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The difference is that nobody would be forcing you to live in one. Note that sprawling suburbs with identical single family houses and lawns controlled to the
by mikeash 8y ago
The difference is that nobody would be forcing you to live in one.
Note that sprawling suburbs with identical single family houses and lawns controlled to the inch by HOAs are also the end result of government policy.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- reaperducer 8y agoHOA's are, quite literally, not government. They're an association of home owners. They sometimes act like government, but are still very limited in scope and power. And a good HOA or condo association (there are some) is even better than a government.
- tathougies 8y agoOf course they are government. If you don't pay their fee, they can evict you. They are the only agency able to do this, despite having no lien on the house. That makes them a government, whether you like it or not
- reaperducer 8y agoIf you don't pay their fee, they can evict you. And that's why I wrote that they act like a government. But unlike a government, you can move away from the HOA's project and not be under its thumb. To escape government, you have to buy a ship and anchor it in the middle of the ocean.
- tathougies 8y agoSo the government of California is not a government because you can move to Nevada? Have you thought about what you're claiming? Is the government of London not a government because you can move to Birmingham?
- skellera 8y agoNo need to take it so literally. Moving to the next development or town over is different from moving out of a country or state.
- tathougies 8y agoSo yes... City governments are not governments because you can just move to the neighboring city. Redefining words is fun!!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- wongarsu 8y agoThey are not The Government, but they govern various areas relating to the homes and lifes of the people living under them. Since they govern, they are a government. Being limited in scope and power is irrelevant, unless you try to also claim US states don't have a government. Not entirely related but illustrating the point: an HOA is surprisingly similar to a local government: they approve or deny building requests, compel property owners to pay a share of common expenses (in other contexts called taxes), issue fines for violating "laws", hold elections, etc.
- quotemstr 8y agoGovernments are associations of citizens --- well, at least the ones that aren't despotic. HOAs are, well, private governments. That might seem like a contradiction in terms, but it really isn't.
- ajmurmann 8y agoWhat makes one of them private and the other one isn't? Aren't all governments just the way we organize ourselves in groups and give power to the group?
- mikeash 8y agoI said they were the end result of government policy. I said nothing about them being government.