Lawrence Samuels, LPMC Chair:
The Libertarian Party of Monterey County (LPMC) recently established the Committee Against Fascist Rent Control (CAFRC) to fight all forms of governmental control over rental properties.
The reason we inserted the word “Fascist” into the committee’s name is to make known the historical and economic background of authoritarian ideologies that demand government control over private property. Government control of rentals and private property is not only a tenet of collectivists and Marxists but is also rooted as an economic component of German National Socialism. Not only did Adolf Hitler impose harsh wage and price controls on Germany in 1933, but he also established “nationwide rent control in Germany,” along with local boards to punish disobeying landlords. Rent control was one of the Nazi’s major “social justice” policies to enlarge their massive welfare-socialist state.
There have been efforts in Monterey County to establish rent control registries to help them administer Californian’s rent control laws. Some cities have started rental registries, specifically Seaside (commercial property) and Salinas, in order to spy on property owners who have rental units. Most of these boards and registries are minor annoyances with little funding, but that could change. There was a proposal for a rental registry in the city of Monterey. The estimated cost to be paid by landlords to operate the rental bureaucracy was pegged at $400,000 annually. And yet, this new city revenue stream would have neither protected the consumer nor provided for affordable rent. It was just to keep a close eye on landlords, which is very reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s rental control programs. Fortunately, the Monterey City Council members voted against this authoritarian proposal in early 2022, to the horror of several vocal pro-rent control groups.
Any competent economist knows that such citywide regulatory agencies will simply place heavier costs and paperwork on both renters and landlords alike. One economist, Professor Graham Hallett, revealed in his book, The Social Economy of West Germany, the results of Hitler’s rent control policies. He asserted that state-controlled rent only exacerbated the problems for German renters since “very few houses were built” during the 12-year Nazi era.
Our committee was established to repeal all rent control laws in California. Government should never control or take ownership of private property. We need to stop such “social justice” regressivism, socialism, and Fascism.
Contact Lawrence Samuels at lawsamz@gmail.com Bio: L.K. Samuels is the author of Killing History: The False Left-Right Political Spectrum (2019)