While 15 Million Homes Sit Empty Half A Million People Live without a Roof

Three bedrooms, two kids, reliable healthcare, and a comfy retirement is an unattainable fairytale for the communist generation. In December 2023, Investopedia estimated that the “American Dream” now costs $3.4 million. Put another way, keeping up with the Joneses costs a whopping $130K per year, according to USA Today. The three biggest expenses in Investopedia’s top 10? Health insurance ($934K), home mortgage ($796K), and retirement ($715K). These three items alone—before the kids, the cars, and the cats—make up 70% of the cost!

By comparison, the median US worker’s lifetime earnings, according to a 2023 study by Georgetown University, is a mere $1.7 million. And although those with a college education may earn slightly more, they are often saddled with decades of debt. 73 million US workers (55%) have at most an Associate’s degree or a high school diploma, which means most Americans will never earn $2 million dollars in their lifetime. Many of our readers may be among the one in four college-educated workers earning less than $30,000 per year.

Housing, in particular, is a massive burden. The median price-tag for a home was $412,000 in September 2023, according to Red Fin, while Forbes reported that a 30-year fixed-rate monthly payment shot up by $600, from $1,400 to $2,045. Compare this to Statista’s findings on weekly median income by education and sex in Q4 2023, and what percentage of their monthly budget would go towards such a mortgage.

Of these, only the single, college-educated man might “reasonably” keep his budget in order, paying no more than 30%. A “helpful” financial advisor might suggest that if all these working-class folks simply got married, they could afford a home—never mind that 41% of working-class Americans have gone through a divorce, often precipitated by financial stresses. In capitalism’s epoch of senile decay, one breadwinner isn’t enough for a working-class family to own a home, and in many cases, two isn’t enough either.

Furthermore, Harvard University found that a record 52% of America’s 44 million renters pay more than the advised 30% of their income on rent. Such a burden leaves very little for emergencies or a future down payment on a home, let alone retirement. This represents 13% of the US working class.

This includes teachers, who in 15 major American cities cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment; Black, Native, Asian, and Latina single mothers, who by a majority spend more than 50% of their income on shelter; and unionized hospitality workers, fighting back against eye-watering rents in cities like Los Angeles.

The capitalist Democrats have no serious solutions to this problem. Take Arizona: in 2023, a record 14,237 people slept rough on a single January night. Phoenix spent $20 million to clear “the Zone”, the city’s largest homeless encampment, and spent $13 million to provide transitional housing to just 300 people. This year, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs offered another tiny spoonful of relief—a measly $13 million to assist 500 first-time homeowners.

What, then, is the communist solution to housing? Over 653,000 people experienced homelessness in the US last year, and yet there are more empty homes than homeless people. The Revolutionary Communists of America will expropriate all empty and foreclosed homes, cap rent at 10% of a worker’s income, and build millions of new units to ensure everyone has quality housing. This is the richest nation on earth, and after we sweep aside the landlords and the financial parasites, homelessness will become a thing of the past.