3 ms·
> As a wise man once said - the good of the many outweigh the needs of the few Ah utilitarianism - much like communism, it's a good idea in theory, but bad in
by hylaride 2y ago
> As a wise man once said - the good of the many outweigh the needs of the few
Ah utilitarianism - much like communism, it's a good idea in theory, but bad in practice.
Here in Canada, the young are about to vote conservative(1) over the alternatives for the first time in 40 years for one simple reason: because the entire housing market, either to own or rent, has become completely unaffordable (1 bedrooms in the greater Toronto area rarely go for less than $2500). My first apartment alone in the central part of the city 20 years ago was $700 for a decent one, and starving artists/students/etc could find lesser ones for a lot less.
The home ownership rate by age 30 has gone from well over 50% in 2000 to 36.5% today. The needs of the few are becoming the needs of the majority and they're not in a good mood electorally.
Also, Switzerland has a home ownership rate of barely 40% (in fact if you own a home, you can get taxed on the potential rental income it COULD provide whether you derive said income or not); the result is the Swiss are more mobile for jobs and have more of their wealth tied to other assets and is one of the per capita wealthiest larger economies in the world.
(1) This is not meant to be a pro/anti-conservative statement, merely a point on the sea-change of what can happen when you "protect" the wealth of one group to the detriment of others.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoIf Canadians really wanted to fix the housing market, they'd vote NDP. Vancouver went from twice Toronto prices to comparable-to-Toronto prices under NDP government. Meanwhile the Ontario Conservatives refuse to bring in sensible policies like allowing 4-plexes in single unit zones.
- hylaride 2y agoThe local councillors in Toronto who are most opposed to 4-plexes tend to be ndp affiliated “champaign socialists” who want to stop “greedy developers” from destroying “family homes”. There’s also a more suburban right leaning group who don’t want the “socialist downtowners” to densify their car oriented way of life (Doug Ford comes from this area). It’s really quite sad and the end result is there are a handful of areas that get super dense development and there’s relatively little midrise.
- dgfitz 2y ago> … to densify their car oriented way of life Cars aren’t going away in North America. Full fucking stop. Pretending they will is an exercise in faux-righteous, virtue-signaling frustration.
- hylaride 2y agoI'm not saying they should, but that doesn't mean you can't allow denser development - but they present density as some way of life crisis. They fight townhouses, for christ's sake: https://streetsoftoronto.com/real-estate-home-theatres-basketball-courts-and-in-ground-pools-in-three-estates-perfect-for-entertaining/ https://streetsoftoronto.com/real-estate-home-theatres-baske...