Reason I’m asking is because I have an aunt that owns like maybe 3 - 5 (not sure the exact amount) small townhouses around the city (well, when I say “city” think of like the areas around a city where theres no tall buildings, but only small 2-3 stories single family homes in the neighborhood) and have these houses up for rent, and honestly, my aunt and her husband doesn’t seem like a terrible people. They still work a normal job, and have to pay taxes like everyone else have to. They still have their own debts to pay. I’m not sure exactly how, but my parents say they did a combination of saving up money and taking loans from banks to be able to buy these properties, fix them, then put them up for rent. They don’t overcharge, and usually charge slightly below the market to retain tenants, and fix things (or hire people to fix things) when their tenants request them.
I mean, they are just trying to survive in this capitalistic world. They wanna save up for retirement, and fund their kids to college, and leave something for their kids, so they have less of stress in life. I don’t see them as bad people. I mean, its not like they own multiple apartment buildings, or doing excessive wealth hoarding.
Do leftists mean people like my aunt too? Or are they an exception to the “landlords are bad” sentinment?
In order for there to be any rental property at all, someone has to own it and be the landlord. Unless they think it should be the state. Or unless they think that everyone should always own the property where they live.
I didn’t think there is much of a logical argument for having no landlords whatsoever.
Who owns a hotel? Isn’t that just another type of landlord?
I mean yes, but all that means is there shouldn’t be rental properties
You mean ppl think that housing is a human right that should be provided for and administer by “We the People” for “We the People”.
What other kind of Lords do you think there isn’t a logical argument against?
Surely you understand the difference between a hotel and a home. They are prima facie not the same thing. Also, we call the owners of hotels…owners. The same thing we call owners of homes. Landlords are not the same thing.
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Housing being a human right has nothing to do with getting rid of rental properties. If anything, having to buy a house is a lot bigger barrier to housing than rent.
What we need is rent to be affordable, and landlords to do their job, i.e. maintain and fix the apartments. There are many ways to achieve this: government owned housing, legal regulation, tenant unions etc. Everybody buing a house or an apartment is not one of them.
I have read your comment more than a few times, trying to respond in good faith, but I am uncertain so I am going to ask before responding:
Are you arguing from a position that housing IS a human right but not related at all to property rights, and the government needs to make housing affordable enough to everyone.
-OR-
Are you arguing from a position that housing is NOT a human right, BUT “the rent is too damn high” and the government needs to fix it?
There is a lot of what you have to say that I think I agree with, but I keep reading your comment and I am not sure.
I think housing is a human right but homeownership has nothing to do with it. Governmental intervention or renters organizing or both is required to secure the right.
Hey, not so fast. It’s easy to say that glibly, but the lines get kinda blurry when you consider long-term hotel stays and short-term rentals. What’s really the key difference between the apartment and the hotel when you’re staying at the former for a week at a time or the latter for a 3-month stint?
I’m not saying the Venn diagram is a circle, mind you, just that there’s definitely some overlap.
I do see what you mean, but I am not sure arguing all the edge cases does anything but muddy the water. I mean I would argue that a hotel (even long term) is a hotel. Honestly, I would argue that the way housing is working right now, landlords who do short-term rentals are even worse than your standard landlord. Some cities are outlawing or heavily regulating them because they are so much more damaging (to society) than the more normal longterm landlord.
Eh, fair. Still, I was curious what you’d say about some of those edge cases.
Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it? Housing isn’t working right now for way too many people. :(
Personally, I have very different opinions on “in an ideal world, here’s a sketch of how humane housing might look” and “in today’s dystopian hellscape, these are the worst of the worst”