"I have lived all my life in Los Angeles, but I have never seen anything like the level of destruction we experienced this past January due to the fires that ripped through our neighborhoods. In real time, I saw the devastating impact of climate change. At the same time, landlords across the city were spiking rents because the wellbeing of their tenants was last on their list of considerations."
"It's the need to respond to this greed that's leading more and more tenants to join tenant unions and demand that public officials pass legislation that protects against price gouging and price fixing. Rent control is one key policy that can protect tenants, but ultimately we need solutions that put land and housing into social ownership. And the success of these efforts starts with all of us, collectively, as tens of millions of people"
Los Angeles faced unprecedented destruction from January fires that revealed the immediate effects of climate change. Landlords exploited the crisis by raising rents while tenant wellbeing was deprioritized. Crisis moments expose both solidarity and predatory, profit-seeking behavior under capitalist incentives. Tenant organizing has increased as people form unions and push for laws to prevent price gouging and price fixing. Rent control is identified as a protective policy, but long-term solutions require transferring land and housing into social ownership. Private equity and investors have repeatedly profited from disasters, creating a recurring pattern of vulture capitalism.
Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
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