tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060417.post8718306090193523932..comments2023-11-05T06:18:25.377-06:00Comments on The Privatopia Papers: Texas Legislature Online - 82(R) History for SB 142Evan McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04479661304143631524noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060417.post-54716067131245874632011-05-26T15:48:57.175-05:002011-05-26T15:48:57.175-05:00The above writers ignore a fundamental difference ...The above writers ignore a fundamental difference between labor unions and HOAs: Labor unions were established by the workers, not by the bosses/owners and/or management, and their only weight and power is by united pressure. HOAs, OTOH, were formed (in most cases) by developers and their power is "legal" and derived from the sanctity of contracts, combined with archaic feudal real estate laws.<br /><br />IMHO, the only way to defeat this flawed institution is by exploiting the very same powers embedded in contract law and invalidate the contract on legal grounds, e.g. lack of free and informed consent of (most) homeowners, lack of mutuality, unconscionability, etc., which create an illusory contract of adhesion that robs homeowners of their property rights and deprives them of liberty and dignity.<br /><br />I firmly believe that most homeowner advocates fight a false cause by demanding "enforcement" (and thus validate the CC&Rs contract) and/or by basing their fight on the U.S. Constitution (which does not apply to the HOA private institution).<br /><br />MikaMika Brainyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04361090709114927718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060417.post-42026718051630519822011-05-20T08:11:43.481-05:002011-05-20T08:11:43.481-05:00OK, I've finally figured out how to post a lin...OK, I've finally figured out how to post a link so my entire discussion with some conservatarianican can be viewed at once:<br /><br /><a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/senate-gop-embarrasses-dems-over-boeing/#comment-1041909" rel="nofollow">http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/senate-gop-embarrasses-dems-over-boeing/#comment-1041909</a> , with this question posed:<br /><br />1. Do conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, Ayn Randians, etc. believe that workers should be required to join a union as a condition of employment, where mandatory membership in a labor union is a prerequisite condition of employment? [ YES / NO ]<br /><br />2. Do conservatives, libertarians, Republicans, Ayn Randians, etc. believe that home owners should be required to join a union as a condition of home ownership, where mandatory membership in an HOA union is a prerequisite condition of home ownership? [ YES / NO ]<br /><br />If the answer for 1 is different than the answer for 2, please explain why.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060417.post-66078792003494545722011-05-18T22:38:22.645-05:002011-05-18T22:38:22.645-05:00Since the above comment was approved by the modera...Since the above comment was approved by the moderator, my comment at <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/senate-gop-embarrasses-dems-over-boeing/" rel="nofollow">Pajamas Media</a> was (retroactively?) published as comment # 39.<br /><br />The response is priceless, part of which is excerpted here:<br /><br /><i>What we do believe is that HOA unions have a right to exist; they have a right to have rules and regulations so long as they don’t attempt to circumvent standing Federal, state or local authority and they are, HERE IT IS, voluntary! If you don’t want to join an HOA union, then don’t buy a house in a neighborhood that has them.</i><br /><br />Funny that none of the PJM authors or readers feel that way about labor unions.<br /><br />The right-wing's cognitive dissonance regarding their position on mandatory membership in a labor union as a condition of employment vs mandatory membership in an HOA union as a condition of home ownership is downright Orwellian.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060417.post-88648790852177924532011-05-15T20:50:01.392-05:002011-05-15T20:50:01.392-05:00And speaking of mandatory membership in a labor un...And speaking of mandatory membership in a labor union as a condition of employment, the conservative/libertarian <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/senate-gop-embarrasses-dems-over-boeing/2/" rel="nofollow">Pajamas Media blog</a> (via <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/120771/" rel="nofollow">Instapundit</a>), writes that<br /><br /><i>Al Franken made a late appearance and demonstrated, once again, why Saturday Night Live suits him better than the United States Senate. Franken got angry and said it is untrue that anyone is ever forced to join a union. He obviously never worked in the produce section at Shop ‘n Save in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In a closed-shop state like Pennsylvania, the laws require employees to be members of a union if the employer is unionized. Enzi quipped, in response to Franken’s error, that you wouldn’t have to join a union unless “you wanted a job.”</i><br /><br />According to Republicans, workers are "forced" to join labor unions, but not forced to join HOA unions. Numerous comments in that discussion thread affirm this observation.<br /><br />A comment I posted there -- <a href="http://pajamasmedia.com/comment/1041909/" rel="nofollow">pajamasmedia.com/comment/1041909</a> -- questioning this double standard still has not been approved by the blog owners for inclusion in the main discussion thread (it would have been comment # 38). I mention this because Pajamas Media has a history of not approving my comments regarding this question. If I had known how to link to pending comments before now, I could provide a list over the past year or so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5060417.post-17492906232532680582011-05-15T10:23:49.046-05:002011-05-15T10:23:49.046-05:00Short of abolishing HOAs (which I am in favor of),...Short of abolishing HOAs (which I am in favor of), there is only one reform that is needed:<br /><br />Make HOA membership truly voluntary, in that a homeowner can leave the association at any time.<br /><br />It is the <i>only</i> way that HOAs will treat homeowners as customers, rather than as captives. Any other reform -- however good or just good-intentioned -- will be abused by the industry. As long as homeowners are not free to leave, the profit motive ensures that homeowners will continue to be abused.<br /><br />This modest proposal to prohibit mandatory membership in an HOA union as a condition of home ownership is no more radical than the Republican Party position of prohibiting mandatory membership in a labor union as a condition of employment. If the union provides value, people will <i>want</i> to be dues-paying members. If not, the union will go out of business, as it should.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com