Slum Lords
Ellen DeGeneres isThe superrich make lousy neighbors–
they buy a house and tear it down
and build another, twice as big, and leave.
They're never there; they own so many
other houses, each demands a visit.
Entire neighborhoods called fashionable,
bustling with servants and masters, such as
Louisburg Square in Boston or Bel Air in L.A.,
are districts now like Wall Street after dark
or Tombstone once the silver boom went bust.
The essence of the superrich is absence.
They're always demonstrating they can afford
to be somewhere else. Don't let them in.
Their money is a kind of poverty.
– John Updike, Slum Lords
There was also an item in the WSJ today about a wealthy Japanese-Hawaiian who is letting homeless people live in his properties in expensive neighborhoods. Supposedly, amassed his wealth by being a slum lord. Now people are just a bit suspicious that he's doing this to drive property values down so he can buy out his neighbors. Makes sense doesn't it? Do bad by doing good. You probably aren't happy when the county buys property in your neighborhood for housing vouchers for the poor.
1 comment:
52% more than she paid for it? The sad thing is she'll probably get it.
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