What Is The 'I Live In a Low Income Housing Environment' Copypasta? The 'Government Name of Section 8' Meme Explained

A copypasta that begins with "I live in a low-income housing environment that goes by the government name of Section 8" is making the rounds on YouTube and TikTok. The paragraph euphemizes being a career criminal by using overly formal and pedantic language, with a male narrator's rendition of his life and crimes being used as a backdrop to videos featuring anything from Minecraft to a character from Azumanga Daioh. But where did the original copypasta come from, and how did it spread?

What Is The "Low-Income Housing Environment" Copypasta?

While the origins of the "I live in a low-income housing environment" copypasta are presently unknown, the earliest known upload of a video featuring the copypasta is a 2020 video posted by a YouTube user named Caffeine Father. The YouTuber claims to have sourced the paragraph from Instagram, having then turned it into audio through a text-to-speech generator.

The full copypasta reads:

I live in a low income housing environment that goes by the government name of "Section 8." Me and a group of my allies control certain areas of this section in order to run our illegitimate business. We possess unregistered firearms, stolen vehicles, mind-altering inhibitors and only use cash for financial purchases. If anyone would like to settle unfinished altercations, I will be more than happy to release my address. I would like to warn you; I am a very dangerous person and I regularly disobey the law.

How Did The "Low-Income Housing Environment" Copypasta Spread?

The copypasta was posted to 4chan's /r9k/ board in 2020, and was turned into a Minecraft video in 2021, as is custom for any given internet trend.

The meme continued to spread on TikTok and YouTube in 2022, with different creators utilizing text-to-speech programs to bring the meme to life, and juxtaposing the audio with various popular anime and video game media.

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For the full history of the "I live in a low income housing environment" copypasta, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.