Over the past 60 years, we’ve been spoon-fed the notion that home-ownership is an essential part of achieving the American Dream. It’s as necessary to the dream as the golden retriever, the blonde housewife, and the shiny, red convertible.
To drive that point home, Congress has offered Americans generous subsidies to encourage home-ownership. This desire culminated with the recent economic meltdown, which was partly caused by President Bush’s misguided belief in the “Ownership Society” ideal. He wanted to broaden the base of homeowners for some reason and he used Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the means to this end. These institutions thrived from the get-go. There was no bottom line. When people started scrutinizing them, they spent over $170 million to get lawmakers to keep them from closing (rather than let penny-pinchers limit their ability to give out shitty loans). Maxine Waters (D-CT), Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) were among the many representatives who balked at these initial attempts to reign them in.
Post-bubble and we’re still fucked (I just listened to NPR on the way home and this is what I’ve gathered). Basically Congress still subsidizes homeownership and that’s not going to change for years to come. What’s more, Morgan Stanley released a report saying 2012 is the year of the landlord, i.e. the United States is now switching from a home-owning society to a rent-based one. People, especially our generation, want to be flexible and follow the jobs. There’s been a sharp dip in home-buying amongst 30-34 year olds in the past year and that’s the critical age when most people choose to settle down and actually purchase a home. Not anymore. Thank the Boomers for that.
The best part is that hedge funds, investment banks, and private-equity firms are buying up foreclosed homes by the bushel at rates 10-20% below market value. It’s not that regular average Joe’s are not interested in the homes. It’s that 1.) Borrowing money is super-tough now and 2.) Wall St. can offer cold hard cash right away. Fortunately, I have friends who work at these kinds of financial institutions. The downside is many of us do not. Many of us are still hooked on the idea that owning a home is intrinsically good and right and American. At least that’s what the government has taught us to believe.
As an on-again-off-again conspiracy theory lover, I’m inclined to believe that home-ownership is promoted by the government because it makes Americans a lot easier to manipulate. Think about it. Home-owners take on massive amounts of debt to buy a home. They can’t go on strike or take risks with their career because they need to pay off their mortgage. They can’t riot or protest because a. they live outside the cities (the hubs of life) and b. their homes tie them to the community at-large rather than the abstract ideas they read about in books. Pftt Freedom? Equality? Gosh, what would the Smith’s say? These people are more likely to work some shitty dead-end corporate schtick job because it’s stable and close to the home and the kids won’t have to change schools. People that stay in one spot are perfect prey for corrupt politicians and greedy Wall St. businessmen. Those ingrained with this outdated idea of what SHOULD be are the crutch of the powerful and truly evil.
Millenials on the other hand will be the first generation forced to get over this artificial pipe dream instilled in our collective psyche by those who continue to fuck our society. Renting an apartment might not be what we had in mind. But hey, it has its benefits:
- We’re super mobile. Every month might be a new adventure, a new job, a new life.
- Renting usually means living in a city where you’re close to the ideas, the action, the culture. It’s greener and more exciting. Suburbs on the other hand isolate us, drain us of life, rob us of our true dreams, and turn us into consumerist drones.
- Your landlord might actually be some Wall St. firm. In that case, punching holes in walls might become the new way to protest the 1%’s hoarding of wealth.
- Your forced to think of yourself as a member of a society rather an island. Civility, Courtesy, and Love might return to America. And you won’t have to be a hippie to embrace such values.
I’m a little apathetic over America’s recent economic collapse. With the Internet, with Wikipedia, with Reddit, with all these tools, people under the age of 30 should be able to see themselves as members of a global society unburdened by the racial and geopolitical dividers that older generations have used in the past. I am frustrated that people continue to support a government that promotes values of this type. Live and let live. You want to own a house? Good, go buy one. You want to ride a bike. Good, go do it. What got us into this mess was elitists using their power to create false incentives that tricked the masses into making decisions they should not have made. Maybe now instead of trying to re-achieve some former ideal, we can embrace the new direction these colossal fuck-ups have taken us?
under siege 