Kansas Crimson

TraditionKU wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:44 am The greatness of a nation can be judged by how it treats its weakest members.

(often misattributed to Gandhi)

jfish26 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:58 am

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:55 am 4 years of dt and almost 1 year of uncle joe, and we are still the greatest country on earth. hands down.

we are bulletproof.

The only people who think/say things like this are people who have no meaningful relationships with non-Americans.

I agree that we have too many advantages to "fail" over the course of the next several generations.

BUT, our fractured and divided house means we're unable to lead on a truly existential threat. And, it seems more likely than not that our failure to lead will have catastrophic consequences.

ousdahl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:16 pm I’ve mentioned before, but far lefties view homelessness not as a personal failure, but a policy failure.

Qusdahl likes to point out things like, there are more vacant homes than there are homeless people, and the money spent on treating homelessness like pest control could be better spent things like mental health, addiction services, or just putting roofs over heads.

ousdahl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:16 pmOr - and again it’s Qusdahl not me - maybe there could even be policies to avoid predatory landlord practices.

ousdahl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 1:16 pmAnd in terms of both policy and also shared values, maybe housing could be treated less like yet another for-profit commodity, and more just a basic standard available to the citizens of the wealthiest country of all time.

But that Qusdahl is one kooky cat. Not me tho!

I actually think mental health disorders, drug addictions, domestic violence, and other health issues have a bigger role than cost of housing directly. Those are possibly also policy failures, but not the type you're alluding to in your second paragraph

It varies from state to state, but as has been pointed out to you before, a lot of states have policies that strongly favor the renter over the landlord. I'm sure there are states where it's flipped, by you're presenting it like you want a universal policy while in reality it varies state to state.

I think if you really wanted to create a housing shortage the surest way to do that would be to remove the profitability of it.

ousdahl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:10 pm Yep, STRs are the bugaboo particularly in the mountain towns.

Yall wealthy out of towners are buying up properties as investments, cuz renting them out to other tourists can actually be pretty good income. And passive income too. (It never ceases to amaze me how many folks own a property they’ve never even been to.)

But the trade-off is, now there’s hardly any housing for local workforces. So next thing you know, yall are throwing a tantrum about the dinner wait cuz there’s no one there to wait tables or flip burgers.

Yet another way the “labor” shortage is actually not a labor shortage at all.

ousdahl wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:40 pm And thanks for the dialogue, phd.

I actually think mental health disorders, drug addictions, domestic violence, and other health issues have a bigger role than cost of housing directly. Those are possibly also policy failures, but not the type you're alluding to in your second paragraph

I meant those to be the types of policy failure I was alluding to - not enough mental health or substance abuse resources. Domestic abuse is another one tho.

It varies from state to state, but as has been pointed out to you before, a lot of states have policies that strongly favor the renter over the landlord. I'm sure there are states where it's flipped, by you're presenting it like you want a universal policy while in reality it varies state to state.

Indeed, different states have different policies. Even if they are more “tenant friendly,” the landlord still retains most of the power, just by the very nature of the economic relationship.

I’ve been reading up about it, and in my state, for instance, if a landlord is neglecting to maintain a property (only essential stuff, like heat or water), a tenant has the right to withhold rent until the landlord does. But! - the tenant must give the landlord 10 days notice that they intend to withhold rent for that specific purpose, yet a landlord only has to give 6 days notice if they’re raising rent. And in some states, a landlord has to give prior notice before entering an occupied unit…yet here no notice is required, only the “suggestion” to let a tenant know as a courtesy. (Imagine the look on my face the other night when I was eating dinner and the landlord unlocked the door and just walked in like he owned the place) I’m curious how that also applies to castle doctrine…if a landlord barged in unannounced and a tenant went all 2nd Amendment about it, what then?

I digress.

Cuz more pertinent to this discussion, we should also look up how landlords work and have worked in other countries - in Maoist China, for example. I’m not saying those policies are right or better, but they may have at least achieved the effect of putting roofs over the heads of folks who may otherwise be homeless.

I think if you really wanted to create a housing shortage the surest way to do that would be to remove the profitability of it.

But isn’t that already happening? There’s plenty of profitability in real estate, yet still housing shortages. So rather than cross our fingers and hope the free market eventually lets some housing trickle down too, I think it could be, and maybe has to be, solved by policy? And a reassessment of values too.

Which is more important: letting more people have a roof over their heads, or letting fewer people hoard inventory?

PhDhawk wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:09 pm
Who's gonna build houses if it's not profitable?
Who's gonna manage properties if it's not profitable? You gonna do it outta the kindness of your heart?

The bigger issue is there aren't enough people building houses. People who rent apartments don't hoard empty apartments, the money is in having as high of an occupancy as possible, so you might need to reassess who it is you're actually mad at.

This is also a very regional thing. It's not everywhere. Not everyone can live in Seattle, Portland, Austin, or Denver.

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:41 am greatest country on earth. hands down.

zsn wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:19 pm

MICHHAWK wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2021 9:41 am greatest country on earth. hands down.

Based on what? Greatest number of prisoners? Greatest number of bankruptcies from not being able to pay for healthcare? Greatest number of deaths by gun violence? Greatest per capita military spending?

TraditionKU wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 12:27 pm how does this country “deal” with our homeless? mental health? childhood hunger? the impoverished? addicts?

too often we deal with them via incarceration and stigmatization rather rehabilitation and support