It is
claimed that there are over 1 million empty houses in the UK and it
is estimated that 2 million families in the UK need a home. We are a rich capitalist country!! In this
society that is seen as an insurmountable problem, where as any
rational approach would be to give those without homes access to
empty houses. Of course in this society a house is not seen as a
place to live, it is seen as property and therefore a valuable asset,
money. So if you are well off, you can have several houses, of course
only living in one. While others can't have a house and have to share
or live in a hostel, or worse live on the streets, leaving all those other house empty. This
injustice is glossed over by referring to it as “the market”, some divine oracle that controls our lives.
This system of capitalism, whereby a house is not a home but a
valuable asset, creates all the usual contradictions. While you are
looking for a house you hope that prices will fall, but once you have
your house, you hope and pray that the price will go up. Once you
have your house and the price falls, because it is on a mortgage you
end up owing more than your pile of bricks is worth, not a very
satisfactory situation, but then again, that's capitalism for you. If
we take the government out of the equation and classify a house as a
place to live and not a commodity to be sold for gain, then I'm sure
the people would sort out the housing problem tomorrow. But that
wouldn't be capitalism.
