> One person being a landlord does nothing to prevent others from owning property.
In the sense that land ownership is zero sum, yes it does.
> Housing is no more a scarce resource than cars are.
That’s simply not true. In any given market, there’s a limited supply of housing, and it’s much more inelastic than the supply of cars.
> Or, at least, that would be true if the US weren’t covered in laws preventing new housing. There’s your actual bogeyman.
Who do you think is lobbying for these laws? I’ll give you a hint: it’s the people whose property gains value if there’s less to go around.