patrick.net

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.

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).

Obviously, we must accept some social programs, like workfare and job re-training.

I've always thought the bubble oversupply could have been used somehow to help the Katrina disaster. Why build a bunch of mobile homes when the government could have provided temporary rent payments to house the Katrina victims?

Why build a bunch of mobile homes when the government could have provided temporary rent payments to house the Katrina victims?

I thought the primary function of a government is to waste taxpayer money.

I thought the primary function of a government is to waste taxpayer money.

Mission Accomplished!

Peter P Says:

> Homelessness is not a housing issue. Nor is it
> a social issue. It is a mental health problem.

I always laugh people in SF claim that “homelessness” is caused by a “lack of affordable housing”. I then ask them to name one guy who moved in to a doorway on Market Street or under an overpass due to a “rent increase”. A few years back I was working with a girlfriend and a Catholic priest serving food to the homeless and I asked the priest to guess how many of the homeless had substance abuse or mental problems and his estimate (after working with them for 20 years) was 99.9%...

Malcolm Says:

> Why build a bunch of mobile homes when the government
> could have provided temporary rent payments to house the
> Katrina victims?

Then Peter P Says:

> I thought the primary function of a government is to waste
> taxpayer money.

The primary function of most (but not all) politicians is to stay in office. To stay in office you need a ton of money. In order to get a ton of money each year to stay in office you need to pay off the people that give you money by voting to buy expensive mobile homes, build bridges to islands with only a few people and buying $350 hammers…

I always laugh people in SF claim that “homelessness” is caused by a “lack of affordable housing”.

And their solution:

1. More BMR units
2. More housing projects
3. Rent control

LOL!!! Liberals are so cute.

Hey, do you think there is a market for a keyboard that requires two people to type at the same time? We can sell it to the bureaucrats.

Hey, do you think there is a market for a keyboard that requires two people to type at the same time? We can sell it to the bureaucrats.

You forgot about "bilingual" keyboards and having to hire cronies --er, specialists, to retrain workers on using the new keyboards in a culturally sensitive and gender nuetral manner. ;-)

And the keyboard must cost at least $1000 and come with a 2500 page manual.

The manufacturing will be outsourced, of course. :)