i have a gripe

it was a pleasant afternoon. a weekend. one of those days where i'm not obligated to be anywhere by the crack of dawn and i can interact with people voluntarily. one of those days where friends can sit around a table and talk about whatever pops out of our heads while we pass the time watching sunsets and collecting dust.

he went to mit when he was 15. now he works for a dot com that's moving their offices to a bigger building in the mission district. he's made a ton of money working for apple and he's continuing to make a ton of money working for this new startup. actually... now that i think about it... he's probably losing money on apple right now. good.

lately there have been some protests from mission residents about his company moving into their neighborhood. residents are tired of being evicted so that dot com companies can flourish and then die a humiliating death on what was once a small community. residents can't afford the new rents that these new companies are demanding of their surrounding neighborhoods. residents are pissed off.

"well, if they can't afford to live in san francisco, then they shouldn't," he said, looking me straight in the eye, with full conviction in his voice. "you know... fuck 'em"

wow.

in my anger over the gentrification of this beautiful city of ours, i have never actually talked with someone who held these views. the other people i've spoken to have been artists who have been evicted from their homes, other bands who have been evicted from their rehearsal spaces or just regular folks who have given up on having to deal with this once creative city and are just moving away. far away.

"are you telling me that people who have lived here for ten or fifteen years should just pack up a u-haul and leave their friends and families because all these internet companies are forcing them out of their neighborhood?"

"shit yeah, man. things change. things always change."

"but things don't always change for the better," i shot back. i could feel the blood rising to my skin. was i starting to turn red?

"you know, we've been arguing about this a lot at work lately because of the office move and all the protests," he said. "if you start driving away all the internet companies like us from san francisco - these companies are going to go elsewhere. this city has to take our business or risk losing it. next thing you know, it'll just be like detroit."

"but if we become wholly reliant on one industry and something happens to that industry, then we're screwed... and then we'll be just like detroit," said another friend, taking his point and flinging it back at him. some other folks were starting to walk away - they already knew all the arguments. they knew that neither of us would change the other's mind.

"listen, you can't drive all the businesses away. it's a simple fact. people don't have to live in san francisco. there's plenty of places to live near san francisco that's affordable." he was undaunted by the fact that he was the only one in the room who held his point of view.

"affordable? in the bay area? what are you talking about?" as i said this, it occurred to me that my definition of affordable and his definition of affordable were probably two incredibly different things.

"they could live in sausalito. there's plenty of affordable housing in sausalito."

"but there's no reliable or efficient public transportation," i told him, realizing that he wouldn't know how to take public transportation if his life depended on it. life must be hard driving that acura. "marin has consistently refused better public transportation for years and you're suggesting the people who rely on it the most live out there? you're fucking out of your mind."

"listen. it's really easy to make money. it's really easy to be rich. if people don't make that extra effort to be rich, then they have no right to complain about what they don't have."

do people really think this way? i wouldn't have thought so, except i could see his mouth moving and i could hear the words coming out of his mouth. i knew i was turning red. i knew i would have to stop this conversation soon or i would just turn violent. the urge to kill was definitely rising.

"kicking the artists out of this city is going to do nothing but harm san francisco. when you go to your posh restaraunt and your table can't be waited on because there's nobody to help you, or when you finally have kids and realize that the schools don't have good teachers, then you'll realize what kind of damage you're doing. an economy needs to support a diverse group of people. not everyone could go to mit, not everyone is as privileged as you and someday you're going to need to come out of your own libertarian asshole and take a good look around. give it a try sometime. "

i turned around and stepped outside for some air.

in retrospect, i feel really bad. i feel like i've been fighting this city for the past six months and it's winning. is this really the place i want to be anymore? there are so many good people out there who are fighting the good fight and they're losing. we're losing. it seems like the dot com folks who have taken over this city have forgotten why it's such a wonderful place and there's no attempt to rectify what they're doing. they just want to drive this city down to the ground with their riches and there's no giving back. there's no turning back.

i shouldn't really complain. i have a great job that i love. it's what i've always wanted to do for as long as i remember and it pays me well. unfortunately, it doesn't pay me enough to battle with the big boys. it doesn't pay me enough to buy a building for musicians and artists and people who love creativity above all else. i've lived in the bay area for a good many years now and it's been startling to see the changes that have happened.

anyway... sorry.... enough of my griping.

get back to work.

 

<10.03.00>

 

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