Since I don't own any properties I must have some loose screws in my head as apparently only 2 options are available. :)
It must be this then that leaks some questions in my thoughts.
What if the money you buy the properties with is a result of your contributions?
Is there a decent and accessible way to have funds to buy such properties while not having to contribute first?
Let's say I've spent 20 years working 12 hours a day contributing about 4x the average productivity - would it be ok to buy properties and continue not contributing or should I be forced to continue contributing?
What is the optimal path to reap rewards of my contributions? Having taxpayers pay that money to me in a form of retirement is one way, but what if I paid 10x more taxes as a result of my contributions should 10 other people pool their taxes to pay my retiremenet to make it fair? Or will I get the same as those who worked half what I did?
I remember my father told me that in communism there were two options as well, you either had to contribute how you were told or else you were a parasite and put to jail. Seemed fair to many.
In 1920s Russia they mostly genocided them - this is not considered fair these days.
I guess the reason it seemed fair to many is that there is truth to the simplistic formulation of your feelings.
The best definition of evil I've ever heard was - "all evil is perverted good, and it is that aspect of the good which it retains that makes it attractive to many people"
Anyway, writing this as someone "without a dog in the race" what about your dogs in the race - you mentioned you were looking at properties right now?
> What if the money you buy the properties with is a result of your contributions?
This isn't math. Prior "good" contributions to society don't even out "bad" contributions, no matter how we define them. To put an extreme example, you're not allowed to steal from anyone no matter how many people you helped recover their money from scams.
> What is the optimal path to reap rewards of my contributions?
It's very easy: do not speculate with human rights. When you buy a house for "investment", you are adding demand to the market, pushing prices up. Housing is inelastic, specially in the short term, so you're probably driving someone that needed a place to live out of the market, just for what? To sell it later for a higher price, driving prices further up? To rent it to people that need a place to leave, making it so that they lose wealth to you instead of owning it?
There's no need to delve into deep philosophical discussions of what is right and wrong, what is fair and isn't, and what did the communists do. The discussion is simple: don't speculate with housing.
You're manipulative with words ... "bad" contributions is something that's not a part of this discussion and buying a property to rent is not a bad contribution only for people with contradicting also selfish interests (I want to buy myself a house cheaply) ... maybe that's why you see "no need in going into deep philosophical discussions". Human rights is a nice buzzword used very loosely and it tends to mean whatever the user considers useful to themself at that moment, I recommend reading some fundamental bills and know what's in it.
> "bad" contributions is something that's not a part of this discussion
It is, the GP said that renting is a leech and you said "but what if I buy the house with money from my contributions". If doing something is bad (however you define bad) for society, it is bad no matter how many good things you did before.
> buying a property to rent is not a bad contribution
A lot of people have already explained how it can be a bad contribution. People need houses to live, and that's not optional. By buying a house to rent you're taking it out of the market, maybe from a family that wanted it to live in it. That family might need to move to a different, cheaper place (possibly offsetting the housing discount with extra expenses in commuting and transport) or might need to rent and pay money to you instead of investing it in their house. If enough people do the same thing they'll drive prices up in an area, and because they need to recover the investment they'll also put high rent prices, because people need housing and will end up paying increasing rent prices when there's no other option.
> Human rights is a nice buzzword used very loosely and it tends to mean whatever the user considers useful to themself at that moment, I recommend reading some fundamental bills and know what's in it.
I'll just leave you with Article 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights [1]: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.
It must be this then that leaks some questions in my thoughts.
What if the money you buy the properties with is a result of your contributions?
Is there a decent and accessible way to have funds to buy such properties while not having to contribute first?
Let's say I've spent 20 years working 12 hours a day contributing about 4x the average productivity - would it be ok to buy properties and continue not contributing or should I be forced to continue contributing?
What is the optimal path to reap rewards of my contributions? Having taxpayers pay that money to me in a form of retirement is one way, but what if I paid 10x more taxes as a result of my contributions should 10 other people pool their taxes to pay my retiremenet to make it fair? Or will I get the same as those who worked half what I did?
I remember my father told me that in communism there were two options as well, you either had to contribute how you were told or else you were a parasite and put to jail. Seemed fair to many.
In 1920s Russia they mostly genocided them - this is not considered fair these days.
I guess the reason it seemed fair to many is that there is truth to the simplistic formulation of your feelings.
The best definition of evil I've ever heard was - "all evil is perverted good, and it is that aspect of the good which it retains that makes it attractive to many people"
Anyway, writing this as someone "without a dog in the race" what about your dogs in the race - you mentioned you were looking at properties right now?