Okay... long comment incoming because I have so much to say. I know I listened to this when you first aired it but so many thoughts are bubbling up.
First: Oh wow. That analogy at the end of this episode where Toi talked about the comparison of keeping surplus wealth to keeping a harvest GOT me. And how when we do that we're basically saying that our future self is more important than other's present selves... oof. I find that analogy so helpful in speaking about this with ohers.
Second: Can we talk about how utterly f***ed it is to be a landlord ethically. My husband and I "own" our home (mostly the bank owns it). Our mortgage is ridiculous. And the only way we can afford it is to rent the downstairs to tenants. We try to do this as ethically as possible. We used to AirBnb it, but we have a housing shortage here, so we decided it would be more in line with our ethics to provide long-term housing. The rental market here is absolutely bonkers. So we currently rent it out at considerably below market value to keep it as affordable as possible.
It's such a mindf*** to own our home and feel deeply privileged in that way, but because our housing expenses are so high ($5000 a month between mortgage, utilities, property tax, insurance, etc), we're basically living paycheck to paycheck. So I have less available money than I have in the past... but am perceived as being way more wealthy. And then back to the landlord piece... meanwhile, so many other people are renting out crappier spaces for hundreds of dollars a month more than we are. We could really use that additional money, but that would feel exploitative of the people who are paying rent to us. I have so many questions about finding that balance... and also how to be an equitable landlord. I guess the only way to truly do that, other than offering affordable rent, would be to pay out a portion of the money we make off the house back to any of our tenants proportionate to their contribution. But that feels... edgy... in a good way?
Third: HOW DOES ONE RAISE A CHILD IN THIS SYSTEM? I'm mulling over so many questions about this, and in relation to this podcast episode especially thinking about the problems with traditional schooling and how it simply prepares students to become good workers. I'm thinking about alternate schooling options now that I have a kiddo (homeschooling? co-op homeschooling? other?). It's a few years out for us but I'm almost constantly thinking about how to do this well... how to raise a kiddo who can succeed in these systems but not in all the icky ways we are normally socialized into.
Okay... long comment incoming because I have so much to say. I know I listened to this when you first aired it but so many thoughts are bubbling up.
First: Oh wow. That analogy at the end of this episode where Toi talked about the comparison of keeping surplus wealth to keeping a harvest GOT me. And how when we do that we're basically saying that our future self is more important than other's present selves... oof. I find that analogy so helpful in speaking about this with ohers.
Second: Can we talk about how utterly f***ed it is to be a landlord ethically. My husband and I "own" our home (mostly the bank owns it). Our mortgage is ridiculous. And the only way we can afford it is to rent the downstairs to tenants. We try to do this as ethically as possible. We used to AirBnb it, but we have a housing shortage here, so we decided it would be more in line with our ethics to provide long-term housing. The rental market here is absolutely bonkers. So we currently rent it out at considerably below market value to keep it as affordable as possible.
It's such a mindf*** to own our home and feel deeply privileged in that way, but because our housing expenses are so high ($5000 a month between mortgage, utilities, property tax, insurance, etc), we're basically living paycheck to paycheck. So I have less available money than I have in the past... but am perceived as being way more wealthy. And then back to the landlord piece... meanwhile, so many other people are renting out crappier spaces for hundreds of dollars a month more than we are. We could really use that additional money, but that would feel exploitative of the people who are paying rent to us. I have so many questions about finding that balance... and also how to be an equitable landlord. I guess the only way to truly do that, other than offering affordable rent, would be to pay out a portion of the money we make off the house back to any of our tenants proportionate to their contribution. But that feels... edgy... in a good way?
Third: HOW DOES ONE RAISE A CHILD IN THIS SYSTEM? I'm mulling over so many questions about this, and in relation to this podcast episode especially thinking about the problems with traditional schooling and how it simply prepares students to become good workers. I'm thinking about alternate schooling options now that I have a kiddo (homeschooling? co-op homeschooling? other?). It's a few years out for us but I'm almost constantly thinking about how to do this well... how to raise a kiddo who can succeed in these systems but not in all the icky ways we are normally socialized into.