What’s Mine Isn’t Yours
This one goes on for a bit, so please bear with me through the end. Thanks!
I think perhaps I should sue Debo Hobo dot com. Here it is, the third day of September, and Deborah’s blog is still decorated in Halloween colors, black and orange. Since she’s part of my virtual neighborhood, this reflects badly on me. I also believe that this is hurting the financial potential of my blog, as people turned off by her unsightly blog may decline to visit mine as well.
She’s also using white text on a black background, which is completely inappropriate. I see that Pete is doing the same. This is an eyesore and may even be difficult for some people to read. How dare they not think of others when designing their blogs? They are part of a community and they should put aside their own preferences and do what is best for the community!
We shouldn’t let people like that in our community! If they don’t like it, they can take down their blogs and write in their own journals. Some things are best kept to themselves anyway.
If I can’t convince them voluntarily to change, I’m going to get a group of my other neighbors together. People like Jon, Joanne, Mike, Doug, Ann and Mike. They all have sensible color schemes, and black text on a white or light background. We’ll get together, and we’ll vote on a set of standards with penalties for non-compliance.
If Deborah and Pete don’t comply within a reasonable amount of time, they’ll be fined. Then, the work will be done for them, and they’ll be billed for it. Something needs to be done to set these people straight!
Come to think of it, I think that John Chow should sue for Pete’s blog. John Chow could certainly monetize MyGPSCameraPhone.com better than Pete has. Why should Pete be allowed to keep something when he’s not making it reach its full potential? It’s better off in the hands of someone like John Chow who can turn it into a profit-maker. Naturally, Pete will be reimbursed for the loss of his site, you know, ten bucks to cover his registration fee for the domain name. But, John Chow will put it to better use, so he should have it.
But, you say, their blogs are theirs to do with as they please!
Not so fast! You see, they are part of our community. More importantly, they are part of my community. That means I have a communal ownership interest in their blogs. So do you. That means that we, as a community, can decide for them what is best for their blogs. I don’t care that they’ve spent time and money on their blogs that I haven’t. I still have an ownership stake; we all do. They can’t just decorate their own blogs willy-nilly without regard for how it may affect the rest of us. They have got to be team players, or pay the penalties for their individualistic tendencies.
But, leave my blog alone. It’s mine! I’ll do whatever I please with it, thank you very much. I’m an esteemed member of the community, so I have earned more flexibility than Pete or Deborah. Who do they think they are anyway?
Sound ridiculous?
Of course it does, because it is ridiculous!
Yet, it’s happening every day in the “real” world.
People lose their property because a big corporation comes in and convinces the city council to let them seize the property so they can build a superstore, which will generate more tax revenue than the homeowners’ property taxes. So, out of the “public good,” the homes are taken, destroyed and a new store is built.
People have in their minds what their neighborhood should look like, and they don’t want anyone to ruin that vision of the “perfect” neighborhood with pink flamingos, garden gnomes, the wrong style of mailbox, the wrong paint colors or even, gasp!, a flag pole with the nation’s flag. So, they define rules and regulations through the local homeowners’ association, or their county or city zoning department. All to restrict what others do with their own property.
Community rights, they argue, outweigh individual rights.
Our Founding Fathers were smarter than that, and I would argue that the collective wisdom of the Founding Fathers far outweighs the collective wisdom in Washington, D.C., as well as many state and local governments as well.
For the most part, the U.S. has prospered in the last 200+ years with the idea that individuals have an inalienable, indisputable, God-given, inherent right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, something which many today seem to think is an idea from a bygone era.
Today, you cannot build a house without a permit. You have to build your house a certain way. You will likely be restricted as to what changes you may make to your own property. You may even be restricted as to how you may decorate your exterior, even to the extent of being limited to a specific selection of colors or the type of landscaping!
And, you could lose your house entirely (though you will be reimbursed for an estimated “fair market value”) if some big corporation comes along and views your area as prime real estate.
Compare the U.S. with how the Internet has grown and expanded, largely without regulation. Though, that is gradually changing too. Not too long ago, the domain name registrars were pushing for tiered domain name pricing, which would allow them to adjust pricing based on the estimated value of a domain name rather than a flat rate. Some TLDs already permit this, most notably .TV. But, you can expect that to change in the future, because ICANN, the association that’s supposed to be on “our” side, isn’t. It answers to the people that pay its bills: the registrars. Not you and me or small or family businesses.
Today, you can set up a blog. You can write about just about anything you want. You can decorate it as you please.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
You see, we’re already heading down that slippery slope. Government, through the whims of our neighbors as well as powerful interests, is already dictating how you can use your property, such as your house. If things continue, it will only be a matter of time before they’ll begin dictating more how you can use your virtual real estate as well.
Somebody, somewhere is not going to like something you’re doing. And, when a republic becomes a pure democracy, where rights are subject to the whims of the majority instead of a constitution, all they need do is convince 51% of likely voters that you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing. People worry about the person in the White House or the people in Congress, when they should be worrying a little more about the person next door.
Or, themselves. Because when you think something like “they shouldn’t be allowed to have a bird feeder in their front yard,” you’re part of the problem.
Welcome to the future, where big brother is your neighbor, or you.
What an awesome post. Thanks for the bazillion links you’ve sent my way. BTW, I’ve been contemplating a theme change, but the black stays. Photos display better on black.
If I hear from John Chow, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Deborah will probably be contacting you first to start a white-text/black-background union or something.
The rest of us will start a dark-text/light-background confederation, and it will be a poewar!
Now, now hold on a minute here. No need for war! All the rest of you just need to move on over to the dark side. Come on, get with it add some pizazz to your blogs. Beside, John Chow is not the be all end all in blog monetization so I have no fear of him.
As I am sure you know Jerry Jones and his gang threw hundreds of families out of there homes in order to build our bran’spankin’ new spectactular billion dollar staduium. These folks spent their lives paying of their home that some bought at a very very low price compared to today and were given very little in return. These older folks planned on living out the last few years of their lives in these houses but now they have to live with relatives or even worse go to a senior center retirement compound. That is Arlington TX.
In Farmers Branch, TX they are decriminating against the Mexican homeowners and forbidding them to paint their houses in a brighter than usual color and they are encouraging their residents to contact ICE if they encounter someone that “appears” to be an Illegal Allien.
Big brother is everywhere as you said even in your own home! America is becoming less free everyday, due in part to ourselves.
By the way, I just responded to your eMail. Not sure it will be of much interest, but such is the way of things. Thanks!
You said: “Today, you cannot build a house without a permit. You have to build your house a certain way.”
Not true. I can’t speak for everywhere, but I’m building a large addition on my house and a fair sized work shop without any permits of any kind. The only official visits we have had are from the county tax assessor’s office and all they were interested in was when it was going to be done so they can add it to the assessment. There is no county office for building permits. The closest large town has some kind of permit requirement and zoning restrictions. We live in a rural area.
That being said… I agree with the general philosophy of your article.
I should have said “in most areas” or some qualifier like that.
Around here, a couple years back, they pushed for restrictions on the size of trees you could plant in your yard. I think the requirements were something like a 3″ minimum diameter trunk, which is a pretty sizable tree for many varieties. Many people would probably have to hire a professional just to plant a tree. Fortunately, those restrictions weren’t implemented. But, it is still astounding the things people push for, and sometimes get to go through.
We have a Volvo dealership owner that purchased the land for his new car lot over a year ago but couldn’t get it built because the town didn’t like the colors he planned to paint the exterior of his main showroom! He had to store his brand new cars on a lot about a mile away until the problem was resolved. In the same area, one of the local cell phone carriers wasn’t allowed to put up a cell tower because it was “ugly”, even though they camouflaged it to look like a tree. I agree with the sentiment of your post and increasingly see more and more of this type of mentality.