I'm sorry to hear that you have had bad experiences with landlords. I have had some really good ones, and some mediocre ones.

Both groups helped me have a place to sleep when I saved to purchase a house, so to that extent, they upheld their part of the bargain.

I would rather work with them than live in a charity shelter or rent from the government.

I’d rather that housing didn’t cost a death pledge for 30 years of labor — like say every other time in human history pre-1980s.

I get that they provide you a house, me too, however if they didn’t exist housing wouldn't be a problem. It’s the best of a bad situation. At best a landlord that treats you well is the abnormality — they are still scum who deprives everyone else from ever owning a place.

I'll admit, it is an interesting thought experiment to explore what a society would look like with a 100% moratorium on rentals. It seems like you would have to do away with down payments or there would be widespread homelessness. I imagine mortgage rates would be through the roof, as new occupants wouldn't have equity in the house to protect.

Owner occupation rates are about the same since the 1960s, and worse before. I wonder if there are examples that approach this ideal. Perhaps family homesteads during the US westward expansion, but even then there was a lot of landless workers.