this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
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Lefty Memes

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ID: A Sophie Labelle 4 panel comic featuring Stephie in different poses, saying:

Landlords do not provide housing.

They buy and Hold more space than they need for themselves.

Then, they create a false scarcity and profit off of it.

What they're doing is literally the opposite of providing housing.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (42 children)

I don't really want to pay for a house and experience all the expenses that come with it. Owning a house involves paying out of pocket for maintenance whereas when renting, you can have the landlord take care of that for you, and it doesn't involve paying whoever comes to fix your stuff.

Additionally, owning a house would basically anchor me to one location, which gives me less flexibility as a digital nomad.

If you value home equity then buying a house is definitely ideal. But this isn't the case for everyone.

...oh, sorry. I forgot this is Lemmy and that you can't have a different opinion under any circumstance. My bad!

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago (21 children)

It's okay that you don't want to own a house. Those are legitimate practical concerns that you bring up. Certainly renting comes with some conveniences, like being able to move, not having to worry about utilities, repairs etc. (although, if you have a bad landlord, you may still have to worry about that stuff)

But at the end of the day, you are still paying for someone else's ownership of an asset and thereby increasing their wealth at the expense of your own. They are leveraging your need for shelter to increase their own personal wealth. It's not about the pros and cons of renting vs buying. It's about the inherently unequal material relationship between you and your landlord.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (20 children)

If there are alternate options for renting a place, then I'm open to hear it. As of now, though, simply walking up to someone and asking to rent their place seems like the easier and more straightforward option.

I am only speaking from experience here. I understand the situation varies from person to person. I'm not personally concerned with my own wealth. I have found apartments with comfortable monthly rent, and I have found places that don't seem to have a fair rent that I've quickly moved out of. I can afford groceries and save a bit for some personal expenses. So far, I have had no negative experiences with any landlord I've rented from despite the rent pricing.

If it's the idea of landlords owning places and offering them for rent that people here are bothered about, then I'm not sure I understand their perspective. I respect it nonetheless, but I suppose I am just not as frustrated as most people are with the situation

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If there are alternate options for renting a place, then I’m open to hear it.

Public housing. Well funded, well run, public housing. Rip out the profit motive.

You probably have to remove all the conservatives from power first because they ideologically do not want a government that does good things.

Also probably repeal faircloth, which arbitrarily limits how much public housing there can be.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

how does public housing work? will is shove some standard rules down our throats? will it prevent alternative payment methods such as food?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There are many options. "Shove down throats" is kind of a gross metaphor. Do you think fire codes are also shoved down throats?

https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05/03/in-vienna-public-housing-is-affordable-and-desirable/

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/public-housing-success/406561/ (paywall removed: https://archive.is/LkuFR )

I'm not sure what barter has to do with the topic

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Do you think fire codes are also shoved down throats?

I was mostly thinking about the housing all preventing the same pets, having the same noise rules, and having the same non-ideal internet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago

It doesn't have to be that way.

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