refreshertowel

refreshertowel t1_jbp9mya wrote

Land ownership entirely. Forgive my slip of the tongue when I said "my", and let me replace it with "the". The essential being of the land remains the same regardless of what word I use to refer to it. You are neglecting the fact that it is impossible to live in the modern world, bar living in forced squalor, without some semblance of land ownership when you try to play the fact that I participate in the system against my views.

This is a common misunderstanding of people pro-establishment when talking to people anti-establishment: "Well, how can you be against X when you participate in X!" It's because the system is set up so there is no sensible way of living without X. It doesn't mean that a world without X is impossible.

The earth is the earth. It doesn't belong to any specific person, government or nation. An insect "owns" as much of the earth as you or I do.

I believe that national borders enable extreme exploitation of the working class. I believe that land ownership, especially (but not exclusively) when paired with multiple property owners, enables an extraction of wealth towards the ruling class (whether it be through property taxes or rent) from the worker, with no benefit to the overall society beyond some figures in a banking account growing an extra digit or two.

There have been many, many times in the hundreds of thousands of years throughout human history that long periods of harmony have existed without a concept of land ownership and the idea that land being owned is somehow essential to society or life is very incorrect. It's just not compatible with capitalism and all that entails.

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refreshertowel t1_jbp4j2i wrote

I don't think anyone should own land, and I've lived under a bridge at one point, so no, I don't think I'm being classist. What I am being is anti-landlord. There is no contribution they make that makes it worth anyone's while to justify their existence.

In my ideal world, you would not have to worry about owning a home or land either, but for entirely different reasons than a landlord makes it worth your while not to.

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refreshertowel t1_jbp3xh8 wrote

Everyone who rents submits to a similar situation you describe, lol. Want to put up a painting on a wall? Needs owners permission. Want to remove a plant or add a new one to the garden? Needs owners permission. The only "ownership" that is allowed under land owners is that which they grant.

If that is some horrible dystopian nightmare, welcome to the modern world my friend.

The difference between myself and those other land owners is that I don't believe any of us should be able to profit from people living on land. I'm happy as long as I have something to shelter myself from the rain and something soft to lie on. I've lived in conditions without either.

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refreshertowel t1_jbozpox wrote

My entire garden is either local flora to help our native bees and other insects live or produce and that produce is freely shared with any people around me. My neighbours are entirely free to enter my yard whenever they want and to take any crops that interest them. Any neighbourhood kids have free reign over my yard, and there's often little football matches playing out in my front yard (as long as they don't damage the garden, as that is a communal resource).

While I'm forced to participate in this gross facade we have built as a society in order not to live in squalor, I'm very happy to share "my" land with those around me.

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refreshertowel t1_jboytcq wrote

I "own" my own house. It's not the greatest house and has needed many repairs throughout the years I've been living here. The amount of money I have saved by not paying rent over that time is literally mindboggling. You are caught in a trap you do not realise. Unless you are a millionaire renting a condo and using it as a tax writeoff or some other absurd situation, you are literally being fucked in the arse by your landlord, no matter how much you try to justify it.

If your time is so valuable that a phone call and repair costs for any item in your house is worth less to you than the time taken to do it then you should own your house already. If your time is not that valuable, then your decade/lifetime rent costs will outpace any possible repairs/maintanence by huge amounts.

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refreshertowel t1_jbowsq8 wrote

Lol, you obviously know that fridge repairmen exist right? And gardeners? They don't exist solely through your landlord. You would pay a lot less just to hire them when things break / need mowing than you do in rent.

You are paying for the privilege of someone else living off your money, while also occasionally having to use your money to pay someone else to do something else to the property you live at.

If the landlords weren't making more money from you than they were spending on services, they would kick you out my friend.

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refreshertowel t1_jbov5qe wrote

Yeah, this is true, I was being mildly facetious when I said only capitalism allows such a thing. Many, many systems of production extortion have existed throughout the ages. Have you heard of the concept of Kings and the kinda shit that went down while they were the hot new thing?!

Regardless, "owning" land is an absurd concept and should be done away with. At best it's a method used by people in power to prevent others from extricating themselves from the said power. At best.

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