I'm really proud of Standingstone today. A baby was born here this morning, in the yurt we erected for his parents a fortnight ago. I'm proud that we have been able to give them a place to be, relatively protected from the stresses of the world, at this important moment.
But I'm a bit ashamed for Scotland that the best place we can offer to a pair of strangers in our midst, only one of whom speaks English well, to bring a child into the world, is a tent in a field.
@simon_brooke Aye. Greetings from Germany where 800.000 places for people to live in affordably are not existing anymore after the great sale of the "state-silver" with private investors picking it all up for peanuts.
The property capitalism is THE main part, hence main lever at the same time, of the boom-bust cycles that are dictated by the class of the rich, capitalist predators and their political mouthpieces.
Oh, and btw. the Irish elite and property, don't get me started. 🤣
Two more babies will be born in the parish this summer, both of them here at Standingstone, one to parents living in a wheeled shepherd's hut, one to parents living in an old caravan. Both those couples have one member who grew up here, who went to primary and secondary school here. Both couples are in employment.
But in modern Scotland, rural people earning rural incomes can no longer afford rural #housing.
This is Scotland after 14 years of #SNP rule; this is Scotland after two so-called #LandReform acts and with another, even more derisory, on the table.
#Labour are right to say that Scotland has a #HousingEmergency, but who really thinks they would do better? #ScotGov were right to accept that we do have one, but what do they propose to do about it?
We need to break the capitalist market in #housing. We need a highly progressive tax on property in housing and in land. We need to prevent the use of dwelling houses as holiday homes or as short term lets. We need to allow people to live in structures they can afford, and to help them afford structures fit to live in.
None of our political parties -- with the dubious exception of @ScottishGreens -- are even trying to address the problems Scotland faces.
@simon_brooke you're right. You're right for Scotland. You're right for France too, and for the Provence land.
Capitalism is the problem. Airbnb. Saisonal rent is more rentable than ever in touristic areas. And in rural places... it's the way to gentrification and, after, desertification.
In france, we don't really have the right to live a to give the life in a yurt. We've done both ✊️.
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