This is my John Galt speaking cartoon

[kandrathe]

I don't own my mobil home either, but I do take pride in it.
There is no reason...poverty included to live & behave like "Trailer park Trash."

It's your Tax money that pays for my rent, Thank you.

I guess it makes some sense to me that without the incentive of ownership, improving the land or the homes on it would divert resources needed for survival. Often petty tribal politics make continuation of occupancy sometimes dubious. I tend to think of them more as refugee's who've been moved into a primitive camp. If their traditions eschew land ownership, then 100 year leases with renewal options would seem to be a logical fall back position. A person would at least know that whatever they invested would continue throughout their lifespan. Our church has a good relationship to them because we aren't "preachy". We just go to fix things, improve the conditions, build outhouses or handicapped ramps, etc. Our rules are to not talk about religion unless they ask about it, but that tends to be a Minnesota thing anyway. We don't really talk about religion or politics, unless someone is rude enough to broach the topic (followed by a sheepish apology). The exception to the rule is when politicians go door to door, then we are polite enough to nod, and smile until they leave. :-)

Also, I've noticed that some homes owned by "whites" in rural Minnesota may also have that "trailer park trash" look, since they have few neighbors to complain and everything is covered by snow for half the year.

Getting rid of the garbage also costs money, so often it's just expedient to pile it out back somewhere. When I was ten, a poor neighbor about a mile away across our back 40 acre field was forced by the township to eliminate their ad-hoc landfill. It resulted in a plague of rats, which lacking homes and food, found the closest replacement source. It took us all summer, with many lethal sessions involving carbon monoxide and shotguns to eliminate them from our farm. I still have nightmares occasionally about the 5 minute stream of big nasty rats I'd encounter in the mornings when I opened the granary door.