Catalog / Patches / Patch #050: Rent is Theft

Patch #050: Rent is Theft 4x5", screenprint on canvas (0.10 oz) $1.00

Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use. There may be as many as one billion squatters globally, or about one of every seven people.

Colin Ward states that "Squatting is the oldest mode of tenure in the world, and we are all descended from squatters. This is as true of the Queen [of the UK] with her 176,000 acres as it is of the 54 per cent of householders in Britain who are owner-occupiers. They are all the ultimate recipients of stolen land, for to regard our planet as a commodity offends every conceivable principle of natural rights."

Besides being residences, some squats are used as social centres or host give-away shops, pirate radio stations and cafés.

 
I think it should say "property is theft" because that is more encompasing. i think patches are more effective if you dont have to think about it TOO much. i mean, thinkings cool, but a movement is pointless if no one undersands it. a.oran.
Richmond rents the same as manhattan? You've got to be kidding. You've clearly been in Richmond too long if you think that's the case. anon
RENT IS TERRORISM OF THE RICH! The days of the kindly old grandmother who leases out a room to the loner coming in from another town and dines with him at dinner are OVER! Landlord, or as I like to call them, Landhoards, are mired in the seductive illusion of the capitalist myth of prosperity. In my town, Richmond, Virginia, the rents are the same as Manhattan around the local college where white and Asian middle income students are the only ones who can afford to live in what was once a diverse mix of varied income folks. The blacks and Latinos are being pushed further into the inner city, where the conditions are despicable. Caine
to add... the idea that you only deserve a roof over your head if you have enough money to be worthy is only one way of thinking, and some folks think it's fucked up. another way is, if you've got enough to share, then share away. one way seems a lot nicer to me. entropone
Some folks beleave that shelter is a right and not a privlige hence the slogan. The circle with a lightning bolt through it is a squatter symbol of resistance. Variations are used to lead people to squats or indicate that a certan house is being squatted. and the bolt cutter and crow bars are tools that people oftan use to break into abandoned houses to start squats. Come on rent is theft! damn strait! Felix el Gato
It's about squatting. anonymous
please explain. anonymous
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