My parents are landlords of a medium apartment with a family of 4 living inside it. Is it hypocritical for me to be a Marxist-Leninist when my parents are landlords? especially considering what past revolutionaries have done to landlords (Mao). To clarify things, i do not agree with the concept of landlord-ism and how my parents (and me too from a broader view) are benefiting from someone else’s income while doing nothing except owning basic human needs
What would an alternative be? If they aren’t price jacking or leaving everything in poor condition etc, then they’re providing a service (rental) for someone who may not be able to afford to purchase their own home. I can’t afford a house or apartment near enough to where I work so I have to rent. My alternative would be not having a job in my field (it’s pretty expensive to live anywhere it gets done) or commuting over two hours.
From my perspective as someone that relies on rented living situation, your parents provide a service that lets me keep my job and not be homeless
The property managers do the actual work, but the cost of managing the property is often significantly smaller than the total collected from the properties. Even in cases where it is not, they are taking advantage of their luck to buy a property, and have a government backed means of taking money from other people without doing work. If any given landlord did not do the landlord thing, another landlord would do the same thing, because that is the assumption within capitalism. I understand you think there are no other alternatives, but other arrangements like housing cooperatives can be built instead of landlords leeching off of others.
the alternative is having a land reform so you don’t have to pay 60% of your income increasing over time in rent every month
Landlording isn’t a service. It is simply being the owner of something. Simply being an owner of something doesn’t create value.
Also, landlordng takes homes off the market, making them unavailable for purchase thus creating false scarcity, raising the price to purchase a home, exacerbating the problem you are claiming it alleviates.
The “services” some landlords supposedly provide, such as maintenance, could be afforded by someone who owned a home. Landlords always seek to run a profit. This means they are going to charge more than their mortgage, maintenance, and taxes on the home. The monthly cost to rent is always going to be higher than the monthly cost to buy. Always. Not only will it be a higher cost, but it also builds no equity for the renter. The money you pay into a mortgage, aside from the interest, is partially an investment in yourself and your own assets. Rent, on the other hand, is basically money down the drain for the renter. No gains for the renter, only the landlord.
If you are a renter who believes landlords provide a service, you’re being deceived. They are stealing from you.