turning down.”
“You think there is a diamond mine under Ted’s house?”
“I think you don’t just offer someone three times the value of their house for no good reason. And you don’t turn it down. Remember when you offered me a buck for my shirt, Well I bet if I offered you a 100 you’d walk around in just your overalls and boots for the day.”
“Fair point. Something bugs me about this. Like you can’t actually own your own home. What about property rights?”
“Property rights are a fancy way of saying, government backed ownership. If the government wanted all the land and to take your rights, you got two options: get rid of the government or give up what the government wanted.”
“So I could buy out this store and shop from you, and the government would kick you out?”
“Not with what I pay you. But if you win the powerball, sure.”
“You’d be happy about that?”
“I’d have a lot more money, probably consider it a wash. Maybe I’ll retire.”
hngyhngyhppo 