Tenant

There’s the new operative word, because this is what the future will be for the vast majority of people seeking to put a roof over their heads. The financial system has pulled back the curtain and revealed the reality for most of those who are trying to break out into a life of “independence”. From now on, owning a home is simply one of those pretty dreams. Unless you are independently wealthy, come from a rich family, or inherit, you’ll be a tenant. Even if you’re a couple with a good income, even if it’s enough to get a bank to approve your mortgage, any blip in the system could end up drowning you. A slight rise in the rates, and down you go. What a great system. Designed for everyone? We are taught to think so, but that is far from reality.

From what I’ve read, in Toronto, home prices have dropped a little, but sales have gone up, so it will only lead to one thing, a rise in prices. Rents are also a weapon of the capitalist. As in the days of fiefdoms, the rich own the land, and the poor rent it. We like to think that today we are above all that, but what do you call someone who can barely make ends meet in today’s society? Good old landlords charge as much as they could possibly get. It doesn’t matter how much the population can afford. It’s a matter of taking advantage of those who are desperate to find a place to live. In these cases, people will scrounge whatever they can in order to be able to sleep in a room instead of a park, or a car. All of a sudden, anything less than a couple of thousand a month to rent a shoebox, is considered “losing money” by those who own. This term is wildly misused. If a landlord charged half, they would consider it a loss because they could be making much more. Losing money used to mean that you can’t support the business because it doesn’t make enough to cover the costs, let alone bring you a profit.
Those who can afford these rates are ruining it for the rest. I can’t blame these people for being better off financially, but the system punishes the rest of society because those who can afford set the bar. This is why in today’s world there are so many “world class” cities with thousands of people living on the streets in tents. So far, the only solution to that that I’ve seen is the police moving in and clearing them. I guess this shows voters who have a home that the government is dealing with the situation.

Nobody cares. Banks don’t care, governments don’t really care, most of those who have a home of their own don’t really care. Hell, most people who own a home are tickled pink that it’s worth so many simoleons! (for those unfamiliar with the term, it was the currency in the Looney Toons). A grin from ear to ear when you hear the cha-ching of current value! Yup. But now it costs 100 grand plus to do a kitchen. What? Dole out 50k for a bathroom. Say again?

We go on chasing our tails.
Fiquem bem,

Raul Freitas/MS