Communists might see all businessmen as greedy parasites, and they are wrong... but some business people are, in fact, greedy parasites.
Meme Thread for Both Posting and Discussing Memes
- Thread starter Captain X
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Communists might see all businessmen as greedy parasites, and they are wrong... but some business people are, in fact, greedy parasites.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
Well they shouldn't have a monopoly on hating predatory parasites
They aren't parasites. They consensually exchanged cash for property. They are going to be maintaining the property and renting it out, which isn't free or effortless.
They have done absolutely nothing wrong, and certainly aren't parasites. Parasites are non-consensual, and add nothing. But an investor added some combination of time and money into the economy, and did so consensually.
In fact, this is classic commie talk: hating the capitalist because he owns things, and devaluing his contribution of capital as worthless. This is a winning commie strategy: convince people that [insert communist principle/idea/plan here] is really not commie, but in fact [insert your tribe].
No, in fact I'd say the opposite. There was a clear evil ideology in the 20th century: collectivism. Done via Fascism, Communism, racial genocide, racial prejudice, race riots, religious purges, etc. Collectivism was the consistent villain.
I didn't get the impression that those houses would be let out for rent, Abhorsen. And often that is not the case.
In any case, I'm certainly not arguing for abolition of private property.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
I mean it's generally groups like Blackrock who engage in that. They buy stuff crank up the taxes force people out buy their property ect.
They would be if they guy isn't an idiot. That's normally how one does an investment property. Though sometimes someone does it as a vacation home too. Regardless, I don't care if the person just bought it just to rent, that money they spent is still flowing through the economy, and bringing value to many.
And I know you aren't a commie, I get that no one here is. I'm pointing out that this is how the commies get their stuff enacted. They manufacture hate against something they don't like, then say "Wouldn't it be nice if the government solved it?" And enough say yes that you have a new stupid law, when in fact the problem is usually because of other stupid laws.
See, the cranking up the taxes would be parasitic, cause they are using force. But I a) haven't seen evidence of that, as it would be completely counterproductive as BlackRock would need to pay the taxes and I trust in them wanting money, and b) the example here had none of that.
The thing is, if you own a house, it's securely yours, and you can raise your family there without fear of being kicked out at the whim of some greedy landlord who up and tells you that he's decided to hike the rent, because Muh Holy Profits!
And Abhorsen - are you actually okay with the scenario in which a small elite own all the properties, and everyone else has to rent from them?
And Abhorsen - are you actually okay with the scenario in which a small elite own all the properties, and everyone else has to rent from them?
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
The problem is groups like Blackrock rig the game and the Normal rules don't apply to them. If it was an even playing field then sure survival of the fit and all, but that's not the case.
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LordsFire
Internet Wizard
Yes, they do. Through manipulation of the government and law. The critical problem here isn't that Blackrock et al are rich, it's that the government corruption enables them.
I wouldn't like such a place, and in a free market, the chances of that happening are vanishingly small. I'm definitely not giving the commies a mile to stop something that's only happening because of them.
As for the difference between owning and renting, those are valid reasons to prefer one over another, but it doesn't make a landowner a bad person for wanting more money.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
I think communists shouldn't have a monopoly on keeping the playing field even
Terthna
Professional Lurker
No, it doesn't; but there are other things that do make certain landowners bad people. Like lying about the square footage of a property, or intentionally setting rent levels exorbitantly high to drive up the sale price.
Yes, and those people are wrong for doing those fraudulent things, not for being landlords. The original meme? It was about a guy just wanting to buy a property as investment, with none of the context that would make this particular person bad. And then people started calling investment property owners parasites.
Communism is seductive like that. It promises easy solutions that 'sound right'. But as always with economics, that's not what will happen.
"Keeping the playing field even". An interesting turn of phrase. Let's look at this. Who is going to be keeping the playing field even? And from the meme shown, what's being done that is uneven?
Cause to me, it looks like that means "Communists shouldn't have a monopoly on the government stopping people from consensually buying property." Which, well, communists do, because that is communism.
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Speaking as a homeowner, those investors are incredibly annoying. I get calls daily, flyers are left on my door, my mailbox gets stuffed with them. Frankly, if it's communist to want these people to shut up and go away, all hail Marx and Lenin.
Terthna
Professional Lurker
Fair enough; just keep in mind, many of your fellow Libertarians don't consider fraud to be inherently wrong. It's just another part of the free market, and if someone falls for it; well, they're in the wrong for allowing themselves to be taken advantage of. It's a very "survival of the fittest" way to see the economy, and I don't agree with it at all.
No, the vast majority of Libertarians consider fraud to be right in there with force. It's not consensual to agree to X but deliver Y.
Terthna
Professional Lurker
If that's true, maybe I misjudged Libertarianism; but that doesn't match with my experience.
I mean, a ton of people think libertarians are republicans who like weed or democrats who don't like to spend money. In reality, Libertarianism is its own philosophy with a deep set of ethics and morality, a political party, and more. Now I have seen someone make a philosophic argument that fraud isn't punishable under a libertarian philosophy, but more make the other argument. Fraud is violating the contract, simple as.
Now there is the Casino point: There are shitty deals that are presented honestly enough. If you decide to go into a casino to play the craps table thinking you'll win money but go broke, that's straight up on you (assuming fair dice). They told you the rules of the game, and more, everyone knows that the odds are in the houses favor. That's not fraud, that's just buyer beware.
Fraud does occur when someone sells you a house claiming X square feet, and it's Y. A straight up lie. Or more subtly, someone sells you a car, but not the engine, while implying it had one (pictures of a new car, etc).
