There are few modern myths as deeply embedded, as quietly corrosive, or as socially distorting as the idea that home ownership is a moral achievement. For decades, we have told ourselves that to own a home is to be responsible, virtuous, and mature — that property is not merely wealth, but character made visible. The result of that conflation has been both political and moral: distorted housing policy, entrenched inequality, and a society that confuses possession with dignity.

We got it wrong.