They are providing capital for others to use and contribute to society. Plus I'm sure doing all that stuff they will have a chance to teach someone else or provide feedback online.
https://www.prosper.org.au/geoists-in-history/adam-smith-on-...
“Ground rents are a species of revenue which the owner, in many cases, enjoys without any care or attention of his own. Ground rents are, therefore, perhaps a species of revenue which best bear to have a particular tax imposed upon them.”
“As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed and demand a rent even for its natural produce.”
---
my reply to the above as hacker news censors all rentier debate with their fake "you're submitting too fast", which they only do for anti landlord comments:
Wrong. The majority of the rent is ground rent. Try renting a facsimile of an apartment in the middle of nowhere and in a city. Did he create the value? No.
For what it’s worth, I took abandoned or ruined houses in desirable areas, bought them cheap, and spent my own (and my wife’s) time and labour renovating and furnishing them. I created housing stock from mouldy rubble.
Also, please note, I did not invent capitalism. I would much rather everybody could live like this.
"Stop restricting the housing supply, and don't prop up house prices by buying mortgage bonds" I shout to noone in particular.
We should increase supply. Oh, and wealth tax for rising inequality too.