In this episode of Built to Divide, we pick up where the post-2008 housing machine left off—and show how the subscription economy (SaaS, streaming, “pay forever”) migrated into the built environment.

Dimitrius Lynch traces the privatization movement from Milton Friedman’s voucher logic and post–Brown v. Board backlash to modern power brokers like ALEC, corporate bill-writing, and the quiet reframing of citizens into customers.

Then we explore build-to-rent communities engineered for “predictable cash flow,” housing-as-a-dashboard, and the rise of rentier capitalism—profits from controlling gates, not creating value. The episode connects BlackRock’s infrastructure thesis and Aladdin risk platform, the 2008 recovery pipeline, and the long continuity from Bretton Woods → financialization → asset management dominance.

Finally, we widen the lens to the next frontier: farmland financialization, where ownership detaches from stewardship and the right to live—and farm—becomes something you lease back.

Episode Extras - Photos, videos, sources and links to additional content found during research.

Episode Credits:

Production in collaboration with Gābl Media

Written & Executive Produced by Dimitrius Lynch

Audio Engineering and Sound Design by Jeff Alvarez

October 13, 2008: behind closed doors in Washington, the U.S. government forces Wall Street’s biggest banks to take rescue money—no opt-outs, no stigma, no time for debate. What follows isn’t just a bailout. It’s a quiet rewrite of capitalism: stabilize the banks first, let homeowners and workers fight for air.

Dimitrius Lynch traces how the TARP bailout, near-zero interest rates, and weak homeowner relief accelerated a new housing order—one where asset prices recover faster than wages, and where homes shift from shelter to portfolio. As the National Association of Realtors pushes demand-side subsidies like the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, foreclosure prevention tools like principal reduction are resisted—protecting values over people.

Then comes the next extraction layer: Airbnb’s normalization of housing as income strategy, followed by private equity and corporate landlords turning foreclosed homes into rentals at scale. Blackstone and Invitation Homes pioneer the machine—buy in bulk, rent to the displaced, then bundle single-family rentals into securities. Meanwhile, policy capture tightens: carried interest survives, lobbying culture “owns” offices, and Citizens United floods politics with corporate money—reshaping who writes the rules of housing, finance, and democracy itself.

This episode is a documentary-style timeline of how the middle class gets eaten—not by accident, but by incentives, institutions, and a politics increasingly engineered for capital. The crash wasn’t the end. It was a blueprint for a new future and purpose for housing.

Episode Extras - Photos, videos, sources and links to additional content found during research.

Episode Credits:

Production in collaboration with Gābl Media

Written & Executive Produced by Dimitrius Lynch

Audio Engineering and Sound Design by Jeff Alvarez

What do a 1970 psychology experiment and the 2008 housing crash have in common? In Episode 6 of Built to Divide, Dimitrius Lynch traces how social identity theory—the instinct to form “us vs. them” groups—became a political weapon that helped sell a bipartisan push for mass homeownership, weaken skepticism, and pave the way for subprime mortgages, mortgage-backed securities (MBS), CDOs, and a crisis engineered by incentives.

We move from NAFTA-era globalization and Peter Drucker’s “core competencies” mindset, to the dot-com bust, Fed rate cuts, and the explosion of “stated income” lending. The episode spotlights Washington Mutual (WaMu)—from community-friendly bank to shareholder-driven mortgage machine—then follows the collapse, the scapegoating of low-income borrowers, and the rise of institutional investors turning foreclosures into portfolios. A story about housing, finance, and the narratives that keep us divided—even when the math says we share the same stakes.

Episode Extras - Photos, videos, sources and links to additional content found during research.

Episode Credits:

Production in collaboration with Gābl Media

Written & Executive Produced by Dimitrius Lynch

Audio Engineering and Sound Design by Jeff Alvarez