this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 13 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Build. More. Homes.

We used to have enough, and then in the late 70s, early 80s they decided that if they didn't build enough, then they could make housing scarce and therefore more valuable. A big long-con, 40 years in the making.

Housebuilders would make more profit per home. Homeowners would have more wealth (even if they can't access it). Inheritance taxes could take more of a bite. Landlords could charge more. Retirements could be funded entirely by buying 2-3 houses and renting them out, and then cash in later on the full value of those homes when they'd gone up by double the interest rates.

They don't have to be amazing homes. They don't need an acre of land to sit on. They don't need three bedrooms. Kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room. Affordable on a quarter of a single person's minimum wage income.

[–] Pofski@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (10 children)

you just have to make sure that the new houses aren t bought by landlords...

[–] sbrodolino21@lemmy.world -5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The landlords aren't doing anything wrong, if the market price is too high you have to increase supply it's that easy.

[–] Zink@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They certainly aren't doing anything unexpected.

But, the word "wrong" carries an implication of moral judgment, and most people here are gonna disagree with you on that one.

That is one of the reasons conservatives are so gung-ho on rugged individualism and individual responsibility while being against regulation. In public they get to tell supporters that they are all strong smart boys who can make their own decisions, while also implying that "others" in disadvantaged groups are in their situations due to character flaws and subhuman status. In private they get to ruin the world and apparently prey on children pretty often because the people impose no rules on them.

Large numbers of individuals are easy for them to manipulate. Written laws and regulations are much less so, even though not impervious.

Edit to add:

This whole "they are behaving as expected == they are not doing anything wrong" attitude from the right quickly morphs into "they are a business, not a charity" and other similar sayings.

That flawed reasoning plus a few more leaps in logic then leads to seeing profitability as an indicator of morality.

And even THAT infiltrates personal lives. Resting for mental & physical health instead of building a skill or starting a side hustle? Laziness! Wasted hours of your life!

Spend some time and money on a hobby that brings joy to your life and gives you a reason to exercise? Wasteful! Selfish! Foolish! Just think of what that money could have done in the market h while you chose a better hobby that could scale into something profitable!!

Whoa whoa hold the fuck up. What do you mean that you intentionally lose money on your hobbies!? What kind of god-fearing red-blooded american just tosses aside the Rules of Acquisition so carelessly?

[–] stinky@redlemmy.com 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

ethically wrong or legally wrong?

[–] sbrodolino21@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago

I mean my statement is pretty broad, there might be some landlords somewhere who do things that are either ethically or legally wrong. But in general they aren't doing either. Landlords are people who invest their money and time in housing and just like any investment they want it to be profitable. If it's too profitable it's not their fault, it's that we have to build more houses, have better transportation and better public housing to ease off pressure on the private market, not kill all landlords.

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