Current Events > Noted economist Adam Smith, on landlords

(+) Yeah! (+)

As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for its natural produce.

https://geolib.com/smith.adam/won1-06.html


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Mao Zedong and Adam Smith, best buds.


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YellowSUV posted...

Mao Zedong and Adam Smith, best buds.

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I had no opinion on landlords before CE started complaining about them, and am totally open to either side

but I have never seen a single convincing argument that landlords are a bad thing. They own an item. They let you use it. It seems simple to me...

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Bump
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Colorahdo posted...

I had no opinion on landlords before CE started complaining about them, and am totally open to either side

but I have never seen a single convincing argument that landlords are a bad thing. They own an item. They let you use it. It seems simple to me...

Slummy landlords that own all the housing in an area and can drive prices up without providing a decent service is crazy.

Landlords that own a few homes/apartment complex and provide housing for someone that can't afford a down payment for a house, or need short term housing seems like a necessity. Good form of passive income for retired folks as well, that have chosen to downsize and can rent their former property.

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Colorahdo posted...

I had no opinion on landlords before CE started complaining about them, and am totally open to either side

but I have never seen a single convincing argument that landlords are a bad thing. They own an item. They let you use it. It seems simple to me...

Because once they start making a lot of money, they buy more and more and suddenly there's a scarcity problem where there wasnt.

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For example, I recently had a friend that was a year ahead of his fiance in university. They wanted to move back to her hometown after getting married ~5 hours away iirc.

He had no connections/bad family situation, so couldn't really move back home. He just stayed in our college town, until she graduated, then they started looking for starter home in her town.

If there weren't rental properties available, I guess the best alternative would have been move to her town, and never see her. That or buy a house in college town for a year, then hopefully sell it?

Rentals are great for people in transitional periods, i.e. graduation, moving to new town/starting new job, etc. Gives you a chance to search or save for a home to purchase.

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Who are the Geolibertarians?
We Geolibertarians distinguish ourselves from right-wing, "royal" libertarians by our profound respect for the principle that one has private property in the fruits of one's labor. This includes the fruits of mental labor and the results of reinvestment of legitimate private property (capital) in future production. We remain consistent in that respect by recognizing, as did the classic liberals, that land and raw natural resources are not the fruits of labor, but a common heritage to be accessed on terms that are equal under the law for everyone

Came in speeding at 90MPH with the political jargon and bias - these conversations should never start with these sorts of eyes lol

What's with commies trying to claim Adam Smith was actually one of them

MedeaLysistrata posted...

Because once they start making a lot of money, they buy more and more and suddenly there's a scarcity problem where there wasnt.

Unless they're empty investment properties they're still available to rent. I think the problem is more that the smaller time landlords are in debt themselves with mortgaged properties and the corporate landlords are naturally soulless.

Economist and meteorologist, the only two jobs on earth where you can be wrong 100% of the time and still remain employed.

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Gamerguymass posted...

Economist and meteorologist, the only two jobs on earth where you can be wrong 100% of the time and still remain employed.

Politician
Right wing news commentator
Pastor/Priest/Cleric/Iman/Rabbi/Minister

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UnfairRepresent posted...

Politician
Right wing news commentator
Pastor/Priest/Cleric/Iman/Rabbi/Minister

heh, this

ButteryMales posted...

Unless they're empty investment properties they're still available to rent. I think the problem is more that the smaller time landlords are in debt themselves with mortgaged properties and the corporate landlords are naturally soulless.

Available to rent... At a jacked up cost

Are you saying the debt makes them raise the cost?

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MedeaLysistrata posted...

Available to rent... At a jacked up cost

Are you saying the debt makes them raise the cost?

Not jacked up compared to taking out a mortgage. That's one reason why people rent in the place.

Being in debt makes them as cutthroat as they can be to keep up with the mortgages on the properties they rent out.

Gamerguymass posted...

Economist

I mean, this guy invented capitalism, so...

coh posted...

What's with commies trying to claim Adam Smith was actually one of them

It is also indisputable that the alleviation of poverty was one of Smiths central concerns, the common caricature notwithstanding. Even a cursory reading of The Wealth of Nations should make this point abundantly clear. Smith states, explicitly and repeatedly, that the true measure of a nations wealth is not the size of its kings treasury or the holdings of an affluent few but rather the wages of the laboring poor. In a passage that Obama quoted in his speech, Smith declares that it is a matter of simple equity that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/the-problem-with-inequality-according-to-adam-smith/486071/
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UnfairRepresent posted...

Politician
Right wing news commentator
Pastor/Priest/Cleric/Iman/Rabbi/Minister

True, but for those you don't even need a minimum amount of intellect.

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teepan95 posted...

landlords, like all other men

so they're no different from the rest of us

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