Post AXnPvPCai0rLjanc2K by tojiro@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by tojiro@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #AXnPvKqot14GEuaAXw by tojiro@mastodon.social
       2023-07-17T15:40:59Z
       
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       About 8 years ago the townhouse complex that I lived in got bought by new owners who quickly announced they were going to force everyone to move out, renovate, and put the properties back on the market for ~double the rent.My wife and I decided almost immediately that we were going to move before the deadline, but there were a lot of people in the complex that weren't in a position to do so, and were being priced out of a community where they had grown up and had family/friends.  🧵
       
 (DIR) Post #AXnPvLtgzoxZU6vyfA by tojiro@mastodon.social
       2023-07-17T15:49:23Z
       
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       The residents all met and talked about what they could do, but many were worried about repercussions if they spoke out against the new owners directly.I was already determined to move, so I said "I'll happily talk to the media!" I gathered a lot of info from the residents to relay, then reached out to local papers and news stations about the issue.We got three different stories run in various forms of media. I even ended up interviewing for a bigger national news show, but it never aired.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXnPvMoPawKWK1TH4S by tojiro@mastodon.social
       2023-07-17T15:53:14Z
       
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       During each of my interviews I stressed, over and over again, how this was a situation that I, a well paid tech worker, would recover from but for most of our neighbors it was a devastating, life changing blow. I repeated countless times that I was speaking for others who weren't in the same position of privilege as I was.The headlines that got run were "Silicon Valley is so expensive even this Google employee can't live there." The stories were all about the impact to me personally.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXnPvPCai0rLjanc2K by tojiro@mastodon.social
       2023-07-17T15:56:49Z
       
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       And, predictably, the comments on those stories were mostly flippant, dismissive "Oh, boo hoo, look at the poor tech bro whining about a longer commute to his cushy job!" Which was incredibly frustrating because that was the exact opposite of what I was trying to do! It was never about me.Anyway, we DID manage to move the needle with the new owners and they gave the residents more time to move and some financial assistance, which was a better outcome than I think many of us hoped for.
       
 (DIR) Post #AXnPvQL8TjHxGNnwzg by tojiro@mastodon.social
       2023-07-17T16:01:29Z
       
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       Anyway, I see a lot of comments about celebrities speaking out about the writers/actors strike saying "Oh, boo hoo! Millionaire actor doesn't think they're being paid enough!" and it makes me think back to my much smaller-scale experience.Because it's pretty clear to see that they're not speaking out for their own sakes. They're using a position of privilege to try and support the less privileged people around them.And the media doesn't like running that headline.