HOA - Hardly Object Anymore

I know a guy who has a tree on his park strip which looks awful. It has grown down so low that no one can park in front of his house. When someone asked him about it, he said that is the very reason he will not cut it. He does not want anyone parking in front of his house. Now, many would say that this is ridiculous. Some would challenge him by saying he has to cut it down. Some might even try to cut it in the middle of the night. Others would wish his neighborhood had an HOA (Home Owners Assocation) to take care of matters such as this.

An HOA! 

Really?! 

I cannot understand how people in the United States of America could agree to having HOAs. What is wrong with us? How could we let this happen in a country where we value individual freedom so much? Do people just need to have that kind of structure running their lives?! Somebody coming to their door to tack on notices that they: 

• have to cut their lawn a certain way? 
• have their Christmas lights a certain way? (Excuse me, Holiday lights. The HOA wouldn't approve of them using Christ in our naming.) 
• not park cars on the street. 
• have a functional garage door. 
• water their lawn. 
• not have lemonade stands! 
• not do fireworks after 2am! 
• not pee in my own backyard.

With this friend, I am glad he has the freedom to leave his tree like that. For no other reason than that he wants to do it. No committee is coming along to insist that he change. No outrage from people who have nothing better to do than come up with ways to nitpick each other. I love freedom. This is what it is all about.

The unyielding HOA scares me. When did we become so sheeplike that we would not only be willing to give up our freedom, but also pay for it? We are paying quite a lot of money for others to keep us in line. The government is bad enough...

I guess conforming is kind of a natural human tendency. We do it so that we can fit in. We want others to think like us and be like us. 

I have seen people actually excited about being in a house which is regulated by an HOA. They get all these benefits from it like: 

• Cable TV
• Internet
• Snow removal
• Lawn mowing
• Tree trimming
• Clubhouse
• Pool

I guess a community pool where everyone gets to cool off might almost be worth it. I get that those things have to be paid for, so I can understand a Clubhouse/Pool Fee. But when they start going after my own house and my own individuality, forget it!

.

Their argument is that our property values go up. I think it is interesting that the word value just showed up, because if an HOA is something you value, you have clearly lost your values. Your individual values. But how much property value is it if the value of your soul has been lost? 

I think a neighborhood would do well to advertise that they are Non HOA..

I really hope that this is something that starts to go away in the near future. These entities just want control. Any way that they can just put their thumb on someone else. It is just a local thing, but it is systemic. These are the things that creep in. And I live in a state that professes to believe so much in the country's freedom, the Constitution, and the founding. When it comes to HOAs, do they say: "Well, I don't want that much freedom!"?

I want a guy to be able to build a baseball field in the middle of his cornfield and have everyone go completely nuts about it, but not be able to do one thing about it. 

Now, I just need a cornfield.