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> conservative housing policies Rent control is conservative now? All of SF policy is leftist and pro government intervention. I wonder why it fails...

freyir 9y ago
Poor choice of words on my part. I meant "conservative" in terms of NIMBYs' aversion to change and development.
- andrewjl 9y ago
  Use of liberal / conservative in this context is muddled at best and misleading at worst.
  - freyir 9y ago
    It’s not muddled, it’s used according to the definition of the word. And in truth, SF’s housing policy does fall in line with typical conservative values. It protects the interests of the establishment, in this case those who are either long-term property owners or wealthy enough to buy their way in a high premium.
    - andrewjl 9y ago
      Liberal / conservative are usually used as shorthand for specific political philosophies. Many mainstream American conservatives refer to themselves as classical liberals, and they are correct. Liberal, in the American parlance, on the other hand covers a wider gamut, from centrists who favor technocratic regulatory regimes and government nonintervention in personal affairs all the way to progressives who favor income redistribution and widespread social engineering policies. (Clinton and Sanders camps in the Democratic party respectively.) There's also an emerging hard-right anti-immigration / "nationalist" fringe. I take no issue with your points but object to the terminology which masks the complexity of the situation at hand.
manfredo 9y ago
In many ways rent control is a conservative policy. It's a nativist policy that decreases social mobility into the cities that enforce rent control. It doesn't jive with the traditional view of conservatism as advocating lesser government control over the economy. But does fall in line with conservative thinking in the more recent view of conservatism as advocating a more closed society (which arguably became mainstream in the 2016 election. TPP and immigration were center stage).
- friedman23 9y ago
  So rentcontrol can be considered conservative if you define conservatism as everything that causes failed government policy. Got it.

freyir 9y ago

Poor choice of words on my part. I meant "conservative" in terms of NIMBYs' aversion to change and development.

andrewjl 9y ago
Use of liberal / conservative in this context is muddled at best and misleading at worst.
- freyir 9y ago
  It’s not muddled, it’s used according to the definition of the word. And in truth, SF’s housing policy does fall in line with typical conservative values. It protects the interests of the establishment, in this case those who are either long-term property owners or wealthy enough to buy their way in a high premium.
  - andrewjl 9y ago
    Liberal / conservative are usually used as shorthand for specific political philosophies. Many mainstream American conservatives refer to themselves as classical liberals, and they are correct. Liberal, in the American parlance, on the other hand covers a wider gamut, from centrists who favor technocratic regulatory regimes and government nonintervention in personal affairs all the way to progressives who favor income redistribution and widespread social engineering policies. (Clinton and Sanders camps in the Democratic party respectively.) There's also an emerging hard-right anti-immigration / "nationalist" fringe. I take no issue with your points but object to the terminology which masks the complexity of the situation at hand.

manfredo 9y ago

In many ways rent control is a conservative policy. It's a nativist policy that decreases social mobility into the cities that enforce rent control. It doesn't jive with the traditional view of conservatism as advocating lesser government control over the economy. But does fall in line with conservative thinking in the more recent view of conservatism as advocating a more closed society (which arguably became mainstream in the 2016 election. TPP and immigration were center stage).

friedman23 9y ago
So rentcontrol can be considered conservative if you define conservatism as everything that causes failed government policy. Got it.