I live in a Canadian housing co-op that is managed by a Community Land Trust. It's such a good model. I'm very grateful and I hope they gain in popularity.
The shift to an entirely rentseeking economy is well underway…
The shift that I’ve witnessed since the 1970’s is well described in the following piece. It provides great insights into how we got here and where we’re headed.
Other bits of piracy such as the “GENIUS” Act (stablecoin scam that allows the Tech Bros to set up their own confederate currency) is just another rentish operation that people won’t realize has happened until it collapses and they have to pay the consequences.
It’s almost like Marx saw the future in terms of “rent”. 😑
I love this!! Housing being seen as first and foremost an investment vehicle is hugely problematic. Community ownership (which in turn will require widespread and effective organizing, as you note) is key. I would love to see this narrative mainstreamed more, yesterday I launched something that's my humble contribution to beginning this narrative shift (www.gaslitbycorporations.com). I would love your thoughts! I definitely plan to have a blog posts soon around housing as well as examples of community ownership generally (like land trusts and co-ops).
excellent article, thank you! and the house prices you are seeing are actually quite low compared with other countries like Australia and New Zealand where people have to pay a much higher proportion of their income for rent or mortgages than in the US.
One odd thing about the US compared to much of Europe is that there's no real organized squatters movements in big cities. In places like Amsterdam and Berlin they have real organization; here, nada.
I live in a Canadian housing co-op that is managed by a Community Land Trust. It's such a good model. I'm very grateful and I hope they gain in popularity.
The shift to an entirely rentseeking economy is well underway…
The shift that I’ve witnessed since the 1970’s is well described in the following piece. It provides great insights into how we got here and where we’re headed.
https://open.substack.com/pub/mattstoller/p/messing-with-texas-how-big-homebuilders?r=4ahbh&utm_medium=ios
Other bits of piracy such as the “GENIUS” Act (stablecoin scam that allows the Tech Bros to set up their own confederate currency) is just another rentish operation that people won’t realize has happened until it collapses and they have to pay the consequences.
It’s almost like Marx saw the future in terms of “rent”. 😑
Best
I love this!! Housing being seen as first and foremost an investment vehicle is hugely problematic. Community ownership (which in turn will require widespread and effective organizing, as you note) is key. I would love to see this narrative mainstreamed more, yesterday I launched something that's my humble contribution to beginning this narrative shift (www.gaslitbycorporations.com). I would love your thoughts! I definitely plan to have a blog posts soon around housing as well as examples of community ownership generally (like land trusts and co-ops).
excellent article, thank you! and the house prices you are seeing are actually quite low compared with other countries like Australia and New Zealand where people have to pay a much higher proportion of their income for rent or mortgages than in the US.
One odd thing about the US compared to much of Europe is that there's no real organized squatters movements in big cities. In places like Amsterdam and Berlin they have real organization; here, nada.