Hwy. How dare you blame systems. Only proximal causes can be addressed!
Comment on A conundrum
Infernal_pizza@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day agoMore like blaming capitalism for the fact that it’s necessary to get a loan just to afford something as basic as shelter
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
blarghly@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I mean, imo people should be allowed to buy a piece of land and then live in a tent there as long as they arent dumping raw sewage on the ground in a metro area. But you can’t do this almost anywhere due to a number of factors which aren’t capitalist, so much as they are just bad ideas. Eg, minimum lot sizes, which mandate you must buy a lot of land, rather than only the amount you need. Or setback requirements, which mandate that you waste a substantial portion of that land, increasing the incentive to buy more land so a larger percentage is useable. Or absurdly low maximum occupancy limits (eg, in my city it is illegal for more than 2 unrelated people to live in the same home). Or sfh zoning, which restricts dense housing development to an absurdly small portion of land. Or using property taxes rather than georgist land value taxes, which allow speculators to sit on land indefinitely, waiting for the value to go up, rather than selling it to someone who would put it to good use. Or auto oriented infrastructure, which ensures that you will have to own a car to get from one part of town to another.
Remove these barriers, and basically everyone would be able find an apartment to live in, or can buy a small patch of land. On these small patches of land, individuals could start living rent free with just a walmart tent, a jug of water, and a 5 gallon bucket to poop in. Homelessness would be solved almost overnight, and it would cost basically nothing. From there, individuals unburdened of the need to pay rent or mortgages, could save money to put towards paying the city to install water, sewer, and electric infrastructure; pour home foundations; build framing, roof, and siding; etc. And once a minimal home was built, they could build additions over time, also without taking out loans.
This process would replicate the way cities were traditionally built for the last 5000 or so years, and after about 30 years or so, we would start to see these areas become some of the most attractive and desireable parts of our cities.
bobbyhillnevergrowsup@midwest.social 1 day ago
You’re describing slums, favelas, and shantytowns.
blarghly@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I’m describing the way humans lived and built cities since the dawn of civilization. Start small. Improve over time.