I agree with your last sentiment too. Warren Buffett said the memories he made in his house are worth way more than the money he lost by not investing it. We're thinking of buying for the same reason.
...ish. My wife and I just did this calculation and (at least in America) property taxes throw a wrench into it.
A decent rental home in Texas costs about $2650 per month. A similar house costs about $460k to buy, and run about $1000/mo in taxes. So you'll only save about $1650 per month.
Even putting that 460k into a bank account at 4.5% interest will give you $1725/mo, let alone stocks, index funds, and all the other investments you could be doing that will out-perform real estate.
Of course, that doesn't disprove your point about poverty since you need to have the money to buy/invest. But it's just a reminder that houses are not the wealth builder that a lot of people imagine them to be.
Always research and determine the best option for your financial situation. Gate-keeping financial literacy is another tool the wealthy use to keep people in poverty.
Nah CEOs will mandate RTO for workers while they themselves stay remote.