> But what makes me most bitter about home ownership in the last twenty
> years is that it has become the summum bonum of human life in the U.S.
> Forget justice, freedom, culture, solidarity, etc. If you have managed
> to get your 3bd/2ba mausoleum, you should feel set for the rest of your
> life, which you will happily spend decorating and redecorating. There is
> just something ignoble about that.
I don't see it as a zero-sum game. To most people I know who switched from renters to home owners it was a very liberating feeling. As working-class renters, most of us felt we could be out on the streets at any moment and our comfort and safety were at the whim of the prick hired by the far-off rentiers who actually owned the buildings.
Looking down on the people who don't want to continue living under a prick landlord for the rest of their lives and who enjoy decorating and gardening doesn't seem like a great way to build solidarity. The only real alternative for *most people* is to go back to a shitty apartment - for me that means pest infestations and regular A/C failures in the summer, half the space for almost as much money. Sounds great!
How long have you been in your rent-controlled apartment in the Bay Area? How long do you plan on staying there? Don't you decorate it? What makes it NOT a "mausoleum" then?
Matt
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