My drawings and watercolors are on Instagram @klonskyart
If you follow me on Facebook you know that I frequently post pictures of new million dollar single family homes in my neighborhood of Logan Square. Most have replaced affordable multi-family apartments or historic workingmen’s cottages. They are ugly and priced out of the reach of of many of the neighborhoods long-time working class and immigrant residents.
It is part of a national crisis in affordable housing and the gentrification of our big cities like Chicago.
In spite of Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey’s campaign rhetoric, Chicago is not only not the “hell hole” his racist ads describe, it is a city where the wealthy have found a comfortable home and where our cities exist in a bigger system which is hostile to those in need of affordability.
Queen Elizabeth’s death reminded me that even the Queen owned a condo in Chicago.
The extended media focus on the Queen’s funeral reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live riff on the demise of Spain’s General Francisco Franco.
“Breaking news. The Queen is still dead.”
Speaking of the wealthy, did you read the New York Times report on the financial holdings of the Royal family and King Charles III in particular?
Today, the Duchy of Cornwall owns the landmark cricket ground known as The Oval, lush farmland in the south of England, seaside vacation rentals, office space in London and a suburban supermarket depot. (A duchy is a territory traditionally governed by a duke or duchess.) The 130,000-acre real estate portfolio is nearly the size of Chicago and generates millions of dollars a year in rental income.
The conglomerate’s holdings are valued at roughly $1.4 billion, compared with around $949 million in the late queen’s private portfolio. These two estates represent a small fraction of the royal family’s estimated $28 billion fortune. On top of that, the family has personal wealth that remains a closely guarded secret.
Once the silly adoration of the British Royals dies down, the wealth gap in the UK, like that in the United States, will bubble to the surface again.
After all, how long can the Royal circus replace daily life?
The growth in the royal family’s coffers and King Charles’s personal wealth over the past decade came at a time when Britain faced deep austerity budget cuts. Poverty levels soared, and the use of food banks almost doubled. His lifestyle of palaces and polo has long fueled accusations that he is out of touch with ordinary people. And he has at times been the unwitting symbol of that disconnect — such as when his limo was mobbed by studentsprotesting rising tuition in 2010 or when he perched atop a golden throne in his royal finery this year to pledge help for struggling families.