[greyfox]

I'm glad this was posted here because it echoes the philosophy of a late (18th?) century philosopher who i cannot remember the name of. Perhaps some of the other well-read minds of hacker news can remind me what his name is.

Basically he's an ehticist, an economist, and a philosopher and he also promotes a "value system" in his philosophy that states that buying a home for any othe reason than to live in it yourself is ethically/morally wrong.

I have been looking for his name for ages since i found it first, should've bookmarked it, never did. Now i desperately want to find him and re-read some of his works as well as his wiki page.

Edit: His name might be Henry George and his philosophy Georgism. Does that sound right to any of yall? Or is it someone else I'm thinking of?

[ProAm]

I get your point, but is it not fair to allow people to earn a living? Being a landlord is a job, it helps to put food on my table and a roof over my head. Surely there are other jobs out there, but why make this one illegal? All forms of employment can be used to exploit others, shall we make them all illegal?

[WhompingWindows]

I don't think the landlord labor/job is really the issue, it's the capitalization of real estate. Do you think it's ethical for banks and billionaires to buy up properties in very expensive markets and price out people who have been living there for decades? They're just looking to make a buck, and in the process may displace those with less power and luck to not be wealthy.

I doubt someone buying a property themselves, living in it while fixing it up, then renting it out is really the issue. That's the Mr. Money Moustache type approach, which to me is much less pernicious than the ultra wealthy leveraging their incredible luck and fortune.

[chrstphrhrt]

Could it be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George ?