26-03-2023, 05:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 26-03-2023, 05:43 PM by Oh_hunnihunni.)
I think the piece is anecdotal, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. It rang true for me because I have experienced very similar things - not the shame angle, because I am far too strong a personality to bother with letting that into my life.
Since being forced by circumstances to give up home ownership I have had eight landlords. Three of them were wonderful, supportive, honest and professional property owners. Two were real estate agency property managers and fairly good to deal with. One of the remainder was an utter scoundrel who never lodged the bond, never repaired leaky roofing, and tried desperately to do me out of bond repayment, in fact did short change me by $15 in the end, four months after I moved out... $15? Summed him up really. The other two were just rubbish, not really bad, just not the kind of people most people would let in their door.
Yes there are remedies for poor landlord issues, but the process is neither easy nor is it readily accessible.
The biggest takeaway I got from the piece was the reminder of how we link wealth to respect. And it is so wrong. We have this idea that renting is bad, but a quarter of the population are renters. Social changes mean many more of us end up as singles, and being a single property owner comes with its own challenges, particularly as we age, or have limited support of all kinds. A divorce or two can devastate lives. A sudden accident, an illness, family catastrophes, environmental disasters, all can transform a perfectly well planned and managed life into something very different.
One of the biggest lessons for me coming into this little flat in a pensioner village was getting to know the stories of the people around me. The lady who never married, who looked after aged family members all her life till the last one died and she was left with nothing. The battered woman. The two men with two families, double divorced. The man who put all his savings into a scheme that hit the headlines as it crashed, leaving his wife with a stroke whose care leached his remaining security. And a couple of dodgies, but less said about them the better, lol. Very few of them openly talk about being social housing tenants, despite being well aware how privileged we are compared to many. The social shaming does happen, honestly though? More from ignorance than any real understanding. Apart from those folk who just want to think they will never have to walk in a poor person's shoes, which is completely understandable. No one likes to think of the tough stuff of 'what if...'
After all, pretty much from birth here in the western world we are conditioned into being 'aspirational'. To measure success in terms of fame and fortune, and to judge our positions by those of the people around us. To raise up and celebrate the 'high achievers' among us, while ignoring those who fall by the wayside.
Sadly, that does not contribute to a healthy society. And until it does, we will have to deal with and pay for the symptoms of our community unwellness. Pity, seeing we have so many more desperate challenges ahead...
Since being forced by circumstances to give up home ownership I have had eight landlords. Three of them were wonderful, supportive, honest and professional property owners. Two were real estate agency property managers and fairly good to deal with. One of the remainder was an utter scoundrel who never lodged the bond, never repaired leaky roofing, and tried desperately to do me out of bond repayment, in fact did short change me by $15 in the end, four months after I moved out... $15? Summed him up really. The other two were just rubbish, not really bad, just not the kind of people most people would let in their door.
Yes there are remedies for poor landlord issues, but the process is neither easy nor is it readily accessible.
The biggest takeaway I got from the piece was the reminder of how we link wealth to respect. And it is so wrong. We have this idea that renting is bad, but a quarter of the population are renters. Social changes mean many more of us end up as singles, and being a single property owner comes with its own challenges, particularly as we age, or have limited support of all kinds. A divorce or two can devastate lives. A sudden accident, an illness, family catastrophes, environmental disasters, all can transform a perfectly well planned and managed life into something very different.
One of the biggest lessons for me coming into this little flat in a pensioner village was getting to know the stories of the people around me. The lady who never married, who looked after aged family members all her life till the last one died and she was left with nothing. The battered woman. The two men with two families, double divorced. The man who put all his savings into a scheme that hit the headlines as it crashed, leaving his wife with a stroke whose care leached his remaining security. And a couple of dodgies, but less said about them the better, lol. Very few of them openly talk about being social housing tenants, despite being well aware how privileged we are compared to many. The social shaming does happen, honestly though? More from ignorance than any real understanding. Apart from those folk who just want to think they will never have to walk in a poor person's shoes, which is completely understandable. No one likes to think of the tough stuff of 'what if...'
After all, pretty much from birth here in the western world we are conditioned into being 'aspirational'. To measure success in terms of fame and fortune, and to judge our positions by those of the people around us. To raise up and celebrate the 'high achievers' among us, while ignoring those who fall by the wayside.
Sadly, that does not contribute to a healthy society. And until it does, we will have to deal with and pay for the symptoms of our community unwellness. Pity, seeing we have so many more desperate challenges ahead...