Peter Kropotkin, what do you say about the high cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area?
I believe housing is a Human Right—Not a Commodity. Shelter is as fundamental as food and water. I believe all the necessities of life should never be bought and sold, because doing so produces exploitation, and artificial poverty. In any humane society every human being has the right to a dwelling.
In today’s Bay Area, The crisis exists not because homes cannot be built—there are plenty of materials, skills, and land. It exists because housing has been transformed into an investment vehicle, a financial asset traded like a stock. Making housing a profit-generating commodity produces the conditions we see: sky-high rents, evictions, speculation, empty units, and displacement.
Speculation Is the Root of the Crisis, it is one of the main forces producing inequality. In the Bay Area homes sit empty while people sleep under freeways. International investors buy condos they never visit. Tech wealth inflates property values far beyond any connection to real costs. This is hoarding—it’s a symptom of an economic system that treats human needs as secondary to profit. I believe no one has the right to monopolize land or housing for personal gain.
I favor communal possession of land—not government ownership, but local, democratic control at the neighborhood level. In the Bay Area, I advocate for: Community Land Trusts where Residents collectively own the land so rents are permanently low and housing is affordable forever. I also encourage co-operative housing where tenants manage the property and costs together, removing landlords entirely.
I believe empty units and abandoned buildings should be reclaimed for public use. I am in favor of Self-organized building collectives, sweat-equity models, and community renovation of unused buildings. I believe communities should directly decide what gets built, who it serves, and how it is maintained without landlords, investors, or developers steering the process.
To summarize: Housing Should Be Free. I do not want rent control, subsidies, or incremental reforms. I believe people should not pay for basic needs at all. Housing should not carry rent or mortgage payments. In a just society, people would simply take up residence in a home without fear of eviction, because shelter is a shared resource—not a commodity.
The Bay Area has the wealth, materials, skills, and land to house everyone comfortably. It is only the profit system that stands in the way. I demand a complete transition to cooperative, community-run, and universally accessible homes.