Today I learned that my stepfather is planning on becoming a landlord. I’m absolutely devastated.
My mom visited me today and as we were talking I told her how I planned to move out of the province I live in, as at this point it’s a lost cause. She agreed with me and told me she planned to move back to the Azores with my stepdad, of course. She then mentioned how they’d be financially well off due to my stepfather wanting to set up businesses. I didn’t know what this business was until she told me how they wanted to make money off of renting properties out.
She told me this in relation to how when she and him are gone (dead) their house and the one I live in will be mine to do with as I please. Because the house I live in is a property they own she made reference to other properties they would invest in in the future.
I don’t think my mom really understands this whole ordeal but my stepfather definitely does and it breaks my heart that he would resort to doing something so evil. I’m incredibly lucky that my parents were more than willing to help me move out of a horrible living situation by paying the down payment for a home while I pay the mortgage. Most people can afford mortgages, it’s the down payment that stops anyone from being able to afford to buy. So I’m lucky and incredibly privileged. I feel like I don’t have the right to be angry at them since they’ve done so much for me but at the same time it hurts to know they want to exploit people for profit.
I didn’t know what to say to her. Was I supposed to lecture her on the nature of landlording? I don’t think she deserves that since she’s never been savvy with this stuff. Do I lecture my stepfather? Maybe, but he’d fight me hard on that and it might screw me over. My stepdad has always been a hyper individualist and has little to no hope in the world improving, anytime I’ve talking about dense housing and better public transit he treats it like a childish daydream. He also hates unions so there’s that. It makes sense why he’d want to be a landlord but I don’t want to be tied to such a deplorable act.
But I look over this whole thing and ask: Does it make me a hypocrite?
As a communist, but I’m living in a house bought by my parents. I’ll have landlords as parents too. What then? Am I disqualified? I’m in genuine distress over this whole thing. I’m scared and confused and I don’t know what to do but cry.
Does anyone have any advice? Anything at all? I feel so alone…
It’s not an ideology, it’s material conditions. You’re confused. My material incentives are to get the money. That’s how society is organized. Ideologically speaking, I want to bring about an end to these incentives. But getting the money or not getting the money has no impact on whether or not the system is overturned. The only impact getting the money can have on me is that it could change my ideology, which I must remain self critical and vigilant about. But make no mistake that free money through extractive rents is a material reality and not a matter of ideology. Every musician seeking to make money on recordings is making money based on monopoly rents over IP. Every YouTuber making money is doing so by spreading propaganda for capitalists. Self-denial of revenue is not a revolutionary stance on its own.