r/Glasgow Tools

The Boots example is odd. Personal hygiene is extraneous to the argument, but perhaps your employee manual requires you to be presentable because you are a forward facing employee. But let's be real: your labor does not depend on razors from Boots.

I am not arguing with the fact you provide a service. You don't just seem to understand the economic concepts of rent and services versus a limited essential resource.

I'll provide an real world example of rent-seeking for a non-essential resource. I work in manufacturing. We make a special kit for the oil and gas industry. We make, rent, and maintain that kit. We do not sell it EVER. We are the only people who make this patented kit. If oil and gas companies don't rent that kit, they could lose money because production goes down or they have to spend money elsewhere to ensure continued production. They don't own our kit, but renting our kit adds value to their labor towards oil production. Oil companies can continue to function without paying rent to us. Owners of wells in particular geological formations will save money if they use our kit but they don't need us to make a profit. We add value, but always charge rent for our kit without ever actually selling a product. We offer a monopolistic service, but do not constrain business because we are not essential to the continued function of the oil industry.

Ok, so we have an example of paying rent for a service to add value to labor. What you don't seem to get is that housing is a basic necessity and is a limited resource. Oil companies, or men who grow heavy beards, don't need to pay for patented kit or razors. EVERYONE needs housing.

Your "service" is only possible because you have capital and can buy a property that others cannot. Private landlords are not public servants but profiteers. You do not "reduce the need for someone to invest their own capital." You limit the ability of the public to invest their capital by reducing the availability of a limited resource.