me: <takes enormous personal risk to buy apartments from slumlord, fixes life safety issues, removes bugs, turns on heat, makes nice again>
them: cool, but are you raising rent?
me: well, yea, it was $400/mo b/c there were velociraptor sized roaches and the heat didn’t work over there so we needed to invest millions to fix it
them: so you’re a blood-sucking slumlord
me: no, we took property where residents were miserable and made it nice again
them: well you should do that out of the kindness of your heart and not raise rent
me: should the pest control people work for free?
them: that’s different
me: should the HVAC guy work for free?
them: that’s different
me: do you work for free?
them: that’s different
me: why should I work for free?
them: housing is a human right and you’re rich
me: how can I be rich if I don’t get paid to work?
them: <blank stare>
me: do you see the contradiction here?
them: um, no
me: okay…do you expect a farmer to grow food and give it away for free? Is he a greedy farmer?
them: of course not
me: do you expect a doctor to treat you for free? is she a greedy doctor?
them: of course not
me: do you expect someone to wash your car for free? is he a greedy car washer?
them: obviously not
me: okay so do you see what I’m saying?
them: <blank stare> not really
me: