I notice that over the past maybe decade, I see a very negative sentiment towards landlords (in the UK), people seem to fucking hate them, it's like a dirty word, rents are higher than ever, but fiat inflation is to blame for that, not that Joe pleb cares to understand.
Now, while there are scumbag landlords, there are also scumbag tenants, but that fact is also lost.
So for the older stackers, was it always like this? Like in the 80, 90s etc or is everything just being amplified by social media? Like just another aspect of the culture wars?
I see a general increase in hatred of everything because people are f-Ing miserable
like a tide of misery rising all boats
I think it depends. Personally, I have experienced some frustration with them when trying to purchase a home in a very particular area within the US. They squat on family homes in good neighborhoods making it difficult to purchase a home in that area. When a select few do eventually decide to sell the home they list it for an astronomical price and the house itself is in such poor condition. They should really limit how many homes a landlord can posses within a given area.
I think hating on landlords has increased if for no other reason than that rent is taking a larger portion of renters' income.
source
When things go bad, you want to blame someone, and the obvious easy target is the person who you have to pay the higher rent to.
Block discusses slumlords in his great book Defending the Undefendable, which I believe is from the 70’s.
1976, to be exact! Seems like a good contrarian book! It's available in PDF. When I have time, I’ll take a look. Thanks for the suggestion!
It’s a quick easy read and can be read in small chunks.
I remember in the early 2000s rent and mortgage payments weren't far from being at parity. And without the same amount of landlord taxation back then it was pretty obvious that as a tenant you were essentially working to buy the landlord your home while they sat on the beach counting the size of their property portfolio.
In respect of my feelings towards landlords, I didn't find the situation particularly endearing. I had opportunities later to become a landlord but I would've felt dirty.
While I don't have sympathy for them nowadays, things aren't as easy. The state saw its opportunity to skim off their profits and so its not such a free ride.
The tenants are still slaves to the system though, and they know they are, they should just direct their resentment towards the state (i.e. the central banking system)
Landlords have always been one of the top villains to leftists
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.