this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
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- Better and fewer working hours.
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That's if you consider a house a store of wealth.
I consider it a place to live that compared to everything gets cheaper every year. By the time my mortgage is paid off all I have to pay is maintenance and property taxes. Which are a fraction of rent. If we assume things stay proportional, rent for a similar property per month is around $1,200. My property taxes are $2,800. Double that for a yearly average maintenance cost. That's 466 a month. You can't even get a used sedan for that much a month let alone a place to live
Also in 0 states can a squatter move in to an owner occupied home and claim squatters rights. Only an issue if the property is vacant
I was shocked to learn that the average homeowner in the US lives in their house for only 7 years. I think it’s due to the nature of how huge the country is and that something as simple as a job change means you have to move across the country and sell your house. There’s also the culture of always upgrading.
I grew up in a place where you usually buy once and live there forever, so equity isn’t really too important. But then again it’s a more centralized way of living where you can stay in place for most of your life.
I wonder how much of this is a question of what average is being used. It's the old median vs mean problem.
Elon Musk and a hundred homeless people are in a room. By the mean, the average person in that room is a billionaire. By the median, the average person is homeless.
I'm really curious whether that 7 year average figure is based on the median or mean. Because I could see it being really skewed by young people in their twenties that move around a lot.
Those people tend to rent and not own though.
Sure. But I think the seven year figure is how often people "on average" move, not just how often people sell and buy new homes.
I did a quick search and apparently it’s around 12 years in 2024 now.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/what-is-the-average-length-of-home-ownership.html
So this is actually only counting people who bought a home and moved out later, not just people moving in general.
I bought land with this mentality. Permanently reducing my costs and investing in off-grid infrastructure to make retirement cheaper.
I think it’s also the culture of seeing real estate as an investment. People buy houses planning on selling after they’ve lived there. I personally don’t think I can tolerate the risk of using equity as leverage for paid off land, because then there’s a risk the bank will take it. I’d rather leverage things I can live without if the bank takes it for whatever reason.