Skip to content

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Landlords clearly in it for themselves

Landlords’ interests are hostile to ours, says letter writer
23774866_web1_201230-NBU-letter-landlords-1_1
To submit a letter to the editor, e-mail editor@nanaimobulletin.com.

To the editor,

Re: Rent freeze during pandemic isn’t fair to landlords, Letters, Dec. 9.

The letter writer, who cries for the landlords “trying to make a living,” should know it’s not an honest living. Landlords do not need our sympathy.

The landlords’ social role, descending from aristocratic enclosure of the commons, is to do nothing but take the product of the working class. They profit by controlling the scarcity of housing while we struggle to stay housed. They demand we work real jobs while they don’t. The rents they charge dwarf the cost of upkeep of our homes. You can tell, because the excess is called ‘passive income.’ We give a third, a half, or more of our working hours to these parasites. The lives of the homeless are sacrificed at the altar of their profit motive.

In short, the landlords’ interests are hostile to ours. Now, with unemployment and eviction hanging over our heads during an epidemic, we are feeling their antipathy acutely. It’s about time we were hostile back.

We can house everyone. But to do it, we have to make housing a public concern, expropriate the landlords, and bust them down to maintenance wage labour.

Rafe Saltman, Nanaimo

READ ALSO: B.C. extends freeze on rent increases to July 2021 as second wave of COVID-19 continues


The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin.

Letters policy: Letters should be no longer than 250 words and will be edited. Preference is given to letters expressing an opinion on issues of local relevance or responding to items published in the News Bulletin. Include your address (it won’t be published) and a first name or two initials, and a surname. Unsigned letters or letters specifically addressing someone else will not be published.

Mail: Letters, Nanaimo News Bulletin, 777 Poplar St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9S 2H7

Fax: 250-753-0788

E-mail: editor@nanaimobulletin.com