It's understandable that residential property ownership is not for the weak or the squeamish, but portraying landlords as some heartless monsters is not professional (and simply not right).
It is a hard business to be in, no argument. And as long as you are certain that you are running a business and not a charity (different values, income sources, taxes, meetings, relationships etc etc), these "difficult" decisions come quite easily, to be honest. There are people depending on you, yourself (largely undervalued statement), your family, your employees, your employees' families, your contractors, your suppliers. There are a lot of nuances in this business.
It IS hard. There is no such a thing as "easy business". There will be tough moments and difficult decisions, and if you are not ready for that, quite shortly you'll be reporting an apology to your CUSTOMERS live on youtube, holding back tears, just like we saw earlier in one of the posts with the article from Bloomberg.
I have a good friend from China, age 67, who has been here since 1982. Her father was doctor to Deng Xiaoping from when they were hiding in the mountains during the revolution. She had a somewhat privileged upbringing, and part of that was a girl's group of "Red Guard" students. On a regular basis, they would go out at night, find a nice house, break in, and drag the occupants out into the street for "re-education". She is still haunted by memories of her group dragging a single old woman into the street and berating her. That old woman subsequently died.
Many states in the American South are very tenant-unfriendly, housing is rented "as-is, where-is" and the only remedy available to the tenant when a landlord does not live up to the requirements in the contract is to move out with 14 days notice. This invites abuse, especially if the judge is "business-friendly", too, and if it's a small town where all the landowners know each other.
It's easy to imagine that the abuses in China were even greater, and it's easy to see why many people wouldn't mind their landowner hanging from a streetlight. You could even argue it was justified.
Great educational note! My comment, generally, was for the civilized west. And as far as China goes, you are so right! And there ARE modern day landlords in China and, thankfully, here, we have contractors, subsidiaries, layers, international commitments, contracts, a SYSTEM that makes sure everyone within the chain gets their share ^_^
For others who might be interested: the movie is very good, but "tragedy" doesn't even begin to describe it.
In the steamed buns scene, the protagonist's daughter is giving birth. There are complications, and she requires a doctor, but there are no doctors available because they're all rotting in prison for being educated. The daughter's husband, a Red Guard, is able to have a doctor pulled out of jail to help with the birth. He arrives, but, since humane treatment of class enemies is not a priority, he hasn't eaten in days. The protagonist, appalled, goes out to buy buns for the doctor. He returns with a big bag of buns, and the doctor immediately devours them all, then goes more or less insensate. The daughter dies.
It is a hard business to be in, no argument. And as long as you are certain that you are running a business and not a charity (different values, income sources, taxes, meetings, relationships etc etc), these "difficult" decisions come quite easily, to be honest. There are people depending on you, yourself (largely undervalued statement), your family, your employees, your employees' families, your contractors, your suppliers. There are a lot of nuances in this business.
It IS hard. There is no such a thing as "easy business". There will be tough moments and difficult decisions, and if you are not ready for that, quite shortly you'll be reporting an apology to your CUSTOMERS live on youtube, holding back tears, just like we saw earlier in one of the posts with the article from Bloomberg.