Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Progressives Just Don’t Wanna Have Fun
Today’s sage advice from the progressive left: it’s a given that you should eat organic and locally grown food, but if you’re out at a trendy restaurant serving this kind of food, you should also consider the morality of the business’s practices. Namely, are they paying their servers a fair wage? Are they paying a rent that is respectful of the community (i.e. did they force out another tenant that could not pay such a high rent)? Are they contributing to gentrification?
Per this essay posted a few days ago at everydayfeminism.com:
We know gentrification is racist and classist, that it hurts marginalized people and destroys communities. We know that it fits into a larger cultural reality in which people with more social, political, and economic power have more control over space. We know it fosters discrimination and cultural appropriation. We see the connections…
Gentrification is not merely a natural shift in the demographics and business landscape of an area, but a collection of systematic changes to maximize profit, serving a higher class of people while alienating the middle class and pushing out lower income individuals and families.
Never mind that gentrification makes cities cleaner, safer, and provides inhabitants with better access to higher paying jobs. But at least the writer is aware that gentrification is the result of the free-market and no one is intentionally marginalizing the poorer citizen of the community.
I just got here! I didn’t make this building or set this rent! I work hard at my job! I took the apartment I could afford! I’ve been dreaming of opening this restaurant my whole life! I charge six dollars for gluten-free donuts because people pay it!
Yes, you’re right. You’re not single-handedly responsible for all the problems in your city, and if you’re not a speculator or a landlord or a millionaire, you’re probably also limited by gentrification in some way. But your actions have consequences, and they don’t exist outside of the larger social context.
So, when you’re sitting on the balcony of your new high-rise flat eating your six-dollar vegan donut, watching the community below you crumble, you must ask yourself: Do I have a part in this? How do my actions affect this community? Is there something I can do with my power, privilege, and —ahem— money?
Without further ado, the nine ways privileged people can prevent this awful, racist thing called gentrification:
- Acknowledge your privilege
- Respect the history of your neighborhood
- Listen to the voices of your neighbors
- Understand That Residents Have Feelings About Their Changing Neighborhood
- Make Socially Conscious Purchase Decisions
- Invest in Community-Focused, Community-Run Organizations
- Question Exclusionary Tactics Claiming to Be About ‘Safety’ (Because this isn’t about the safety of everyone)
- Advocate for Yourself and Others
- Vote
And lastly, my own addition:
10. Get a grip! Progress is about CHANGE! Could you imagine if Johannes Gutenberg had not invented the printing press because he didn’t want to marginalize the poor monks who made a living handwriting bibles? Or if President Lincoln had not abolished slavery because he wanted to respect the history of the slave community?
Now go enjoy* that six-dollar vegan donut!
*If you can, personally I think they taste like cardboard
Published in General
Is gentrification always the result of the free market? Middle class people have had to sell houses on the shoreline–houses that have been in their families for years– because the taxes are now way more than middle class people can afford. Isn’t that also gentrification?
See the prior comment about “going too far”. :)
Having lived in a number of neighborhoods over the years that were sketchy and then became hip(er) (104th St & Manhattan Ave, NYC thank you) I’ve heard too many versions of arguments the article. My 2 cents is that if you ever find yourself trapped in one of these discussions, don’t make the mistake of arguing that gentrification only happens in abandoned, crime riddled, neighborhoods. Real estate developers aren’t crazy, they move is measured steps. You set up a latte-bar in a sketchy neighborhood too soon and it’s going to be a. too expensive for people to support, and b. robbed frequently. My experience was with a hardware store of 20+ years who see it’s rent go thru the roof over the course of three years as the neighborhood became “hot”. They had to move. Now they don’t need a law to protect them, but it’s a little much to claim that the three replacement shops (children’s clothing, coffee bar, restaurant, “saved” the neighborhood. Worse, I had to take the C train to get drill bits.
In other words, when you get the holy and scared food, insure that the temples of learned,righteous and justified holy food are founded and run on the ideals and theological principles, of the holy and progressive mullahs (also know as journalist and college professors). Because what make food holy is not merely what it is but the heart of those who paid people to prepare it. Or you can just have holy mullahs of the mosque of New York Times or the temple of CNBC to say the holy food place is righteously progressive therefor the food is not sinful to partake in.
Gee- can’t seem to find the edit button- my above post appears to haven been written with my eyes closed and spell check on strike. Now I must hang my head in grammatical shame.
I wonder if it bothers the left when poor people move into a neighborhood, the Victorian brick townhouses fall into disrepair, and the cafes are replaced by check cashing joints and pawn shops. Or is it okay when a neighborhood goes in that direction?
Of course it is. How else are modern buildings supposed to get that “vintage” veneer?