2320: Squatty Potty

[Michael's Servant]

with Usama Siddiquee – Racial profiling; squatting; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Boy reviewed; revenge dumps

Guest:
Usama Siddiquee


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[snowflake]

love this! heard of keith in the girl while squating in 2008 or so from a friend and whenever we had internet i'd stream it! we cooked, collected water, froze, made flying toilets, and squated proper. we even protected a neighborhood from eminent domain destruction and helped get the street historically protected! and yes. squatters fuck like dirty pornstars! yay!

its hard work but now every day i have running water or electricity i'm like wow magic!

peace love and keith and the girl

ps. in some countries if you squat, pay at least one utility you can gain control of an unaccounted for building after seven years. also, i expected to be arrested and deported everyday. but you get used to it...oopah!

pss. i knew some great people who birthed and raised families in squats...and keep in mind i despise breeding. but they are the best people; breed on!

[Sparrow]

this all sounds…experiential. as much as i dig you guys (snowflake, you are a crystal gem), i'd still run y'uns off my property with rifles and the proper authorities. maybe dogs. stay off my land!!!*

*seriously though, please come visit. just don't stay and try to claim ownership.

[snowflake]

In holland for instance you can legally squat an unocuppied domicile after a year of vacancy! they let the owner know and they get a chance to legally (hopefully non violently) evict you. like i said we squated vacant buildings set to be torn down - INCLUDING AN OCCCUPIED NEIGHBORHOOD FULL OF FAMILIES- which wouldve become parking. so you can do it ethical or you can be sketch.

[Sparrow]

people should be nice and not dicks. and clean, jesus god. meth head vagrant squatters busted the floor out of one of my sweetheart's families' properties last year and set an outbuilding on fire. none of their fucking business why it may have been unoccupied for a single year; this is America and if you're not paying the taxes on it, ain't yours business. the house i'm in now? the previous occupants were kicked out and made sure to leave a cat locked in the house for several weeks (and let me tell you what a fun easy process evicting a shitty tenant is and then having to trap their cat). it took some doing to make our place even remotely ready for human habitation. i've torn out piss carpet and painted over bored, racist ramblings drawn onto bedroom walls. it's not funny or cute.

when i was 18, my boyfriend lived in an apartment with no electricity for almost 6 months with a couple and a baby (my godson) and 4 other down on their luck lost wandering 19-23 year old local boys who worked day labor jobs with the Mexicans. it was super illegal. you'd think that many people could make rent. i was there when CPS took the baby and the cops threw everybody out.

that was an upgrade. before that he dropped out of high school after his mother died--no family would take him in and he was too old to go into the system-- and lived in a neighbor's half constructed house with no bathroom or walls. he couch surfed in the winter to keep from freezing.

i know these people, too. no one was having fun or being philosophical. it's poverty. if you don't /have/ to live that way, don't. it's not dignified. and to do it and giggle? jesus. some people don't have the option to leave. USAMA TAKE YOUR SAVINGS AND GO BE A HUMAN.

for every, what i'm sure are nice families on hard times, there are a dozen pieces of trash that fell through all the cracks or don't care enough about themselves. does not entitle you to what's mine.

of /course/ running water is the best. everybody grow up and stop romanticizing what it is to have not have a home.

[snowflake]

Don't be confused; we weren't purposefully destructive. And how I ended up in europe without an money, no visa... that's a long story. But to be clear, european squatting and meth heads breaking into houses are worlds apart. Our community was like a commune; some people had better support (and life skills) than others and we all took care of each other. Many people had squated since puberty and were in their forties. its really hard to switch over and it is way better than being homeless. I'll repeat the point that we lived in unoccupied houses, and a lot of times did LOTS of research to pinpoint the owners. at the point of going in, we then contacted the police to "legalize" the squat, as well as the owners. In holland your property taxes are WAY higher if you have an empty building past a year; due to population and housing scarcity it is considered immoral and marketing baiting (waiting for the market to improve before you rent, leaving the lower classes immobilized and homeless). MOst common is to then either leave peacefully once asked to or to then make an aggrement like usama said, where they may show the apartment or you just agree not to do damage. i've even known architects and artists to do repairs on buildings and then give the owner a receipt with the costs of what the work would have been but not charge them in a good natured gesture as if to say we will take care here. there is even a dutch term for that "autogenome leegstand behuer" basicly meaning anonomys building caretaker. sometiems that works out; the building owner has reduced taxes and then gives the squater notice before eviction to renovate. since MOST squats are ware houses or set to be torn down, lots of times the owners will just let people stay until they tear the building down. but there is also anti-squat, where the owner and squater work out a minimilized rent contract where one might pay an 1/8 of the rent in exchange, also lowering the owner's property taxes.
not all squaters are shit heads. but some shit heads are squaters... in my crew we had a zero tolerance no needles and no crack policy and did not do b n e's. the point was to live not steal (tho some stole and it wasn't open or tolerated). we took care of each other and helped get medication and food for each other or legal help. sometimes you just have to kick people out.
sorry for your bad expieriences sparrow. but i have to say, in cinincnati, there are a LOT of homeless people and a LOT of foreclosed empty buildings. to me, that is crime against humanity.
also, eeeeeeeeeeee thank you for including my picture guys! still not sure where you found it...wondering what other vid/pics of me are floating in the clouds....eeeeeee.....

honestly, i can't afford rent right now (when my financial situation changed i had to start cutting back. now my bills are going up and i'm getting a second job while i'm in school...

don't balk sparrow; its not romanticism; its reality. i use all my energy not to end each day in tears. being poor is hard. but when you appreciate the little things and you have a good home/crew/freedom you know you are alive. i'd squat again. further more, i know i'll survive a fucking zombie apocalypse- i can build a barricade in under twenty seconds and don't batt an eyelash at a four or five hour walk... i stand by my feedback. you become proud of your bag of shit.

peace, love, and keith and the girl

[Sparrow]

xoxo

well, you're always welcome to pop a squat at my place. just let me know first. ; ) i have, like, two wells. could slake the thirst of an army. *drip*

[invader]

Did I miss it or did Usama never actually say why there was a porta-potty in the bathroom in the first place?

[Scumhook]

Originally Posted by snowflake

i use all my energy not to end each day in tears. being poor is hard.

Maybe you should used some of that energy to get a fucking job, you lump of freeloading filth.

Working to not be poor is hard. Having responsibilities is hard. Dropping out of society and growing your armpit hair, while smelly, isn't hard. It's a choice.


Having said that, I love your av and your username.

[Lanfear]

Originally Posted by invader

Did I miss it or did Usama never actually say why there was a porta-potty in the bathroom in the first place?

I would assume he/his buddies bought it? I'm pretty sure we are talking about one of these small camping toilets - not a big blue hut

We just went through the whole "no pooping on the tourbus" ordeal, so that whole topic should be well known to the crew