Know Your Rights

Propelled by hypothermia, justice and Rise Against lyrics, I decided the other night to look up what my rights are as a tenant. Thankfully, the Cleveland Tenants Organization website was all kinds of helpful. According to the Ohio Revised Code, in situations like mine it's the landlord's responsibility to provide reasonable heat. So I realize that "reasonable" is sufficiently vague and open to interpretation, but when my poor dog is shivering all day and I can see my breath in my living room, there's a problem.

But this also reenforced to me how important it is to know my rights. My landlord sure isn't going to be all, "Well, Jennifer, according to the Ohio Revised Code, you're entitled to not freeze to death in your apartment." Because obviously it's in his best interest if I remain clueless. The less I know, the more other people can influence what I see as true and fair. It goes without saying that the same goes for government: The ignorant are easier to control. And I don't know how you feel about the subject, but I don't want to be pushed through life like cattle to the slaughter. I also don't believe in slaughtering cattle, but that's another issue entirely...