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Comment by HDBaseT | Hacker News Reader

Home "ownership" is misleading. You don't own a home until you've paid it off.

Younger people are getting into more debt, for much longer in order to be able to survive.

When we start comparing the numbers (i.e, house paid off, even reflected as a percentage paid off, relative to age) the numbers reveal the real crisis.

Anecdotally, I know tons of 20-30 year olds getting into the property market (with insane levels of debt with almost impossible loan lengths) simply because if they don't do it now, there is a high chance homeless is the next option.

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> You don't own a home until you've paid it off.

That's not quite true. If you want to think that way, then you'd never own it because you'll always pay property taxes so the paying never stops.

But as soon as you buy a home it is your asset. Yes, you have a debt against it. But you are the owner. Go look up the owner in the county records and it is you.

We both know the pay off in this instance is referring to mortgages

To be pedantic what most people consider ownership is a revocable land lease from the state government which you forfeit if you fail to pay protection money to the gov.

True ownership is non-existent.

>True ownership is non-existent.

Why? The military power owns things by enforcing their ownership. This is, in fact, the true ownership.

You have to pay taxes to own land so the power which is on your side can prevent another power to re-own it.

If you don't pay taxes to the power which is on your side, why would it allow you to own stuff and provide free protection? Out of good will?

That's how the world works, ownership without the power behind it is non-existent, as well as power without the money behind it is non-existent. When there are enough powers balancing each other, stable systems emerge, and we all can enjoy some few decades of peace and prosperity.

You could always seastead!

But yes, you do not truly own anything unless you are a sovereign power.

There are plenty of entities that don't pay property taxes. Charities, religious facilities, some disabled people, spouses of fallen service members.

> spouses of fallen service

What if they get remarried?

A widow receiving a military pension will not uncommonly "live in sin" before losing the monthly check.

Which is a pointer to the "real", general issue: materialism.

Ain't no joy in $tuff.

Joy is of the Lord.

Sovereign citizen? On my Hacker News?

...It's more likely than you think !!

I never claimed that. It is clear whose jurisdiction we are in.

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