The Barefoot Investor has responded to claims he was a “right-wing wanker” for advising a landlord with multiple investment properties not to feel guilty about his success.
Scott Pape received a letter last week from a woman called Lina, 27, who owns a house in Brisbane, Queensland, and several investment properties.
Lina attributed her success to following Mr Pape’s investment advice, but said her friend had not supported her by calling all owners and shareholders “scum”.
Pape said Lina had no reason to feel guilty about her success and belittled her negative friend for acting like a five-year-old.
His response sparked a wave of outrage a week later, when Felicity, an avowed voter of the “bitter and twisted” Greens, wrote to him to accuse him of promoting greed.
“We all thought you were a good guy who cared about people, but you let the Grinch in,” Felicity wrote in a letter published in the barefoot investor Sunday column.
Scott Pape (pictured) advised Lina, the owner of multiple investments, not to feel guilty about her hard work and encouraged her to continue accumulating wealth despite facing ridicule from her friends.
—You told Lina to keep climbing the ladder of success, leaving her friends in the dust and trampling green voters like me on her way up.
—Way to go, right-wing idiot. Your words matter.’
Felicity added that Pape should have encouraged Lina to share her good fortune and suggested she could donate to charity.
“The least you could have done is give Lina some idea of how she could share some of her good fortune, donating to charity, for example,” he wrote.
“But instead you told him that it’s okay to be greedy in the face of other people’s difficulties.”
Pape defended his advice and questioned Felicity about her suggestion that Lina donate to charity.
He argued that Lina should not feel guilty for working hard and achieving success, nor should she have to donate money to absolve her guilt.
—Flick, you sound bitter and twisted: do you really think Lina should feel bad about working hard, saving, and getting ahead in life? Mr. Pape responded.
‘And that he should donate some money to wash away the ‘guilt’ of his hard work?
‘There is absolutely nothing wrong with moving and achieving success… as long as you don’t think you are ‘self-made’.
Lina explained that she felt guilty for owning multiple investment properties during a real estate crisis, adding that her friend labels all owners as “scum” (file image)
Pape faced backlash for his comments, with one woman calling him a ‘right-wing asshole’
Pape added that being a good person was much more important than the amount of money they had accumulated and claimed that Felicity was the one who was “green with envy.”
“Look, no one should have to apologize for their success,” Pape wrote.
‘What ultimately matters is not the size of your bank balance, but whether you are a kind, considerate and empathetic person.
‘And in that sense I think it’s you who has the problem. You are green with envy!
Lina explained in her initial letter to Mr Pape that she felt guilty about owning multiple investment properties during Australia’s cost of living crisis.
“My best friend says ‘all owners and shareholders are scum,'” she wrote.
‘I want to generate wealth for my family and my future children, but I feel bad about getting ahead when others are left behind. Can I get any advice?
Pape congratulated Lina on her success and stated that her friend seemed to be frustrated with her own financial security.
He added that the friend was swearing as if he were a “five-year-old child” and advised Lina to be nice, but if she continues she may find new friends.
“We may all live in the richest country in the world, but there is a growing divide between the haves (homeowners) and the have-nots (renters) that is creating deep-seated resentment,” Pape wrote.
“However, insulting people is the way a five-year-old girl sees the world, and it will lead her to become a bitter and twisted Greens voter.
‘If this were a playground fight, I’d tell you not to take it personally and try to be nice to your friend while she’s going through a rough patch.
“However, if she continues to use you like a cat uses a scratching post, I’d say it’s time to branch out and find new kitties to play with.”
Australia-wide rental vacancy rate was 1.1 per cent in April, up 0.1 per cent (file image)
The total number of rental vacancies across Australia in April was 33,177 residential properties, an increase of 0.1 per cent on the previous month, according to SQM Research.
Over the past 30 days to May 12, asking rents in the capital and nationally saw a softer rise compared to recent periods, with asking rents rising just 0.5 per cent.
The increase represents one of the slowest increases in market rents since the outbreak of the national rental crisis in 2021.
SQM Research CEO Louis Christopher said the rental crisis was far from over despite rental vacancy rates declining slightly in April.
“The immediate outlook is that vacancy rates will increase a little bit into the winter,” Christopher said.
‘This is the normal seasonality we have at this time of year, so you have to be a little careful when interpreting these increases.
‘However, it could provide some small relief to tenants who are still struggling to find long-term rental accommodation across the country.
“The full-year outlook remains the same in that we expect overall vacancy rates to be tight by 2024, driven by a decline in housing completions relative to ongoing rising demand.”