My (41m) son (15m) has taken a keen interest in becoming a landlord but has also started insulting me for not owning my own house.

I am glad to see he has taken some initiative however I am concerned about his mindset. We currently live in an apartment and he has told me that I am a “failure” and a “rentoid” and that he is “embarrassed to be related to someone without any land.”

I tried to explain to him that houses cost a lot and that I have worked very hard to provide for our family and that there is nothing wrong with choosing to rent. I also explained to him that Landlords often mistreat their tenants and that if he wants to be a landlord he should work on being a kind one, however he has insisted that it is the right of landlords to charge whatever they want and has said when he is a landlord he wants to “evict single mothers” which I found very concerning.

He spends a lot of time on the internet and I am worried some ideas from online may be influencing his thinking.

This month when the landlord came to collect rent my son offered him a 50 dollar “tip” out of his own money. I tried to explain you do not “tip” landlords but he insisted I was being a “greedy renter” and taking advantage of the landlord. I explained that we paid significant rent already but he did not listen.

Before this started he was really into video games and did not seem to try very hard in school which I found concerning. On the one hand his grades have improved and he even started walking around the neighborhood offering to shovel to make some extra money which he has put into savings, however his words hurt me and I feel his mindset is not constructive and compassionate. I don’t want to discourage this newfound success but I am very worried about him.