Found out my HOA is caught up in a fraud lawsuit.

[beej]

It's all related when you consider the reason. The same greedy capitalist corps buying up all the house and driving up the houses are led by the same elite that are benefitting from the wealth/income gap.

you might find this article interesting.

https://todayshomeowner.com/blog/guides/are-big-companies-buying-up-single-family-homes/

[gcode]

It's all related when you consider the reason. The same greedy capitalist corps buying up all the house and driving up the houses are led by the same elite that are benefitting from the wealth/income gap.

Let's not forget that the local governments love to see housing prices go up because it increases.
property tax revenue. 

Here in my neck of the woods, local government has actively worked to destroy the dairy industry,
a quarter million agricultural jobs, and hundreds of multigenerational dairies and support businesses.
Why??
They say it's because cows fart and pollute mother earth, but the real reason is 500 square miles
of McMansions and warehouses pay WAY more property taxes than 500 square miles of dairies.

[CNCAppsJames]

Always with the blanket defense of capitalism. Can't ever admit anything bad can happen if you want to be a good R. Must pledge undying fealty to the free market gods.

There is a whole lot of in between ground in your "built in corrections". CEO's and execs drive companies into the ground all the while getting their huge bonuses and golden parachutes. They know it and they know it will hurt employees, customers, and investors, but they do it any way.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor

Many have fallen victim to the Devil Theory fallacy; "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity."

Nobody and mean NOBODY goes into business with the expressed intention of failing and getting a "golden parachute" so they can "move onto the next thing". I can't believe that people actually think that way...

As of May 2023 there were 211,230 CEO's in the US. (according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Mean Annual wage = $258,900. That's not a sexy number though so the "Capitalism is bad" sycophants highlight Fortune 500 CEO spectacular failures and bang the "capitalism bad" drum.

[neurosis]

Why can't I do both?

Not to be a facetious butt hole, but you guys really do have the perfect escape hatch.    Does everyone get one of those? 

[YoDoug]

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor

Many have fallen victim to the Devil Theory fallacy; "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity."

Nobody and mean NOBODY goes into business with the expressed intention of failing and getting a "golden parachute" so they can "move onto the next thing". I can't believe that people actually think that way...

As of May 2023 there were 211,230 CEO's in the US. (according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Mean Annual wage = $258,900. That's not a sexy number though so the "Capitalism is bad" sycophants highlight Fortune 500 CEO spectacular failures and bang the "capitalism bad" drum.

I disagree. It's not that they go into business to fail. It's that the reward for short term thinking is too great. They are rewarded for this years, or even this quarters, stock performance. Even if the means to make those performance metrics are long term bad decisions. That's why they negotiate those golden parachutes. 

People will go to and do what provides the most reward with the least effort and risk. this is human nature. If this means shady or immoral business practices then for a great deal of people this is what they do. Free market capitalism without high morals, integrity and values rewards making all you can today knowing it may not be good long term for the company/market/industry/society/etc.

[beej]

Not to be a facetious butt hole, but you guys really do have the perfect escape hatch.    Does everyone get one of those? 

It doesn't feel all that great to vote for a man that you don't particularly admire.

[mowens]

I disagree. It's not that they go into business to fail. It's that the reward for short term thinking is too great. They are rewarded for this years, or even this quarters, stock performance. Even if the means to make those performance metrics are long term bad decisions. That's why they negotiate those golden parachutes.

Sounds like Boeing.

[neurosis]

It doesn't feel all that great to vote for a man that you don't particularly admire.

Humility.  That's not very common around here. You're making me feel guilty.

[YoDoug]

Sounds like Boeing.

Definitely. The first time I ever saw it first hand was when I worked for the fishing reel company. The parent corp had set up the bonus system for the execs/directors to be based on that years economic profit. Every year we would start the  year with big plans for new products, new acquisitions, etc. Then as soon as it looked like they wouldn't make that years EP they started cutting back on projects and expenses. After a few years they went even further to start cutting jobs. I saw three years of layoffs my last three years there. In the 8 years I was there the company went from $150m annual sales when I was hired to $100m when I got clipped in a round of layoffs. Went from 140ish employees to barely 100. Then when the profits became too small the parent company sold it off. However the whole time I saw those execs get their new sports cars, houses, boats, etc. every spring when bonuses hit. They were literally rewarded for shrinking the company. This is standard free market capitalism MO, suck all the money you can out of a company, market, industry, etc and then when the money is gone sell it or declare bankruptcy and move on. Or if you are big enough like Boeing, wait for gov to bail you out.

[YoDoug]

It doesn't feel all that great to vote for a man that you don't particularly admire.

Unfortunately a long time ago I started seeing voting as voting against the worst candidate.

[CNCAppsJames]

Sounds like Boeing.

I was talking with a customer on Tuesday over dinner... he was lamenting Boeing's current (self inflicted) situation. Some of the things he pointed to have been pointed out by members here (mergers, labor strife, etc...), two things he mentioned that I had not thought about... but perhaps it was mentioned here and I just can't remember; 1) Boeing is no longer (commercially speaking) in the airplane manufacturing business. They are in the aircraft assembly business. There IS a difference. 2) He opined that Boeing wants out of the commercial airliner business. They want to do space and defense exclusively.

I thought it was an interesting conversation to say the least.

[mowens]

They want to do space and defense exclusively.

So far they suck at that too.

[neurosis]

The parent corp had set up the bonus system for the execs/directors to be based on that years economic profit.

Primus (now PCC) came in and bought up most of the good machine shops in this area back in the late 90's and every shop they bought has turned to garbage.

[CNCAppsJames]

So far they suck at that too.

There's little to no product liability on the Space/Defense side... IOW, no incentive to not suck. And since the only primes left are Lockheed, Northrup, and Boeing...

The cost of entry these days is so prohibitive, our so-called leaders change specifications and requirements more frequently than one changes an infant's diaper and usually for the same reason, nobody is going to get into it either.

Skunk Works by Ben Rich offers an amazing look at the world of government procurement (on the DOD aviation side). There's some REAL honest to goodness mouth breathers in the Pentagon and the halls of government. And if they are there, they most certainly are in the Fortune 500.

[CNCAppsJames]

Primus (now PCC) came in and bought up most of the good machine shops in this area back in the late 90's and every shop they bought has turned to garbage.

You have Boeing to thank for that. The Tier 1's want fewer suppliers plain and simple. And since the knowledge, expertise and experience to start up something like that is difficult at best, buying up smaller or focused companies is the course of least resistance.