Oh, How Sweet HOA Life Is!
Shadowglen Homeowners Association, Austin, Texas. Homeowners are beginning to get hefty fines if any vehicle parks in front of their house. It doesn’t matter if the car belongs to the next door neighbor, a delivery company or just a friend dropping by, homeowners are getting slammed with fines of $500 and more.
Isn’t it strange how all these HOAs start off so benign, yet end up so fascist? All it takes is a couple of new board members who suddenly find themselves in the first position of power they’ve ever possessed.
In my new book Neighbors At War, I explain the chemical reaction that happens in the brains of those who get that first taste of raw power. And in Chapter 15 there’s a discussion of two of the most controversial sociological experiments ever conducted. Each experiment attempted to explore what goes on in the minds of people who suddenly feel the need to damage another human being. In one of the experiments, the scientist pondered why it was so easy to persuade German guards to mindlessly slaughter prisoners of war. What he discovered shocked and outraged the entire psychology community.
There’s a reason that board members and managers in a place like the Shadowglenn Homeowners Association are often referred to as the ‘lawn Nazis’ or the ‘HOA Nazis’. Power is an incredible aphrodisiac!
(click here for KXAN-TV story)
http://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/hoa-parking-rules-upsets-homeowners
