MoiraKathleen Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 28 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said: I fail to understand why letting a pervasive government charge you another 20% tax gives you a feeling of liberty. We went to war with a government, once upon a time, for their taxing ways. I could be wrong, but I took the feeling of liberty part as referring to owning a private region, i.e., even though she has to pay the additional VAT, the owning a region gives a feeling of liberty over renting or owning mainland. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvia Tamalyn Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I currently am at the lowest amount of land I've had in SL in years, with two parcels in Bay City I use for restaurants, one 3000-ish sq m parcel on the Atoll that is where I play with houses and have a platform for messing with stuff, and then a few alts and I have some places in Bellisseria that are my current toys to be decorated. Oh, and I rent a small treehouse on a private estate, and have a marina cottage on another estate that I get for being an estate manager there. Total parcels: 9. I don't like staying in one place for too long, so I actually do play with them all! In RL, I have no desire for any property other than my home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindal Kidd Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 49 minutes ago, moirakathleen said: I could be wrong, but I took the feeling of liberty part as referring to owning a private region, i.e., even though she has to pay the additional VAT, the owning a region gives a feeling of liberty over renting or owning mainland. Oh, darn. You mean I can't start a flame war over VAT? 😃 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfie Reanimator Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 9 hours ago, Tolya Ugajin said: Do you own/rent land? If so, how much? How do you use it? If you had a significant increase in RL finances, would you allocate some to owning more RL land? If so, what would you do with it? I live in a country where land ownership (especially forest) is considered fairly important. That said, I also live in a ~30sqm box IRL with no desire to own land or even a bigger apartment. I like what I have, there's no wasted space but I don't feel like I'm running out of room either. The apartment is in a great location with public transportation (bus/train) constantly going everywhere, there's even a 24/7 mall within walking distance in case I feel like getting something at 3 AM. I have no idea what I would do if I lived elsewhere with yard all around. Same thing on SL, I rent a tiny 320 sqm parcel and all I use it for is a private sandbox for scripting. I could easily afford a parcel 10 times bigger, but why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hexem Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I own 5 mainland parcels across 3 regions, including Zindra. One is commercial, one is private, and the others are open community parcels. I neglect one, I admit. It's sort of just a backup for hosting in-world servers in case my store region goes offline. If I had some more money, I probably would expand and pick up more. I have other ideas for things I'd like to build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Rhiadra Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) Reading this thread, I feel like such a transient. I've never owned land in SL. For about 4 years, I rented retail space (in a total of 4 different sims) for my bookstore. Early on, I had a very small two-room bungalow (one room was a living room, the other I did up as a bar), and a little later I shared a Victorian two-storey with a friend. Mostly, though, I've never much worried about having a "home." And I don't have a store anymore. The one thing I do use land for is photographic setups and backdrops. Fortunately, I am custodian/admin for a fairly large and sadly underutilized mainland parcel, so I keep a cavernous Edwardian/Victorian house on one sky platform there, and another platform, higher up, that I use for more temporary backdrops. Some people will have seen this pic, but here's me caged in enjoying the front of my Edwardian house. If LL ever offers a new model of Linden Home that I like, I might consider going Premium and getting one of those. So far, though . . . meh. If I had lots of land, I'd build an expansive and gorgeous English park and garden around my Edwardian house, like Gardencourt in Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady. Or maybe buy an Italian villa I have my eye on. Or perhaps reproduce the Sixieme Arrondissement de Paris. Or . . . In RL, I couldn't care less about land. I live in the heart of one of the most expensive cities in the world, and I don't know what I'd do with a big house here anyway. Edited January 28, 2020 by Scylla Rhiadra 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela Galli Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I have four regions for my store, and now this premium houseboat I don’t know what to do with yet. I have never owned my own home in SL.* I live in the most expensive city in my state, and yes if I won the lottery I would buy some nice real estate looking over the rolling hills. * I rented a little house when I first joined, and filled it with furniture. Then I decided to see if I could replace the furnishings with ones I made, which I did. Then I looked around and realized if I set everything for sale I would have a store. So I did that. And I bought more land and kept building, until I used all the prims. I finally bought a region. I filled it up and bought another. I filled that one and bought another. Then another. But I never again had my own home. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Psaltery Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 9 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said: I fail to understand why letting a pervasive government charge you another 20% tax gives you a feeling of liberty. We went to war with a government, once upon a time, for their taxing ways. That's a frankly silly statement, with no apparent point other than to have a go at Britain. Of course the feeling of liberty does not come from paying extra tax. I expect better of you. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amina Sopwith Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 5 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said: That's a frankly silly statement, with no apparent point other than to have a go at Britain. Brexit day is looming, we deserve it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Psaltery Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 15 minutes ago, Amina Sopwith said: Brexit day is looming Hooray! And that is my only political statement today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindal Kidd Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 7 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said: That's a frankly silly statement, with no apparent point other than to have a go at Britain. Of course the feeling of liberty does not come from paying extra tax. I expect better of you. Not just at Britain, Garnet. I am violently against the whole VAT concept. Governments have come up with schemes to tax just about everything...income, birth, death, profits, sales, sin, property ownership, imports, exports. They collect money from us not only to run the general functions of government, but for every social welfare program imaginable. A relatively short time ago, some clever wonk came up with the idea of taxing "value added"...a way to extort money from citizens at every stage of a product's creation. Perhaps the citizens of Britain and the EU are used to this by now. You should not be. I'm telling you, you are being robbed. You are not free, you are slaves to your overlords. OK...now you know how I feel. So...back to your original comment that triggered my little rant: On re-reading it, I see that I did mistake your meaning, and that you were saying you got a feeling of liberty from owning your own virtual land, despite having to pay VAT. So please dissociate my VAT rant from your comment. I do hate VAT, and think everyone who consents to live under it is something of a numpty. But I do NOT hate you, or Britain, and I applaud your desire to own SL land. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Voxel Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I own a 2048 on Heterocetera. The most I would do is upgrade to a 4096, but I really would be happy adding the 1024 next to my land that is all beach front. Since the land baron that bought it is selling it for a ridiculous price, I’ll probably be waiting a long time for that. It’s either pay the price or wait them out. In real life, I own a house in Montreal and a cabin in the hinterlands of Qc. They were willed to me, I’m still a millennial. I’m still saving up for a house where I’m living in the US and that’s pretty pricy. Getting there though, no avocado toast for me on the weekends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seicher Rae Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I finally got the LL Houseboat I have been wanting (although @Pussycat Catnap seems to have a totally awesome location for hers). I even made a build in it! Yep, I installed my very own prim floor for a loft. It has underwear and empty pizza boxes and wine bottles strewn about the floor just like in RL. The 350 prims/LI that come with are the fewest I've had to deal with in a long time. I know you can do SL landless, but I have to have a place to call my own or I go bonkers (more bonkers). I've never owned, but I have rented, up to a few whole homesteads. I love assembling/designing sims. My two favorites are long gone, but one was a half homestead called Lightning Bug and it was roughly based in the Firefly Universe. It was a man made asteroid/planet, with a desert landscape. It was complete with a mad scientist laboratory. There was a backstory to the place, and if you looked hard enough you could find pages of a diary that told a story. They were tucked here and there. The other favorite, and most recent, was about 3/4 of a sim in Fanci's Deep (now no longer Fanci Deep, sadly). It was a submerged village, complete with buildings, roads, power lines, rotting cars and jelly fish, sharks, schools of fish... and SL art pieces. Lots of fun. If I came into RL money I sure as heck would purchase land and decorate my little heart out. It is one of the best things in SL for me to do. And I do make my builds public, I just don't tend to advertise them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Psaltery Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 35 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said: OK...now you know how I feel. So...back to your original comment that triggered my little rant: On re-reading it, I see that I did mistake your meaning, and that you were saying you got a feeling of liberty from owning your own virtual land, despite having to pay VAT. So please dissociate my VAT rant from your comment. I do hate VAT, and think everyone who consents to live under it is something of a numpty. But I do NOT hate you, or Britain, and I applaud your desire to own SL land. I take pains to say what I mean, since truth is important to me. Sometimes I fail, but my comment did not trigger you; that was the result of your lack of care. Your further rant on taxation (excised from the quotation) and your judgement that I am something of a numpty (and you cannot argue that I am not included) give me no reason to appreciate your applause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luna Bliss Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said: . They collect money from us not only to run the general functions of government, but for every social welfare program imaginable. I do hate VAT, and think everyone who consents to live under it is something of a numpty. But I do NOT hate you, or Britain, and I applaud your desire to own SL land. Well Lindal, I think you and me (assuming you live in the US) are numpty supremes...because we allow 60% of taxes to go to the military * There actually needs to be more money funneled to social welfare programs....if you'd have seen what I've seen I think you'd agree. Edited January 28, 2020 by Luna Bliss 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seicher Rae Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 42 minutes ago, janetosilio said: Getting there though, no avocado toast for me on the weekends. You're foregoing the avocado toast? 😢 Wow. I envy you your ability in adulting! You adult much better than I do. Kudus. But, really, no avocado toast? Can a millenial really survive under such hardships? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pussycat Catnap Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 15 minutes ago, Seicher Rae said: The 350 prims/LI that come with are the fewest I've had to deal with in a long time. Folks in the Bellisseria Citizens group have a lot of advice on finding low-land-impact decor to put in there. It's an engaging challenge to work with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pussycat Catnap Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said: some tax stuff Quote some other people too, about stuff and things... We probably do NOT want a politics debate in THIS thread. I will say though that tax was just the reason they sold us on that war. It had a lot more to do with multiple other issues - fear of the abolitionists that were gaining popularity in Britain and fear of the crown having signed a peace treaty recognizing the Iroquois as an equal nation among some chief factors... US slaveholders were so fearful of abolitionists that they presumed the abolitionists would win their cause 'by next Saturday'... so it was time to make sure they could keep Blacks enslaved... and the founders had already auctioned off all the lands west of the Ohio river to themselves... and that was the land Britain recognized as part of a nation it now saw as an equal... and those were just 2 causes that... like our involvement in Iraq, Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Vietnam, Panama, Iran, Chile, Grenada, Hawaii, Somebody's Mom's House, and basically everywhere... were NOT part of the public record... The public record was "redcoats bad... tax bad... fight now..." wash, rinse, repeat... story of the USA since the early 1600s... when we told a lie about meeting 'savages that had never seen a European before' who actually traded us goods they got from Mexico that was basically just down the block and had been there for a 100 years already... and then a century later we got to the plains and met a bunch of 'uncontacted savages' that rode European horses they'd bought from some guy named Jose... About the only 'honest' war we've ever had was.... um... hmmm... yeah... nope... can't think of one... If they tell you in history class something was about 'A', chances are you should look at every single letter in that alphabet EXCEPT A for the actual cause... Edited January 28, 2020 by Pussycat Catnap 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindal Kidd Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 19 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said: Well Lindal, I think you and me (assuming you live in the US) are numpty supremes...because we allow 60% of taxes to go to the military * There actually needs to be more money funneled to social welfare programs....if you'd have seen what I've seen I think you'd agree. We US citizens are overtaxed numpties too, can't deny it. ...goes to sit in the Numpty Corner and offer Garnet a piece of pizza in reparation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Voxel Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 18 minutes ago, Seicher Rae said: You're foregoing the avocado toast? 😢 Wow. I envy you your ability in adulting! You adult much better than I do. Kudus. But, really, no avocado toast? Can a millenial really survive under such hardships? I actually don’t!! It’s delicious!! It was more of a poke at the “I had two houses and four kids at your age. You should stop eating avocado toast and save!!” crowd. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleMe Jewell Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 30 minutes ago, Luna Bliss said: Well Lindal, I think you and me (assuming you live in the US) are numpty supremes...because we allow 60% of taxes to go to the military * There actually needs to be more money funneled to social welfare programs....if you'd have seen what I've seen I think you'd agree. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is generally consider pretty middle of the road, or sometimes just a tad left leaning. They don't quite agree with your 60% number. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pussycat Catnap Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 7 minutes ago, janetosilio said: I actually don’t!! It’s delicious!! How can any sane person NOT like avocado on toast? Perfection in simplicity. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyona Su Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 3 minutes ago, Pussycat Catnap said: How can any sane person NOT like avocado on toast? Because it's not everyone else; it's you. Being sane, I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luna Bliss Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) 10 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is generally consider pretty middle of the road, or sometimes just a tad left leaning. They don't quite agree with your 60% number. I can't remember where I saw the 59 point something going to the military, but I know it was a reputable source. It would be interesting to see how different sources break down the spending, as there are all sorts of ways to obfuscate the actual numbers when revealing a 'budget'. * I know I've heard the US spends more on the military than 7 of the highest military spending countries combined... Edited January 28, 2020 by Luna Bliss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Lomba Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 I think tax is awesome! I doubt it is being efficiently and well used everywhere. But it provides us with infrastructure, welfare, base income, healthcare and much more. The downside, a lot of it is being lost in bureaucracy and forms of corruption and horrible budgeting systems. But in general, I am all for taxes. Prefer paying taxes to living in a country where people have to live on the street or can not afford being healthy and such. On topic, I generally rent parcels on private regions. Then do some building and decorating. Forget to log on and pay rent, and get everything returned to me. And repeating that process for the past 13 years on and off. Currently owning a beach front house on ground level, and a Sci-Fi skybox/photo area up high. Would I win the lottery, after getting bored with traveling and al sorts of other stuff and return to SL, I would most likely buy a full region and go wild on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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