Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think you'll find that you are in the minority. Look at laws for felony theft. I think the laws for felony theft as compared to the laws for murder and rape are pretty solid evidence that rape and murder are considered more serious crimes than theft. And that's setting aside that there are plenty of theft laws that are even less serious than felony theft. In cases where people are stealing to meet their basic nee…
> What's your argument for landlordism not being theft? Shouldn't those people get a job too? Or is theft only a crime when poor people do it? It is very simple. Theft is when you take something from someone without voluntary agreement. renters and landlords enter voluntary agreement. If a landlord has a job or not seems irrelevant. They didn't steal anything from anyone. Everything they have, they obtained through m…
Wrong. The vast majority of people don't voluntarily agree to rent, they are coerced. "Pay rent or be homeless" is pretty powerful coercion.
> How do you think landlordism could be considered theft? Is it just because people need/want shelter that they have?
Stop this "need/want" nonsense. I think we can agree that homes are firmly a human need. People being mad that landlords are driving up housing prices for personal gain isn't just whining that people aren't getting what they want. People need homes.
It's theft because people who already have a lot of money, are buying up things that people need, so they can hold them for ransom. Owning things so that others can't own them isn't a benefit to society, and landlords do not provide services (before you trot out the maintenance argument--compare the prices of a handyman to rent). They're just leaches.
> Is a farmer who grows food a thief because people need food to live?
A farmer grows food, like a builder builds houses.
The landlord equivalent for food would be if someone decided to buy up all the world's food and jack up the price, letting people starve to death despite an excess of food rather than compromising their profit model. And that would be murder, not theft.
> Is a doctor a thief because you die without surgery?
Surgery, unlike a food or house, is a service, not a product.
Unlike a landlord, doctors performing surgery is actually doing work. And while the prices of medical care are high in the US to the point that people are dying rather than seeking preventive care, that's largely a function of rent-seeking healthcare companies, not doctors. And that's pretty equivalent to murder, too.
Hospitals are in fact required to provide surgery if failure to do so would result in the death of the patient.
> Is a mechanic a thief because your car needs repair?
Is a car a human need? In some places, maybe, but that's a problem of a society that doesn't provide other forms of transport.
Really, though, I'm less interested in defining landlordism=theft. We shouldn't need to prove it fits your arbitrary definition of theft to say it's wrong: if you don't get that causing homelessness for personal gain is wrong, your moral compass is pretty fundamentally broken.