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Spending less on housing has tremendous value for the people who benefit from it, including the ability to pay for better medical treatment, and lead an overall

Spending less on housing has tremendous value for the people who benefit from it, including the ability to pay for better medical treatment, and lead an overall happier life. It's unclear what evidence you have that the net effect would be an increase in the overall number of deaths, or - more importantly - human suffering. Other than that I do not really understand your "astonishment": you've artificially constructed a personal axiom that has never applied to human society - namely that people should care equally about every casualty, regardless of circumstances or causes, or the impact of those causes on society as a whole - and are then surprised that others don't follow this model.

CalRobert 8y ago
We both want affordable housing. I just want it to be legal to build it closer to jobs. Driving is dangerous, as are its byproducts. More driving kills more people.
- pavelrub 8y ago
  If the choice is between cheaper housing with a longer commute, or expensive housing with shorter commute, it's completely unclear that the latter is more beneficial to humanity than the former, even if we only consider the number of deaths caused by each scenario. At the very least you haven't presented any evidence that this is so.
  - CalRobert 8y ago
    That is not the choice.
    - pavelrub 8y ago
      When people say that doing X has "negative value", they usually mean that it has negative value compared to not doing X, not compared to some imaginary solution that doesn't exist in reality.
CalRobert 8y ago
" namely that people should care equally about every casualty, regardless of circumstances or causes, " Where did I do that? A thought experiment - how does your reaction to "cyclist on sidewalk kills child on bike" compare to "driver in street kills child on bike" ? I suggest they should be the same. I understand we may simply have utterly and drastically different worldviews and priorities. This sort of thing is part of why I moved away from a profoundly hostile city.

CalRobert 8y ago

We both want affordable housing. I just want it to be legal to build it closer to jobs. Driving is dangerous, as are its byproducts. More driving kills more people.

pavelrub 8y ago
If the choice is between cheaper housing with a longer commute, or expensive housing with shorter commute, it's completely unclear that the latter is more beneficial to humanity than the former, even if we only consider the number of deaths caused by each scenario. At the very least you haven't presented any evidence that this is so.
- CalRobert 8y ago
  That is not the choice.
  - pavelrub 8y ago
    When people say that doing X has "negative value", they usually mean that it has negative value compared to not doing X, not compared to some imaginary solution that doesn't exist in reality.

CalRobert 8y ago

" namely that people should care equally about every casualty, regardless of circumstances or causes, " Where did I do that? A thought experiment - how does your reaction to "cyclist on sidewalk kills child on bike" compare to "driver in street kills child on bike" ? I suggest they should be the same. I understand we may simply have utterly and drastically different worldviews and priorities. This sort of thing is part of why I moved away from a profoundly hostile city.