4 ms·

The American problem is not one of a lack of houses. This is just a symptom. The American Problem is the combination of Income and Wealth Concentration. And t

The American problem is not one of a lack of houses. This is just a symptom. The American Problem is the combination of Income and Wealth Concentration. And those problems were created by asset inflation from Central Banks' manipulation of currency, the ideologies of too-big-to-fail and trickle-down-economics, predatory de-regulation, hostility to labor organization, warmongerism and widespread paranoia that only serves to justify the gigantic spending on the industrial military complex, which in turns backfeed into the vast coffers of Wall Street. America has been engaged for a long time in the biggest wealth and income transfer program in history, too bad it is from the poor and the middle class to the millionaires. It is not a surprise that a lot of people end up living in tents.

Steltek 4y ago
This is a generic, dismissive reply. You could say the unchecked rise of nationalism/jingoism, mental health, crime, etc are also all just symptoms of income inequality. It certainly contributes but it's more complex than that.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  > it's more complex than that. Talk about a generic dismissive reply. Could you be more specific about your objections?
  - Steltek 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law
    - pessimizer 4y ago
      It's easy not to suffer from Brandolini's law if your entire comment is a generic dismissal. It's a lot harder if you have something to say.
      - krisdol 4y ago
        Did the Bernie Sanders stump speech that is at the top of this thread link any of their bullet points back to NIMBY somehow?
        DoctorOW 4y ago
        In the first sentence, yeah.
      - Steltek 4y ago
        Relating the military industrial complex to what you see in local zoning board meetings is completely asinine. Lockheed Martin is not astroturfing the redevelopment of the long abandoned Taco Bell around the corner. Lazy bullshit does not merit anyone's precious time.
dionidium 4y ago
People are literally lining up down the block to look at apartments in the most competitive markets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-02-18/looking-to-rent-in-nyc-what-bidding-wars-long-lines-mean-for-apartment-hunters https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-02-18/looking-t...
- pessimizer 4y ago
  That's why they're called competitive markets. Other news: the temperature is very high in hot places.
  - dionidium 4y ago
    Yes, exactly. My explanation -- it's a supply problem -- is indeed straightforward and obvious (and therefore there's no need to be in search of grand theories about Income and Wealth Concentration). If you see people lining up around the block for something and your priors lead you to conclude that there is no supply problem, then your priors are wrong, almost by definition.
DonHopkins 4y ago
It's ironic that Ronald Reagan wanted to test everyone else's urine, yet he also wanted to trickle down his untested piss-on-the-poor voodoo-economic theories all over the entire country.
pdeffebach 4y ago
> The American problem is not one of a lack of houses. This is just a symptom. We made it illegal to build housing, so we don't have enough housing. We could fix our housing crisis by re-legalizing housing _without_ fixing all of the (very real) problems you describe. You are simply engaging in whataboutism which will _not_ solve our housing crisis.
- beej71 4y ago
  I live in one of the most overpriced places in the US and they're building like mad, and just annexed a massive parcel into the city to build residential. They wanted to put up an apartment block, as well, but NIMBYs have held it up. I think the issue is more complex than housing regulations (which also certainly play a role).
ajsnigrutin 4y ago
I don't live in america, but we have the same housing problem as everyone else. Yes, it's the lack of houses, or more specifically, lack of land, where you're allowed to build houses. We also have thousands and thousands of cars and trucks driving through small villages, because a road cannot be built, because someone from a different part of country saw a butterfly there once. We have areas with lots of unemployment where they couldn't even start a brewery, because people complained. Watching places like san francisco, with even worse housing problems, and then seeing rows of single family houses instead of huge apartment buildings is an indicator of that... more people, denser housing... if NIMBYers don't allow it, you get a housing problem.
Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
I blame the whole "American Dream" thing, this silly notion that anybody can become rich with enough hard work. It's led to a lot of poor people thinking they're not poor, just a temporarily embarrassed millionaire. Or people that work hard but aren't gathering wealth blame other people for their lack of success. The result is that when someone proposes raising taxes on the uber-wealthy, people making $40,000/year go into a panic thinking it'll ever affect them.

Steltek 4y ago

This is a generic, dismissive reply. You could say the unchecked rise of nationalism/jingoism, mental health, crime, etc are also all just symptoms of income inequality. It certainly contributes but it's more complex than that.

pessimizer 4y ago
> it's more complex than that. Talk about a generic dismissive reply. Could you be more specific about your objections?
- Steltek 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    It's easy not to suffer from Brandolini's law if your entire comment is a generic dismissal. It's a lot harder if you have something to say.
    - krisdol 4y ago
      Did the Bernie Sanders stump speech that is at the top of this thread link any of their bullet points back to NIMBY somehow?
      - DoctorOW 4y ago
        In the first sentence, yeah.
    - Steltek 4y ago
      Relating the military industrial complex to what you see in local zoning board meetings is completely asinine. Lockheed Martin is not astroturfing the redevelopment of the long abandoned Taco Bell around the corner. Lazy bullshit does not merit anyone's precious time.

dionidium 4y ago

People are literally lining up down the block to look at apartments in the most competitive markets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-02-18/looking-to-rent-in-nyc-what-bidding-wars-long-lines-mean-for-apartment-hunters https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-02-18/looking-t...

pessimizer 4y ago
That's why they're called competitive markets. Other news: the temperature is very high in hot places.
- dionidium 4y ago
  Yes, exactly. My explanation -- it's a supply problem -- is indeed straightforward and obvious (and therefore there's no need to be in search of grand theories about Income and Wealth Concentration). If you see people lining up around the block for something and your priors lead you to conclude that there is no supply problem, then your priors are wrong, almost by definition.

DonHopkins 4y ago

It's ironic that Ronald Reagan wanted to test everyone else's urine, yet he also wanted to trickle down his untested piss-on-the-poor voodoo-economic theories all over the entire country.

pdeffebach 4y ago

> The American problem is not one of a lack of houses. This is just a symptom. We made it illegal to build housing, so we don't have enough housing. We could fix our housing crisis by re-legalizing housing _without_ fixing all of the (very real) problems you describe. You are simply engaging in whataboutism which will _not_ solve our housing crisis.

beej71 4y ago
I live in one of the most overpriced places in the US and they're building like mad, and just annexed a massive parcel into the city to build residential. They wanted to put up an apartment block, as well, but NIMBYs have held it up. I think the issue is more complex than housing regulations (which also certainly play a role).

ajsnigrutin 4y ago

I don't live in america, but we have the same housing problem as everyone else. Yes, it's the lack of houses, or more specifically, lack of land, where you're allowed to build houses. We also have thousands and thousands of cars and trucks driving through small villages, because a road cannot be built, because someone from a different part of country saw a butterfly there once. We have areas with lots of unemployment where they couldn't even start a brewery, because people complained. Watching places like san francisco, with even worse housing problems, and then seeing rows of single family houses instead of huge apartment buildings is an indicator of that... more people, denser housing... if NIMBYers don't allow it, you get a housing problem.

Sohcahtoa82 4y ago

I blame the whole "American Dream" thing, this silly notion that anybody can become rich with enough hard work. It's led to a lot of poor people thinking they're not poor, just a temporarily embarrassed millionaire. Or people that work hard but aren't gathering wealth blame other people for their lack of success. The result is that when someone proposes raising taxes on the uber-wealthy, people making $40,000/year go into a panic thinking it'll ever affect them.