4 ms·
This mischaracterizes my point. We agree on the problem: some people don’t have housing. Second point: if some subset, which I say is the majority, of people
by whiddershins 6y ago
This mischaracterizes my point.
We agree on the problem: some people don’t have housing.
Second point: if some subset, which I say is the majority, of people who can’t afford housing are in this situation because they literally can’t work ...
Decreasing rent or raising wages does nothing to address this.
Since these are the most vulnerable people, I feel that bringing concepts like the imbalance between rents and wages actually muddies the waters.
- jakelazaroff 6y agoAren’t you arguing against a straw man? No one is making the case that the ultimate solution is lowering rent or raising wages. If we agree that’s the problem, can we then agree on the simplest solution? Give everyone housing, with no conditions or strings attached.
- whiddershins 6y agoNo. I’m replying to a comment purporting to be about helping the homeless that is in fact a critique of capitalism. It isn’t smart or effective to mix the two. Pick one, and maybe something can get accomplished.
- jakelazaroff 6y agoThat doesn’t make any sense. You can’t discuss a socioeconomic problem without also critiquing the society and economic system within which it exists. Any discussion about homelessness within a capitalist society is necessarily also a discussion about capitalism.
- whiddershins 6y agoNo. It’s not. Because homelessness is primarily a health problem not a monetary one. And also, every were the problem primary economic, it doesn’t necessarily follow that capitalism is the problem, it could be bad or corrupt policy that is straightforward to change without diving in on reforming capitalism.