> I don't look down. I just feel depressed. I have rented all my life and
> have run into exactly one shitty landlord. "Shitty" meaning that she
> didn't return my deposit.
This is not the norm. Count yourself lucky.
> When I get together with people these days, conversation turns a lot on
> redecorating, real estate bargains, and remodelling. A good deal of
> identity creation has been transmogrified into house decoration. It's
> just a pity because there's more to us than that. It's also a pity
> because houses become beautiful places to hide from all the stuff that
> we no longer know how to do -- organize, make trouble, live with one
> another.
It sounds like the problem is the people you are hanging out with, not home ownership.
> I'm glad that you are happy with your house and that it offers you a
> kind of haven. But surely, you must agree, that it is, relatively
> speaking, a modest dream.
"Haven" and "dream" (and, lest we forget, "mausoleum") are your words not mine. As Jordan has demonstrated, most of the time switching from a normal (non-rent-controlled, shitty landlord) apartment to a comparable home makes smart economic sense to a lot of working folks, especially if they like the town they live in and expect to stay there 5-10 years.
All this other stuff you are able to figure out about an individual's psychology based on this economic decision, well, that's what I don't understand and am calling bullshit.
Like car ownership, there seem to be a few issues such as this one which drive leftists bonkers at a personal level, which gets in the way of real organizing.
Matt
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Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
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