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In today's POM (Physical Object Money)
economy, thousands of people are
losing their homes. Bad loans, loss
of jobs, unexpected medical bills,
family emergencies and other factors
have led to hundreds of thousands of
families being at risk of homelessness.
But even in the best of times
there are people in every industrialized
nation who find themselves
homeless for one reason or another.
How does a non-POM economy deal
with people who have no money and
who need
a place to live? In a non-POM economy
those people who own real estate
such as houses or apartment complexes
or hotels are perfectly free to do
what they like with that property.
If they don't want to allow a certain
person or persons to enter or live
in some house they own then the society
will support them in preventing that
person from moving in or entering
at
all. Therefore, those who are in
danger of being homeless cannot demand housing. Well, they could demand
it but they would likely be ignored
or
told to go away. This sounds heartless
but it is not.
You see, if one owns housing one
can get money for allowing people
to live
in that housing. That's right. The
person or persons who live there
do
not have to have any money at all
for you to get paid for the benefit
you
do those people by allowing them
to stay in your property. The same
holds
for food, clothing, and other necessities.
If you provide them to those
who need them (almost everybody)
then you will be paid for providing
that
benefit. Therefore, every property
owner has a motive to allow others
to
live in their housing.
But not every person who needs a
place to live is the kind of person
whom
one would trust with one's property.
Some people have earned a reputation
as being careless and irresponsible
or just downright destructive. No
one
is required to give them housing.
But giving them a place to live is a
way to make money. Therefore, some
housing will be constructed that
is
simple and inexpensive to make, yet
extremely difficult to damage or
destroy. The utilities will turn
themselves off when usage exceeds
a
certain limit. The furniture may
be either extremely sturdy or so
cheap
as to be recycled after a short time
anyway. In other words, those who
acquire a reputation for being irresponsible
renters will find that only a
few housing options are open to them
and those are pretty primitive.
Naturally, as time goes by, one
would expect building materials to
improve
such that an apartment could look
nice despite having almost
indestructible walls, utilities,
and furniture. This kind of construction
would generate the most income for
the builders and property owners.
Would everybody have the housing
they would like to have? Almost
certainly not. Would everybody be
able to live in the neighborhood
they
prefer? That, too, is unlikely. But
will everyone who is willing to take
care of their surroundings be housed,
except in cases of natural disaster
(like floods, tornados, or hurricanes)?
Of course, because there's money
to be made and a free
market to assure
that the owner gets a fair price.
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