1d ago

My Maoist grandfather just recommended that I become a landlord

Had a lovely WeChat conversation with my 96 year old revolutionary grandfather a couple days ago and at one point he hit me with the "You should buy property over there to rent out, it's very lucrative, and you should take the {老外|lǎo wài}'s money and spend it in China"

I actually had no idea how to respond to this financial advice. Like at face value, the housing market is a bubble and could collapse at any moment, and also I'm not sure how moral being a parasite would be even if you're leeching off of the benefactors of colonialism and western hegemony.

21 comments

Tell him that he's a Dengist

I’m surprised at how many replies in this thread seem to be struggling with treating this pretty basic human interaction with empathy. Your grandpa wants you to be financially secure and have a good life. He’s old and people of his generation - even his children’s generation - are very much attached to the idea of home ownership and a steady income as a foundation for a prosperous life. People who have lived through hardship tend to be pragmatic about these things. We can be understanding of them without subjecting them to moral scrutiny over what’s obviously well intentioned, paternal advice, even if that advice is contrary to what we consider our principles to be.

don't do it, he's testing your commitment to communism!
- Honestly, a Chinese revolutionary suggesting you become a landlord? It does feel like a trap
  
  I mean Deng Xiaoping was on the Long March and then reintroduced landlordism to China, but maybe that's just 40 years of bait?

Home ownership and the exploitation there of is literally the last way to get ahead in this fucked off country. He’s not wrong. You just get the wall.
- He has little empathy for the white working class, he considers them racist and reactionary with no class consciousness while benefiting and supporting empire.
  Which isn't entirely incorrect but still, leeching is still leeching.
  
  Grandfather is still correct. He wants you to be successful. And has accurately suggested the lowest rung, cheapest, most sure fire, way to gain actual capital in the capitalist country you live in.

Whats the Maoist version of
?

He became a Dengist

The Maoist uprising against the landlords was the most comprehensive proletarian revolution in history resulting in near totally equal distribution of land amongst the peasantry.

For some perspective, I’m kind of doing the reverse of this. I have a retirement account from a prior job with some money in it. I’ve plowed every dollar in there into Chinese SOEs (Americans actually can buy stocks in a few SOE via ADRs) and some other Chinese index funds. My thought is I can’t lose. If the state decides to appropriate my investments, that means President Xi has pushed the communism button and I am more that happy to offer my humble IRA for the greater good. If he doesn’t push the button then those stocks will surely go up just from this being the Chinese century and all.
If you buy a house in the US and the price drops massively, that probably means the US empire is collapsing which is a win for everyone. If not then you’ll make some money off us. Win-win.
(This is joke advice, just from an investment standpoint I don’t think buying a house in the US is a good idea right now).
- Should clarify, I live in Australia.

There are lots of ways in which it’s fairly difficult to survive under capitalism without being at least somewhat complicit in exploitation in an abstract way. Landlording, at least for residential property, feels like a conscious choice to be directly responsible for exploiting some of the most vulnerable people you’re likely to interact with in real life in one of the most impactful ways possible.

I just feel happy that your grandfather has lived so long and seen his country go from WW2 and famine to the zeroeth world.

maybe he's disappointed with you and just looking for excuses

I've seen too many Stalinist (Greek kke) peeps express similar ideas to be surprised by it.
- Big surprise the KKE fence-sitters encourage a little tiny morsel of land ownership (sarcasm)

Practically, a bunch of states passed laws forbidding Chinese citizens and companies from purchasing land, so it may be a bit of a hassle finding a place where you even could. On top of that, local companies that contract out rental management are somewhat notorious for violating tenant rights. Finally you have the timezone difference.
Sounds like more work than its worth.

He's gonna appropriate your stuff!

21 comments