The following is just an opinion:
In this recent Business Insider article, millennial real estate agent David Ravitz presented his case against long-term homeownership. It’s crucial, though, to critically examine the underlying messages and implications of this piece. In what may seem like an innocuous lifestyle feature on the surface, Business Insider has, perhaps unwittingly, amplified the voice of the wealthy, casting a shadow over the economic realities faced by the average American.
Ravitz’s story is not your usual rags-to-riches tale. The Boca Raton-based agent is advocating for a model where one simply purchases a $960,000 home, renovates it for an additional $500,000, and then flips it on the market for an exorbitant profit. Although it may seem like a savvy investment strategy, it’s not one that an average American can afford to take up. It is an insight into the mindset of a certain privileged class and how it perceives the path to wealth.
By giving this narrative a platform, Business Insider seems to be operating less as a news outlet and more as a propaganda mouthpiece for the well-off. It is a reflection of the widening income gap, a glaring issue that many in positions of power and influence continue to overlook. It also hints at a disturbing trend of media outlets perpetuating the narratives of the rich and powerful while underrepresenting the struggles of those in less privileged circumstances.
In a climate where the fight for economic equity, equality, and justice is more urgent than ever, this article seems tone-deaf. Instead of providing a balanced view of the housing market or economic realities, it presents a skewed picture where success is just a few home renovations away. However, the reality for many Americans is a struggle to keep a roof over their heads, let alone purchase a near-million-dollar property.
The key takeaway here is that articles such as this one do more than just highlight a unique approach to wealth accumulation. They showcase the thinking of a class of people who view financial success as a game in which the ability to participate is inherently unequal. For those of us seeking to challenge this status quo, understanding this mindset is crucial. It’s a clear illustration of the political and economic opponent we face in our quest for a more equitable and just society.
The portrayal of this exclusive path to wealth accumulation as the ‘new American dream’ is a stark reminder that the struggle for fairness and equality is not just about economics, but also about controlling the narrative. It’s important that media outlets remember their responsibility to represent all demographics and not just those who can afford $960,000 starter homes.
As an aside the kitchen seems a testament to the color white… Ah yes, the color white, the epitome of purity, innocence, and everything good in the world, right? So naturally, nothing quite says “I’ve reached peak good taste and cleanliness” like transforming your average, everyday kitchen into a blinding winter wonderland of the brightest, most painfully white marble you’ve ever laid eyes on. Because who doesn’t want to slice tomatoes on a countertop that looks like it was chiseled from a polar bear’s dreams? That sparkling surface, when hit by the gentlest ray of sunlight, won’t just light up the room - it’ll practically send SOS signals to space. Oh, the glory of dining in a place that’s so sterile, it makes you question whether it’s a kitchen or an operating room. Nothing quite like the veins of that frozen-marble look to remind you of a tranquil river… or was it the varicose veins on the legs of the Statue of David? But, hey, that’s art and purity for you. Truly, a testament to the eternal human quest for cleanliness, brightness, and subtly blinding your guests with your immaculate taste.
Have you ever tried to live, as in “cook, eat, clean after”, in a kitchen without a single white surface? With a countertop that’s some mottled beige-black-gray “so you can’t see the dirt” (literal quote), with beige and off-green cupboards where the only sign of accumulating grease and grime becomes noticeable after you scrub for a while and see the actual color should be a couple shades lighter? Where you can draw dick pics with a soap pen?
You know how to tell the difference between mottled beige being clean, vs. being a petri dish full of grease and years-old stuck food debris? NOBODY DOES.
Add to that only being allowed to use a year-old sponge with no unhealthy chemicals like soap or dish cleaner (“mind the pets!”), that’s more slimy than a billion bacteria having an orgy on the top of your hand, and you get the perfect “hey, it looks like the first day!” dumpster dive.
For all your criticism of “how the rich think”, dissing a white kitchen is precisely how the rich think: “just hire someone to clean it” is how they think. Who cares how long the house help has to work, just pay and get it done!
The wannabe rich who fall for that trap, who can’t afford hiring a housemaid or two, end up living in grime and filth for the rest of their lives (literally, I already personally know of several cases who died that way).
For anyone who can’t afford someone else to clean after them, areas like kitchens, bathrooms, and beds, where you eat or go naked into, should be modeled after hospitals and industrial facilities: all squeaky white and stainless steel to make cleaning as easy as possible. Have a flea infested pillow room for your pets, or a workshop full of paint chips and steel shrapnel, just keep them away from where you eat or sleep.
If you really can’t tell if you’ve adequately cleaned a surface unless it’s pristine white, I feel sorry for anyone who has to live with you.
Do you need me to post pictures?
It becomes orders of magnitude harder to tell a clean surface from one incrusted with food debris and grime, when they both look exactly the same. Finding the one spot still needing an extra scrub, becomes impossible, now you have to scrub the whole surface twice or thrice and just hope for the best.
White is either white, or not white, that random paw streak cowered in mud (or something worse) can be seen from a mile away. Even black and stainless steel are fine. Some cool “random color mix because white makes me feel like an hospital”, is not fine.
I’m the one who has to live with someone whose response to “the mattress has a pee stain” was to “just flip it over”… only to find out the other side already had two pee stains on it. Good thing I had put a pee resistant washable cover over it, hope you don’t feel sorry for them for me doing that without their knowledge 🙄
Sorry, I phrased that in an unnecessarily inflammatory way. You’re not wrong, plain surfaces are easier to clean, especially when you’re cleaning up after other people and pets. I hope the folks you live with appreciate what you do for them!
Well, done, you. The great “White Surface Flame War of 2023” was narrowly avoided … this time.
Apology accepted.
Unfortunately, the folks I live with… had been actively fighting me on this for years, actually decades (I know, should have bailed out a long time ago… we all make mistakes). One of them passed away a few months ago (there is a story, but I’ll leave it at that). The other, is right now in the hospital with an infection from two antibiotic resistant strains (as to how that might’ve happened… I have some suspicion that could be way worse than everything else, like creepypasta level worse).
If there is any takeaway from all of this: kids (of all ages), wash your hands with soap, particularly after going to the toilet or handling your pets or pet waste; there is a middle ground between germophobia and chemophobia; and don’t make it harder on yourself than it needs to be.