• I read through until chapter 1 in that section you linked and he is pretty scathing of landlords and if I understand it correctly his argument is that landlords exist solely to soak up all extra profits above what would leave the tenant just enough to survive.

    • @SCB@lemmy.world
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      1010 months ago

      I’d strongly recommend you consider reading the entire thing, because that is not his take at all.

      Consider at his time, “landlord” literally meant a lord who owned land, and much of the rent he discussed (often negatively) is shit like, charging people to harvest kelp near your house.

        • @SCB@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Fun fact: all unions are inherently rent-seeking.

          I say this as a supporter of unions - true is true. Rent seeking is inherently bad but the sum of the union equation is that they do more good than bad.

          The police union, of course, is also uniquely bad in other ways.