Hi Tink, I want to get back to you...here are two examples from my time in Iowa, living in the old folks apartment building there.
1. If you are going to be a successful landlord, you must provide housing at a rate that enough people can afford, in order to get the income. And that was how my building did it in Des Moines; my small apartment was a beautiful 300 sq. ft, for which I paid $386 per month. The church-run management was able to turn a healthy margin from all this, their reserve fund was so large they were thinking of paying off the remainder of the construction loan.
Then management changed hands into the corporation, and rent for my apartment jumped to $550. You were expected to pay it or leave, or die (which some did after some months of struggle; an old person can die easily, just shut your door and stop taking your essential meds).
The new renters brought in by the corporation were government-funded; Section 8, or veteran program, some of the newbies had mental health issues and were on gov programs...but bottom line, now the rents were market, and profits increased accordingly.
All these gov programs that now took up old folks rent increases, are in turn paid by citizen taxes, which burden as you will already know is borne primarily by middle/working classes...the result being a funneling of wealth upwards into the hands of wealthy corporations, and, increasing income inequality.
2. The same management company also did remodels and they quickly undertook our building, again using government funding. A disaster...the beautiful, high quality materials replaced with cheap new stuff that was both unsightly and very often just did not work. So old people were left with heating/air conditioning that was non-functional, relying instead on space heaters in the 20* below zero winters and various fixes in the 105*F summers (can get 98% humidity too). Oh; and the warranty was expired on the climate control units...thus picked them up for a song, and no accountability from the mgmt. co.; just maximizing profit, publicly funded and into private hands.
I learned that construction companies take their profit from the difference between what they pay out for materials and labor, and the funds they get from the gov program. Our building was degraded by the rehab, we were much better off before it happened. Again, I now see that as a funneling of tax money from middle/working class taxpayers upward.
As I look into all this, I doubt that even half of the program money in the circle graph goes where intended; I think almost all of it is a plunder of the US treasury, widening the income inequality.
* *. *
It was the best financial investment I ever made, and one of a half dozen best decisions of my whole life ever.
The point being, I don't think a person can even believe this is happening until you experience it...not the USA, cannot be. I have given you these couple of examples for you to hold in your heart for the future, but I am also studying the extensive psyops used to rationalize and justify all this (like the circle graph) and while I now understand what the underlying story often is, and I don't want to spend lots of time trying to counter the specious but high-sounding houses of cards.
All this is very disheartening for me; I was raised by the Greatest Generation, celebrating the end of WWII and the New Deal was just a step in a process of evolution, might be small down-blips, but overall bound to be upward always...and that is not what is happening.
With loving regards from your online friend.