photo illustration by Chris Morris | 16 MAY 2011 | 27
BLACK I
RENT IS THE NEW
By Buck Wargo
can hear Grandpa in my head. ¶ “What are you thinking?” I envision him saying. ¶ A lifelong Republican and factory worker in a small Illinois town, my grandfather was definitely an old-school conservative who valued every dollar. ¶ I remember as a young boy when he gave me a piggy bank. Not one that looks like a pig, but one that resembled the Streator Home Building & Loan where he opened a savings account in my name. ¶ George Bailey would have been proud. ¶ When Grandpa visited our house, which was just a few blocks away, he would put change in the piggy bank and encourage me to do the same. ¶ As we filled it and made deposits, I would track the amount in a ledger that came with the account. Grandpa’s philosophy about saving money is one that many in this country grew up with and heard from their parents and grandparents. It fit the narrative that
we needed to save and use those savings for a down payment to purchase a house. ¶ Owning a home was a huge part of the American Dream, and it was dutifully drummed into my head as long as I can remember. Only people who wanted to be poor threw money away on rent, I was told, over and over.
