in Esperanto
Chapter 5: SKETCH OF COMMUNIST SOCIETY -- WELFARE
5. Environmental welfare housing will be realized.
5.1. Release from rent or loan
In capitalist society, housing is not recognized as a welfare issue, and has been treated exclusively as an issue of ownership, or even status.
As a result, the housing problem is the most blatant class disparity between the haves = homeowners/landlords, and the have-nots = tenants/homeless. In this housing class structure, not only do the have-nots struggle to pay rent, but the haves often struggle to pay their mortgages. Both the haves and the have-nots are groaning as they are placed in the passive position of debtors over the fundamental part of human existence, which is "living."
In particular, the status of tenants is subordinate. The tenants' survival is controlled by the landlord, and their social position is weak, so they cannot acquire a dominant position in the local community. Therefore, the increase in rental housing has led to the weakening and dissolution of such local communities themselves.
On that point, as already mentioned in Chapter 2, in a communist society where the monetary economy is abolished, there is no room for the system of rental housing that pays rent with money. This will free millions of people around the world from the precarious status of renters. This, too, could be called a great social revolution.
At the same time, the abolition of the monetary economy will also put an end to bad systems such as mortgages. Isn't this another piece of good news?
5.2. Enhancement of public housing supply
So what is communist housing policy? First, the commune, which is the base of administration related to daily life, will become the main body for the supply of public housing.
Under capitalism, public housing is mainly low-rent rental housing for low-income earners, but communist public housing is more for the general public, with no particular restrictions on occupancy conditions and unlimited occupancy periods. Inheritance is also permitted in principle. In addition to such ordinary housing, the supply of housing with care for the elderly and housing with support for the disabled, as seen in the previous section, will also be promoted.
In the case of large-scale extended communes, it may be worth considering entrusting the day-to-day management and operation of these public housing to a section, which is the smallest autonomous unit, for decentralized operation.
As we saw in Chapter 2, individual home ownership is permitted even in a communist society. However, in a communist society, owner-occupied houses will no longer be supplied as off-the-shelf products by housing developers, but will change to a custom-made system in which each individual asks a professional architect to design. (Of course, you can also build your own house). House construction will also be handled by carpenter craftsmen's unions, and we will surely see the revival of the traditional world of craftsmen.
5.3. Intersection of environment and welfare
By the way, the housing issue is also a field where the environment and welfare intersect. In that sense, the ideal housing is a combination of design that considers environmental sustainability (including the surrounding environment of the housing) and universal design that makes it easy for the elderly and people with disabilities to live. It can be called "environmental welfare housing".
In capitalist housing, where efficiency and high functionality tend to be prioritized, this kind of thing would remain a slogan and would not be easily realized. Communism highly promotes the construction of such environmental welfare housing.
For example, for public housing, standard universal design is applied without exception, regardless of the condition of the residents. This is also a physical condition for the deinstitutionalization of dismantling nursing homes and facilities for the disabled. At the same time, the supply of energy-saving housing, especially the energy-saving renovation of existing public housing will be implemented as a major project, and the green parks surrounding the housing will also be promoted.
In addition, the rise of high-rise housing, which is often regarded as a symbol of capitalist modernization, tends to harm the cultural environment of the historical landscape. Therefore, the communist housing policy would aim for medium- and low-rise buildings as much as possible in the case of new construction.
In order to make this possible, the newly required housing land will be covered by residential land development that reuses former commercial land that has been transferred to the management of the Land Management Agency and idle land that was owned by a former capital company.
In this way, communism can easily realize environmental welfare housing projects that require huge financial resources under capitalism, but it can be said that this is also a feat unique to "welfare without financial resources".
