Comments 1 - 3 of 201 Next » Last » Search these comments
Peter P
@
2008 Feb 19, 3:42am
Homelessness is not a housing issue. Nor is it a social issue. It is a mental health problem.
I am against public housing of any form because it causes market distortions.
As a society, we should encourage more housing units to be built. We should view zoning and NIMBYism as violation of property rights.
Welfare is not the solution.
Peter P
@
2008 Feb 19, 3:49am
Could there be a more perfect, complementary “market-based†solution to the twin problems of: a) homelessness, and b) housing bubble oversupply?
Auction is the best way to correct housing oversupply.
Homelessness is a disease caused by sub-humans who reject all good-faith help from the society.
Homelessness is not a housing issue. Nor is it a social issue. It is a mental health problem.
@Peter P,
Would you agree that shuttering the public mental asylums in CA was a bad idea then?
Here's the problem with a strict "no social programs of any kind" policy: there are retarded and mentally ill people out there who literally are not sane/coherent/responsible enough to care for themselves. Permanent homeless populations include people other than just the willfully lazy and/or criminal (though they are a subset).
Comments 1 - 3 of 201 Next » Last » Search these comments
*pun courtesy of CalculatedRisk
Intractable social problem: meet opportunity.
Some homeless turn to foreclosed homes
There have been several posts from yours truly contemplating this very idea, and now it looks like the word is out on the street and being put into practise. Could there be a more perfect, complementary "market-based" solution to the twin problems of: a) homelessness, and b) housing bubble oversupply?
Personally, I wouldn't object to having some of my tax dollars diverted to formalizing the "Bandos" into a legitimate form of public housing (with appropriate oversight by law enforcement and building inspectors, of course). It sure beats maintaining the status quo on both fronts: skid row/downtown areas overrun with stinky homeless people urinating, shooting up, and prostituting themselves in public; and depopulated suburban Specuvestor cities replete with mosquito-infested swimming pools and McMansions being turned into gang 'safe houses' and crack/meth factories.
HARM
#housing