I was listening to a LSE podcast about the residential crisis:
... The need for a home is universal. But today, housing is dominated by economic and political logics that conflict with the ideal of housing for all. When residential space becomes a speculative investment or a tool for political repression, it raises fundamental questions about what, and whom, housing is for... I argue that we all see ourselves as deserving an inhabitant of housing. But these commitments and claims are often conflicted with the current political economic model... In short, housing is clearly one of the reasons why so many of us are so angry. And it is a clear indicator that the current way of organising economics and states only works for a small, privileged few... In the face of today's residential crisis, one of the most radical questions we can ask is a very simple one: what will the housing system look like if it is actually designed to meet the universal need for a home?
-- David Madden, " What is housing for?" [Audio] Public Lectures & Events of London School of Economics
This podcast reminds me of what my ex-boss used to tell his staff. He said:
"You don't need to worry. You might not have anything (house/car/money) now, but you will have them one day. So just focus on learning hard and working even harder. "
Time and again recalling his past experiences, he kept repeating that when he just started his career, he never thought that one day he would be able to afford a house in this first-tier Chinese city, and maintain a high life standard for his whole family here. But now he made it, and thus there is always hope. He was trying to encourage his people to work harder and don't be knocked down by the problems of reality.
To me, however, there has never seemed to be a problem here. Because I don't even have a chance to make it become a problem to myself. That kind of life, owning a flat and maintaining a good life in this first-tier city, is like a parallel universe which exists but I might never have a chance to come across to.
Am I a skeptic for feeling that it is not up to our own efforts to make our better life come true? Is David Madden just another sore loser for blaming faults in the system for blocking the chances for many people to access housing, healthcare etc.?
The housing system in China, for example, seems to run smoothly in a immoral circle. Every year we see that real estate prices have been pushed by inverstors to new peaks -again-, then we shrug our shoulders, and note that the prices still keep going up. This hurts many people, especially those of young working age, with real need for a home but without family support.
Things don't feel right here for us, but they sure seem to be working damn well for others. Are we entering an age where if you are not rich at the very first day of your life, you lose the chance for good to be rich or at least to get a little richer?
关于房子。关于财富。
昨天在podcast上听了一个LSE的一个公众演讲。英国学术派有一大片学者非常关注社会平等和人类基本权益问题。David学者在podcast的presentation中批判capitalism带来的住房不平等问题，他的意思大致是，目前这种不平等的冰山一角现象，问题其实根植于整个社会政治与经济系统的设计，他认为，“这个住房不平等现象是一个很明确的指标，代表着整个社会政经系统是为少数独享特权的群体而设计的”， 并提出思考点 -- “如果按照实际的住房需求、按照平等地为所有人提供一个家的理念来设计住房配置系统，这个系统又会长什么样子呢”？
听的时候，我脑海里突然想起曾经的上司经常反复提到的几句话。他强调的意思大概是，你们这些年轻的（= 无房无车无财富积累的一族），不要慌张和着急，该有的总会有的，目前要抓紧机会锻炼自己... 他会常提起自己的经验，说当时事业开始起步的时候，觉得有房有车的日子盼不到个头，想都没想到今天自己可以有“有房有车有存款能养小孩还能让自己享受”的这种生活......Bla bla bla..
我今年快30了；未婚，也不打算委曲求全地结婚；因为不适合传统工作方式而辞职，努力寻找自己兴趣所在的职业，梦想着创造自己的事业，但是一分多余的钱也没有，也没有问父母要钱，因为不觉得这样是理所当然。
我不时地会想起那段 “不要慌张不要着急”的话。我并没有那种 “听到过来人也是这样过来的，我干了这碗鸡汤、获得安慰并能够加把劲” 的感觉。而且，我也没有因为财富资本问题而慌张着急的心境。反而，我有一种skeptic的心态。
似乎我更buy的一个说法就是，这些关于财富上的挣扎，腹黑一点来看，其实根本无关于个人努力和奋斗，而是你的生死已经被钉在起跑线上、被决定于自身控制之外的环境（如家庭条件、社会结构等）。
我和朋友闲聊起这个话题，他的感觉是，这些财富不均等的问题一直都有，全世界都存在。房地产这方面就是典型的代表，英国是臭名昭著的了，但是现在中国的情况似乎变本加厉，整个现象就好像一个运作良好的怪圈 -- 你要变得富有才有机会变得富有和更富有...如果你一开始就没有几个钱，银行根本不会贷款给你让你有机会投资变得富有。
简直不能再capitalism了。
有很多朋友早已是百万富翁，虽然我们坐在同一个办公室，虽然我们年龄经历相似。让他们能走的更远的，是家庭财富的支持，比如说家里有钱给他们买房投资、或者家里早已买好几套房子并转售赚了挺多的那种...比比皆是。家庭支持在这里似乎是成功的一种理所当然且必不可少的要素。
我也已经听过太多的反面的声音，嘟囔着 “一辈子能买得起一间在高大上城市房间里的厕所就可以偷笑了” 之类的话 。
但是关于财富资本，那种 “有房有车有存款能养小孩还能让自己享受” 的生活，对目前的我而言，并不是能不能达到的问题，而是这里根本没有我能考虑的问题，这个现象似乎是存在于另一个平行宇宙，发生着但是不会和我有交集。
我很认真地开了一个玩笑：我现在的心态就是，我并没有慌张和着急，因为那种富裕的生活对我来说根本不存在；我挺骄傲自己能够和舍友share一个小小的flat，住在一个挺cozy的房间，虽然“月光” 但是能够养活自己并能取悦自己 -- “至少我暂时无训街啊嘛"。
真是一种复杂的感觉。不知道自己真的过上 “有房有车有存款能养小孩还能让自己享受” 的那种生活时，我会不会同样地语重心长感慨地对那些年轻的下属说 “ 不要慌张不要着急该有的总会有的” 这番话呢？然后自己回想起自己过去（现在）写的这些感受，会不会有一种当时的自己“很傻很天真”的感觉呢？
刚好看了一段关于中国青年与房产关系的VICE纪录片，是关于北上广的故事。看完之后整个人有漂浮在北京雾霾中的感觉。我是真的开始感到迷茫了么？那么，我是应该开始cheer up了吗？因为比起什么都感觉不到的那个stage，开始感觉到心酸的这个stage是否代表着我离富裕更近一步了呢？
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