Listen to a reading of this article: ❖ Well, it finally happened. We finally received our eviction notice on the crumbling rental we've been living in for the last twelve years. We knew it was coming. The landlords told us years ago they'd be bulldozing the place to put in two new units, which according to the notice is exactly what's going to happen after we move out on or before January 30th.
As someone who went through eviction twice, I empathize. And anyone who calls you "Childish" for getting emotional isn't in their right mind, but a forebearer of an eviction-driven economy themselves. Going forward, every one of us who isn't an owner is likely to be evicted at least once in their life. And those services that are set up in every city that act like they're trying to prevent evictions - those "housing is a right" props - are actually there to expedite evictions. I know, I've been through the process, I've been to the meetings, you begin to see the hypocrisy even among those who claim their intentions are good. It's become a shell game of shuffling people around and allowing the loose ones to fall into homelessness. It's big business, hollowing out the core of every community, and creating divisions. Isolating people. Forcing them to endure another level of economic hardship. It sucks. It's a year or two of new adjustments that have rippling effects on one's health and family.
It's life in the Casino Economy where the House always wins.
My only advice is to keep your wits about you and fight through it.
Why should anyone expect empathy from members of a species that should be biologically classified as a global parasite that steals resources from the extended natural system, harming it without a scintilla of positive reciprocation. (Excepting aboriginals that leave symbolic gifts for Nature, in gratitude). If for centuries we have crapped in, peed and otherwise massively toxified the bio-geo-chemical system that underlies our existence—for profit—it seems unlikely that we'd suddenly ignore that pattern in treating our fellow humans. Landlord behavior is merely an extension of the larger consumptive narcissistic ethos that dominates human "thinking". I knew way back when that I could never be a landlord even if I owned an appropriate property because I'd rejected that ethos. And selling my small house now because the market would return my initial investment with profit has zero attraction for me because I'd subsequently have to rent. And acquiring a "landlord-entrepreneur" at this life phase, after the horror stories I recall from my twenties and thirties would be a horror not worth a million bucks profit.
i would do everything i can to stop paying the landlord class, the worst of all parasites. i would do everything in my power to make landlording unprofittable, to make the parasites pay for their crime against humanity. i mean everything. at the same time, i would double, triple, quadruple up with a relative, a friend, anyone willing, as a way to consume less, as a way not to undermine my own principle, until i settle with a more permanent residential arrangement. all the best to you and your family. we should all help each other in this transition to a just and peaceful world.
Hope you can find a new spot easily. That said this post bother me for the following reasons:
1. You lament 69k empty homes. These homes are empty *precisely because* their owners prefer to wait for someone who wants to own a home rather than rent, in other words this inefficiency is *caused* by the very preference you yourself express (home ownership over tenancy). If the massive subsidies provided for home ownership were removed both the preference and the inefficiency would diminish. Admittedly the economy is rigged in favor of land owners generally, but the rigging is by far the most acute for homes.
2. I'm a landlord. I built the building myself (I mean with my hands) and pretty much every tenant I've ever had makes more than I do. Most of them make a lot more. I'm fine with this because I like to work on my own projects rather than have a job, but the fact is most of my tenants like their jobs too.
In worrying about nuclear war with China and getting screwed over once again by our hapless political parties it's easy for the housing crisis to get lost in the shuffle, unless it affects one personally. I hope you and your family get things sorted straight away.
What I see are lots of converging threads here involving banks, hedge funds, mental health, wealth inequality, skyrocketing costs of education, outsourcing manufacturing jobs, and too much of an economy geared toward the tools of endless war.
Would some form of Socialism cure these ills? I can't pretend to know, but currently Capitalism is leaving each one of them inadequately addressed.
I don't believe anyone should own more than one property. Hotels were invented for people who travelled from their home. No-one should have rental properties except your local community. The rent paid then would go back into the community for services etc. Renting from private landlords sucks. You are continually worried about eviction. It's no way to live.
I can empathize with how you are feeling. Some people are driven to achieve home ownership for exactly the things you are feeling, but your landlord also had dreams for this property, should he be forced to make room for yours when it was his capital that built (or bought) the home in the first place. What you suggest will prevent people from investing for fear of having their efforts taken for the benefit of others. They will throw up their hands and say…that’s not worth my work product. I encourage you to pursue home ownership of your own. It will give you perspective on your landlords hard work and help you achieve your dream of having your own place in this world.
While I generally agree with Caitlin's perspectives. This one is bullcrap. Generalization is never smart thinking. "Every landlord is a parasite" is total bullshit. I have an extra house I don't need to live in. So I rent it out to a family who, through their own life's decisions, can't afford to buy a place of their own. I charge them WAY under market rates so they can keep a roof over their kids heads and maybe save enough to find a place of their own. When things got real tough, we kept a tab on paper until things got better. I know this landlord/tenant system is not ideal. But it is what we have until we ALL say enough is enough and create a better model. I am sick of being looked down upon because I choose to help others with my properties.
You articulated your feelings perfectly, especially this quote.
"If our species is to evolve into the future we're going to have to move into a collaboration-based model of existence where we pour our creativity and ingenuity into finding ways for us all to thrive in cooperation with our ecosystem rather than into finding new ways to extort, exploit, abuse and kill one another. Into making sure everyone has enough rather than into funneling wealth from the poorest to the richest."
Just wow.
Best of luck finding another place. Do you have to live in Melbourne? I understand that the cost of living there is extraordinary. I think your next home will be even better. One love.
You are grown woman this article is childish. Anywhere where you turn people have problem with shelter because shelter is expensive not because a landlord is keeping you down. Go to a socialist country they have issues with shelter too. Go to a primitive tribe, they have issues with shelter too. You never been a homeowner so you have no idea what it takes to maintain a property. You think if you can't afford to own a property all of a sudden you will be able to maintain your falling apart house?
I am all for housing assistance and welfare w.e. That is not going to solve every instance and misfortune. You especially will probably never qualify for assistance anyways I don't know your situation but often the cut offs are harsh. And these cut offs are set by your community not capitalists.
Yes. Renting does suck when its not the preferred freely-chosen arrangement, and I do believe people should live in a world where very real opportunities for home ownership exist for those who want them, but I feel slogans like "housing is a right" don't reflect the complicated economic/motivational reality in which housing is enmeshed as well as "housing justice is a right", and end up turning people off who do recognize that the prevailing situation is unjust, but won't support solutions based on declarations of positive rights which involve transfers of money perceived to be arbitrary, and perceived to involve transfers of more power to the corporate state. Henry George and those who follow in his thinking handed those of us who do care about housing justice, a golden concept on a silver platter: The all-important underpinning insight that unlike *things* of value that can fairly be said to come from the work of people who then own its value, the land is the product of no person, and value derived from it should be shared by all. Taxing ownership of land above some minimum of acreage or value, and directly dispersing those funds to the demos would perhaps do more to make owned housing affordable, than any other single measure, and be more broadly championed across the political spectrum. https://schalkenbach.org/ The alternative seems to be crap state/corporate overlord "solutions" such as the "Natural Asset Corporations" being pushed at COP26. https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/11/investigative-reports/un-backed-banker-alliance-announces-green-plan-to-transform-the-global-financial-system/
Owning a home sucks too. Life sucks. Democrats suck. Republicans suck. The price of bread in the USA sucks (especially when compared to the 20 pesos ($1US) I paid for 2 luscious loaves of fresh bread, a very unhealthy sugar donut, and a lemon cream filled thing that is going to make my morning coffee so amazing, this afternoon in Mexico.)
Truth is, even if you had owned the home, it might still have been taken away from you through eminent domain because some Oligarch wanted it and the town council was bought off. The fiasco in New London, CT, shows the problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London
It's the rich vs the "not rich". Can't say "poor" any longer because someone who owns a (unmortgaged) home isn't exactly what I'd consider poor -- which doesn't mean that they couldn't become poor tomorrow because of a medical emergency.
Not all landlords are millionaires. It isn't the landlord that is screwing you, it is the Oligarch and the corporation that owns your home. That the Oligarch happens to be a landlord is just as irrelevant as if the Oligarch was Black or a Jew or whatever. It is the super-rich guy punching down.
May I refer you to your excellent reasoning in "Nobody Who Says "You Can Criticize Washington AND Beijing" Actually Does".
I've rented. I was very satisfied with the situation. But then, I've never rented anywhere for more than 2 years.
As someone who went through eviction twice, I empathize. And anyone who calls you "Childish" for getting emotional isn't in their right mind, but a forebearer of an eviction-driven economy themselves. Going forward, every one of us who isn't an owner is likely to be evicted at least once in their life. And those services that are set up in every city that act like they're trying to prevent evictions - those "housing is a right" props - are actually there to expedite evictions. I know, I've been through the process, I've been to the meetings, you begin to see the hypocrisy even among those who claim their intentions are good. It's become a shell game of shuffling people around and allowing the loose ones to fall into homelessness. It's big business, hollowing out the core of every community, and creating divisions. Isolating people. Forcing them to endure another level of economic hardship. It sucks. It's a year or two of new adjustments that have rippling effects on one's health and family.
It's life in the Casino Economy where the House always wins.
My only advice is to keep your wits about you and fight through it.
Why should anyone expect empathy from members of a species that should be biologically classified as a global parasite that steals resources from the extended natural system, harming it without a scintilla of positive reciprocation. (Excepting aboriginals that leave symbolic gifts for Nature, in gratitude). If for centuries we have crapped in, peed and otherwise massively toxified the bio-geo-chemical system that underlies our existence—for profit—it seems unlikely that we'd suddenly ignore that pattern in treating our fellow humans. Landlord behavior is merely an extension of the larger consumptive narcissistic ethos that dominates human "thinking". I knew way back when that I could never be a landlord even if I owned an appropriate property because I'd rejected that ethos. And selling my small house now because the market would return my initial investment with profit has zero attraction for me because I'd subsequently have to rent. And acquiring a "landlord-entrepreneur" at this life phase, after the horror stories I recall from my twenties and thirties would be a horror not worth a million bucks profit.
i would do everything i can to stop paying the landlord class, the worst of all parasites. i would do everything in my power to make landlording unprofittable, to make the parasites pay for their crime against humanity. i mean everything. at the same time, i would double, triple, quadruple up with a relative, a friend, anyone willing, as a way to consume less, as a way not to undermine my own principle, until i settle with a more permanent residential arrangement. all the best to you and your family. we should all help each other in this transition to a just and peaceful world.
Hope you can find a new spot easily. That said this post bother me for the following reasons:
1. You lament 69k empty homes. These homes are empty *precisely because* their owners prefer to wait for someone who wants to own a home rather than rent, in other words this inefficiency is *caused* by the very preference you yourself express (home ownership over tenancy). If the massive subsidies provided for home ownership were removed both the preference and the inefficiency would diminish. Admittedly the economy is rigged in favor of land owners generally, but the rigging is by far the most acute for homes.
2. I'm a landlord. I built the building myself (I mean with my hands) and pretty much every tenant I've ever had makes more than I do. Most of them make a lot more. I'm fine with this because I like to work on my own projects rather than have a job, but the fact is most of my tenants like their jobs too.
In worrying about nuclear war with China and getting screwed over once again by our hapless political parties it's easy for the housing crisis to get lost in the shuffle, unless it affects one personally. I hope you and your family get things sorted straight away.
What I see are lots of converging threads here involving banks, hedge funds, mental health, wealth inequality, skyrocketing costs of education, outsourcing manufacturing jobs, and too much of an economy geared toward the tools of endless war.
Would some form of Socialism cure these ills? I can't pretend to know, but currently Capitalism is leaving each one of them inadequately addressed.
I don't believe anyone should own more than one property. Hotels were invented for people who travelled from their home. No-one should have rental properties except your local community. The rent paid then would go back into the community for services etc. Renting from private landlords sucks. You are continually worried about eviction. It's no way to live.
I can empathize with how you are feeling. Some people are driven to achieve home ownership for exactly the things you are feeling, but your landlord also had dreams for this property, should he be forced to make room for yours when it was his capital that built (or bought) the home in the first place. What you suggest will prevent people from investing for fear of having their efforts taken for the benefit of others. They will throw up their hands and say…that’s not worth my work product. I encourage you to pursue home ownership of your own. It will give you perspective on your landlords hard work and help you achieve your dream of having your own place in this world.
While I generally agree with Caitlin's perspectives. This one is bullcrap. Generalization is never smart thinking. "Every landlord is a parasite" is total bullshit. I have an extra house I don't need to live in. So I rent it out to a family who, through their own life's decisions, can't afford to buy a place of their own. I charge them WAY under market rates so they can keep a roof over their kids heads and maybe save enough to find a place of their own. When things got real tough, we kept a tab on paper until things got better. I know this landlord/tenant system is not ideal. But it is what we have until we ALL say enough is enough and create a better model. I am sick of being looked down upon because I choose to help others with my properties.
wow. just wow.
You articulated your feelings perfectly, especially this quote.
"If our species is to evolve into the future we're going to have to move into a collaboration-based model of existence where we pour our creativity and ingenuity into finding ways for us all to thrive in cooperation with our ecosystem rather than into finding new ways to extort, exploit, abuse and kill one another. Into making sure everyone has enough rather than into funneling wealth from the poorest to the richest."
Just wow.
Best of luck finding another place. Do you have to live in Melbourne? I understand that the cost of living there is extraordinary. I think your next home will be even better. One love.
I'm sorry, Caitlin.
You are grown woman this article is childish. Anywhere where you turn people have problem with shelter because shelter is expensive not because a landlord is keeping you down. Go to a socialist country they have issues with shelter too. Go to a primitive tribe, they have issues with shelter too. You never been a homeowner so you have no idea what it takes to maintain a property. You think if you can't afford to own a property all of a sudden you will be able to maintain your falling apart house?
I am all for housing assistance and welfare w.e. That is not going to solve every instance and misfortune. You especially will probably never qualify for assistance anyways I don't know your situation but often the cut offs are harsh. And these cut offs are set by your community not capitalists.
Yes. Renting does suck when its not the preferred freely-chosen arrangement, and I do believe people should live in a world where very real opportunities for home ownership exist for those who want them, but I feel slogans like "housing is a right" don't reflect the complicated economic/motivational reality in which housing is enmeshed as well as "housing justice is a right", and end up turning people off who do recognize that the prevailing situation is unjust, but won't support solutions based on declarations of positive rights which involve transfers of money perceived to be arbitrary, and perceived to involve transfers of more power to the corporate state. Henry George and those who follow in his thinking handed those of us who do care about housing justice, a golden concept on a silver platter: The all-important underpinning insight that unlike *things* of value that can fairly be said to come from the work of people who then own its value, the land is the product of no person, and value derived from it should be shared by all. Taxing ownership of land above some minimum of acreage or value, and directly dispersing those funds to the demos would perhaps do more to make owned housing affordable, than any other single measure, and be more broadly championed across the political spectrum. https://schalkenbach.org/ The alternative seems to be crap state/corporate overlord "solutions" such as the "Natural Asset Corporations" being pushed at COP26. https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/11/investigative-reports/un-backed-banker-alliance-announces-green-plan-to-transform-the-global-financial-system/
This is so awesome! Thanks for sharing this message with me and your friends and followers!
Owning a home sucks too. Life sucks. Democrats suck. Republicans suck. The price of bread in the USA sucks (especially when compared to the 20 pesos ($1US) I paid for 2 luscious loaves of fresh bread, a very unhealthy sugar donut, and a lemon cream filled thing that is going to make my morning coffee so amazing, this afternoon in Mexico.)
Truth is, even if you had owned the home, it might still have been taken away from you through eminent domain because some Oligarch wanted it and the town council was bought off. The fiasco in New London, CT, shows the problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London
It's the rich vs the "not rich". Can't say "poor" any longer because someone who owns a (unmortgaged) home isn't exactly what I'd consider poor -- which doesn't mean that they couldn't become poor tomorrow because of a medical emergency.
Not all landlords are millionaires. It isn't the landlord that is screwing you, it is the Oligarch and the corporation that owns your home. That the Oligarch happens to be a landlord is just as irrelevant as if the Oligarch was Black or a Jew or whatever. It is the super-rich guy punching down.
May I refer you to your excellent reasoning in "Nobody Who Says "You Can Criticize Washington AND Beijing" Actually Does".
I've rented. I was very satisfied with the situation. But then, I've never rented anywhere for more than 2 years.
My God, Caitlin, I really can't believe you are posting this drivel? Who's writing this stuff or you?
So very very sorry Caitlin😰