Give me a break, Ms. Kiviat!
In the just released September 6th issue of Time Magazine, the cover story by staff writer Barbara Kiviat proposes that owning a home may no longer make sense. I think a lot of folks across the country will disagree heartily with that premise. In the article, Ms. Kiviat seems to assert that America's home ownership "fetish" (her word, really!) is responsible not only for the dire financial straits in which many citizens currently find themselves, but also for high unemployment and our nation's excessive energy requirements. She also attempts to link home ownership to the federal deficit by asserting that the mortgage interest deduction accorded to homeowners costs the treasury billions of dollars per year. (I suppose the thousands of breaks granted to the wealthiest among us in the bloated tax code don't take away one nickel from the government's coffers.)
Before we all burn our bungalows, I think we should ask the great thinkers at Time to get real. This long cherished American tradition is not suddenly the toxic root of all society's ills. Maybe it's just me, but I've always thought the desirability of owning one's own home was pretty self-evident. Kiviat's article makes some valid points about excess and greed, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The benefits of most things, when taken to excess, tend to be perverted. But, while there never has been a credible case made that homeownership is the universal panacea, or even that it is every citizen's entitlement, there is an impressive, well-established list of positive attributes that make it pretty clear that we are not crazy to want to own the place we live in.
Rather than trying to convince the nearly 68% of Americans who own their homes that they made a mistake, Ms. Kiviat should try to explain to us why even main stream news media like Time need to sensationalize and distort issues in order to sell magazines. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to ask for a refund on this month's subscription.
Bob Dohn
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
140-A S. Roselle Rd., Schaumburg, IL 60193
Direct phone: 847-301-3126
Web: www.BobDohn.com
Before we all burn our bungalows, I think we should ask the great thinkers at Time to get real. This long cherished American tradition is not suddenly the toxic root of all society's ills. Maybe it's just me, but I've always thought the desirability of owning one's own home was pretty self-evident. Kiviat's article makes some valid points about excess and greed, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The benefits of most things, when taken to excess, tend to be perverted. But, while there never has been a credible case made that homeownership is the universal panacea, or even that it is every citizen's entitlement, there is an impressive, well-established list of positive attributes that make it pretty clear that we are not crazy to want to own the place we live in.
Rather than trying to convince the nearly 68% of Americans who own their homes that they made a mistake, Ms. Kiviat should try to explain to us why even main stream news media like Time need to sensationalize and distort issues in order to sell magazines. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to ask for a refund on this month's subscription.
Bob Dohn
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
140-A S. Roselle Rd., Schaumburg, IL 60193
Direct phone: 847-301-3126
Web: www.BobDohn.com
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