I think they key counter-argument comes from your position “leeches off of those of the working class who must rent”. I agree with this! But it ignores people that want to rent for whatever reason, like living somewhere for a few years to attend university.
Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 6 days ago
The only reason people want to rent is due to the inherent complications of the capitalist system making it unfeasible for those who fall underneath an arbitrary financial threshold to be able to own property plus the unnecessary complications that monetary systems cause in the exchanging said property.
Under a communal system of ownership. You can own the home for a few years while you live in it, under the rule of usufruct (use-based ownership) and once you are done, the property returns to the community as a collective until someone else has need of it.
Soggy@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Putting the cart before the horse here. We live in a capitalist society and people need temporary dwellings now, they can’t wait for a proletarian revolution and total restructuring of society.
Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 5 days ago
Cool, but that has nothing to do with my point. I never said people should wait. I said landlords are leeches.
Soggy@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I just think your point is too black-and-white. In the current system there exists people who want temporary housing and people who own more housing than they require and are willing to let others use it for a mutually agreeable payment. Your claim that this is inherently oppressive requires that the renter would not choose ownership if they had the means. Is it often an unfair, coercive dynamic? Yes. Do rent-seekers ruin everything? Yes. Do we need to villainize every single person who doesn’t donate their spare mother-in-law or inherited property to the homeless? No.