Kos Samaras@KosSamaras
Why they blame migrants for the housing crisis. Here is a hint, it’s ALL about politics.
3 underlying reasons and 1 main reason.
Underlying reasons - without these, the main reason does not work.
1. It’s far easier to believe: My suburb is expensive because of migrants than to unpack 30 years of planning laws, tax policies, and treating homes like an art collection. Blaming migrants is the cognitively “cheap” option. It transforms a complex crisis into a single, human-shaped culprit.
2. Humans evolved with a zero-sum mentality, if someone else gets food, shelter, or status, then I lose. Modern economies don’t work that way, but our brains still do. Migrants become the imagined “takers” of jobs, rentals, homes and government services.
3. When housing becomes unaffordable, the real causes, structural tax inequality, policy failure, decades of underinvestment, are abstract and faceless. Migrants, however, are tangible. Blaming them provides an illusion of control: if only “they” weren’t here, my life would improve. It’s a shortcut for anxiety management.
Main reason
The above psychology is stoked deliberately. Political actors understand that resentment is combustible fuel. They channel it toward migrants because it spares the class of person, who has benefited from a housing market, akin to a prized art collection, from scrutiny. Every angry headline that points downwards (“foreigners pricing you out”) is one that distracts from pointing upwards.
Blame the migrant, whilst still enjoying another season of The Block.
That’s what tomorrow’s march is all about.
