It’s no secret that America is an increasingly polarized nation. It stands to follow that our places of residence would also be divided. But instead of a donkey and an elephant, the new emblems of each party might as well be an unowned apartment in a big city and a home in the suburbs. Just consider what Aziz Sunderji has stumbled onto.
For nearly three years, Sunderji has been writing Home Economics, a Substack that has morphed from a graphic meditation on personal finance issues to a specific housing focus. With almost 14 years as a Barclays analyst under his belt, along with a stint as a graphics reporter at the Wall Street Journal, Sunderji dives deep into data, and has become increasingly housing-oriented. For instance, he was published in the Financial Times in January 2023 with a stark warning: “Spare a thought for the American first-time homebuyer, for whom things have rarely looked so grim.” But grimness has shades.
As Sunderji recently explained in a post called “The politics of housing: owner/renter polarization,” he’s surprised by what he’s found after intensive analysis. “I had not imagined how much of a stark divide there is between renters and owners,” he told Fortune in an interview.
Sunderji’s analysis dove into data from the American National Election Studies (which surveys thousands of households) and found homeowners are twice as likely to identify themselves as strongly Republican than renters—and renters far more often identify themselves as strongly Democrat. And the gap between homeowners who identify as strongly Republican compared to renters amounts to roughly 14%, his recent analysis showed. In the dataset, there was a seven-point scale in which voters were asked to gauge their political affiliation, and “the most common response from renters is that they are strong Democrats and from homeowners, that they’re strong Republicans,” he told Fortune.
Homeowner here: would just like to say that I wouldn’t identify as a Republican even with a gun to my head.
That being said, I live in a liberal city where there are rich Republicans that love being assholes but enjoy the benefits of our liberal policies.
Like the Ohio car dealer who is throwing his gay son under the fascist bus so he can be senator?
He was all for gay rights, then WHA-BAM! go ahead and kill my son guys. I just want to be senator SO BADLY!
Kind of makes me wonder what he’ll do to our government for more power.
You’re telling me that a car dealer might be unethical?
Same and I wouldn’t either.
I think this is just some more urban rural divide stuff. It’s a lot easier to be a homeowner in rural places, since cities have much more expensive real estate and renting is more common. So rural people are more likely to be republicans and urban people are more likely not to be.
I think this is just some more urban rural divide stuff.
I’m guessing that “homeowner vs. renter” is actually serving as shortcut for some other demographic differences. (To be fair, the author mentions that in the last paragraph, and says that his next posts will dig deeper into that.)
Like you said, it’s easier to afford a home in rural areas. So, a homeowner is more likely rural.
Also, owning a home was much easier 20 years ago. So, a homeowner is more likely older as well.
I think this follows in most nations that the less you have the more likely you are to lean towards the left side of you nations political spectrum. And the more you have the more likely you lean towards the right side. Home ownership is one part of that, a fairly big part given the state of home pricing these days.
Really it’s always been about the class struggle, of the have nots vs the haves, rich vs poor, bourgeois vs proletariat, whatever you want to call it. The US has just done a “better” job of muddying the waters and suffocating organized class warfare.
Mainly by instilling that you’re not really poor because you’re within reach of being a millionaire. The American dream. (Which you need to be asleep to believe in as Carlin put it.).
Though I’m not really holding my breath on people actually waking up to this reality and actually doing something about it. The Circus seems to suffice in the US, and any struggle and violence is directed between marginalized groups. People in declining rural areas “fighting” people from the worst parts of the cities. Middle class suburbians opposing the choices of other middle class suburbians that just want freedom of expression but that somehow limits the first group in ways they can’t even articulate when asked. It’s madness.
Makes sense. Why would people with less money ever support Republicans?
Because feeling morally superior to others is more important than a proper safety net that would benefit all.
Stupidity. Brainwashing. Racism. Stupidity. Being told that would mean less taxes and more guns. Stupidity. Tradition. Peer pressure. Stupidity. Lulz. Imagining they’ll have friends in high places.
Or just stupidity. And these days also fantasies of living in a fascist dictatorship.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
For nearly three years, Sunderji has been writing Home Economics, a Substack that has morphed from a graphic meditation on personal finance issues to a specific housing focus.
With almost 14 years as a Barclays analyst under his belt, along with a stint as a graphics reporter at the Wall Street Journal, Sunderji dives deep into data, and has become increasingly housing-oriented.
For instance, he was published in the Financial Times in January 2023 with a stark warning: “Spare a thought for the American first-time homebuyer, for whom things have rarely looked so grim.” But grimness has shades.
Their research shows that wage differences affect home purchasing power and suggests that moving to higher-income areas can effectively be a wash because subsequent housing prices are so high.
The generation reports that they are struggling to make ends meet and build enough wealth to even enter the thorny housing market, while living with more roommates because even renting has gotten too costly.
And in an election year, with two presidential candidates who tend to further exacerbate an existing divide, a haves and have-nots housing market doesn’t help.
The original article contains 1,107 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
