Cut the Rent, Cut the Problem
The conservatives have made some small but welcome changes in renters rights in the recent changes to housing rules. But how about this as a plan that would hugely improve the lives of millions, can be done, but almost certainly will not be:
Cut all rents across London/ NY/ Paris etc by half. From next month every one renting a house/apartment/room pays only 50% of what they are paying this month. The end.
Of course, landlords will be furious about that. But it could and should be done, as the benefits will be enormous and the downsides small. Any landlords genuinely put in financial trouble because of this, with paying mortgages or other loans, would be compensated by a central fund. That fund could be paid by the proposed windfall tax on the huge earnings of energy companies, which would easily cover it.
The benefits would include:
Huge decrease in stress and unhappiness and aggression caused by the worry of not being able to pay the rent
A large increase in consumer spending on other things (that would benefit rich folk anyway, since they are the ones who own the companies that make such products)
An increase in the amount of people being able to afford to buy their own houses (which is a conservative policy, so they should welcome that)
A decrease in council house waiting lists and the importance of such housing (again, a win for right wingers)
A general decrease in poverty and therefore related decrease in crime, drug abuse, violence (including theft and violence against rich folk, a win for them again! Are they starting to warm to this policy?)
A greater ability to afford good education, which will lead to more skilled and happy workers (company owners win here too), plus better work in science and the arts to benefit society in general
Better health because of greater ability to afford private health care (the right wins again), plus decrease in health problems related to bad housing (which will decrease pressure on the NHS)
Etc.... we could go on and mention many more positive results.
Yet, this will not happen, for one key reason, and its not the loss of money to landlords or the various convoluted reasons elites will come up with for why it’s not ‘realistic’: the big problem is that it sets up a dangerous principle, that we can control capitalism in radical ways, that we CAN make large changes in it for the benefit of the majority. And that is such a dangerous idea that the rich are willing to give up all the positive things that will come to them by the above change.
Still, it could and should be done. Which party and what group of people would make changes like this? Not the Conservative or Republican party, as its directly against their ideology. Not the Democratic party and the present moderate Labour party (though Corbyn’s Labour may well have had the balls for it). But we could do it and a whole load more so called ‘radical’ but actually workable things… if we wanted to.