In both Leilani Farha’s personal TEDTALK and this documentary, the crucial central idea is to advocate that housing shall not be commdity, an asset belonging to a corporation, but a social good, a societal good.
However, for most of people living in a capitalistic society in modern world, we had never thought that the business transection in housing sector is WRONG. We all take it as granted. There’s nothing wrong about it. And the reason why we don’t even have a stable place to live but keep moving from an apartment to another is simple because of we CAN’T afford it.
So why can’t some people afford to have a stable life? Why is it so hard to find a place? Why are there so many people forced to stuck in a room which is smaller than a double-sized bed and are NOT allowed to have the BASIC personal security?
According to the statistics, double of the total GDP of the entire world is created by housing sector. Even governments are involvoed with it. Instead of creating a diversed range of housing options for people in different income levels, they co-operate with corporations, some governments pass new policies for attracting more investments to park in this industry. Gradually, it is commodified. Those who are unfamiliar with law and capitalistic rules became loser and loses their homes.
Lailani Farha used a world’s largest private equity firm, Blackstone, as example. The firm grapped a large amount of buildings, keeps raising rental prices for his investors preference, evicts lower income household, and transforms a normal community into high-class fancy district. The firm’s priority is their clients. It’s none of their business if the tenents are alive or dead and the buildings stay vacant. What the firms deal witht the vacant rooms is to sell it as Airbnb. Even though the price for a short time staying is lower, the total income of a month is much higher.
Thankfully, there are still people with powers willing to listen to what the majority of citizen and initiate with Mrs. Farha. The action is “Make the Shift”.
To make a shift for this increadibly wrong idea. Housing is not commodity, and it should not be commodified. A house is place to live, is someone’s home with their family. A society would be stable if everyone has a permenant house to live.
Homeless is NOT caused by individual failure but the WHOLE societal failure. We ignore the problem because we do NOT have enough power to cope with it. Even more, we started stopping those who want to take actions so that we are the same.
Home, not equity.
People, not capital.
What we can do is to stop booking Airbnb for the cities that don’t regulate them, to think twice before buying an investment property, and to think more times before we take it for granted that government leaves housing to private sectors.
Make a shift from you and me, support people with same ideas and actions, and fight for human good. It’s impossible to change the society by waiting in front of TV. All the basic rights we enjoy today, including the rights to be educated and work for female, is built by thousands of people fighting against government and the conservatives.
Make a shift for what is right, and what is wrong.