I fully get the issues with landlords in terms of coasting off of other people's labor and in general being parasitic. My question is, the resistance I get when I say that someone shouldn't profit off of another person's need for housing is that they bring up grocery stores/ restaurants profiting off of a person's need for food. And I don't really know how to address or answer that. Just wondering if someone can close the loop for me!
When you buy from a restaurant, you're paying for the labour that goes into preparing and serving food. You pay money for goods and services.
When you pay a landlord rent, there is no good or service offered. The good - the housing - wasn't built by the landlord, it was built by builders. They're the ones who should be paid for it. The services - maintenance, heating, electricity - aren't provided by the landlord, they're provided by electrical companies, plumbers etc.
A landlord doesn't get paid for producing anything, they get paid for owning something. They provide nothing - not the housing or the furniture or anything else - that is all provided by various workers.