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?
All fair points.
I don’t think there is a good answer to this question. But if we agree that the system overall is broken (which maybe we do?), then we should expect things like this. There isn’t a good answer because the system itself is broken.
Why is it broken? Because things like passive income have been accepted for so long. Because regulation has gone out the window and corporations can do whatever they want. Because we have a real estate mogul as President-Elect. Lots of reasons to point to.
RE “fuck you treatment”, I’ll also mention: I do not believe that every landlord taking advantage of passive income is ill-intentioned. As you have alluded, there are reasons which don’t involve wanting to take part in, ultimately, limiting access to housing. The grand trick of the system is convincing good people that those reasons are not endemic, and that they don’t ultimately support the interests of the overlords.
I think we can absolutely agree to the fact that the system is broken.
I would love help to fix it, but I have to operate in it for the time being. I even want to play on the leftist team, but I find it pretty unsatisfying though to get spit on by the rest of the team you know?
This post really kinda summarizes it for me. Regular people trying to make it? Nah fuck em. You’re the same as big asshole real estate. Man that sucks to read and it makes me indignant. It’s a totally shit thing to hear when I’m ready to give something for nothing because people just deserve it, you know? I don’t even own a second property and it makes me salty.
All I want to do is save so I can help my kids through college and maybe buy a house where they can have a flat piece of ground for a swing set and to throw a ball around. If I can give extra I will, but dammit threads like this really want to paint people like me as assholes.
I do not prefer it.
Yeah, this resonates with me too.
Again, I’m not talking about intents, just what I see are clear-cut observations about the system and where it draws people / forces? people into.
All I can say is: it’s also designed such that you won’t have another choice. Protecting your own interests means taking advantage of those of others. And in that sense, it will seem deeply unfair if you are simply trying to do right for yourself and your family by a problematic method.
To me, it sounds like another example to speak out against the system.
Thanks. This is a real perspective changer of a thread for me.
Well that’s really good to hear. I’m not trying to spread hate, and I know people have different experiences than me, so I love to hear these other viewpoints. I totally agree that shit is fucked and I think that has affected us in different ways.
You have made a very good case here that resonates strongly with me
Where is rhe line between “us” and “them”?
Is it leftist vs liberal? Lib vs conservative?
No. It’s all of “us” vs the them that are in the 1%