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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   29600 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 6, 2023

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Market price pretty much solves your issue with not wanting a homeless shelter next door. So long as it’s paid for/funded with market rationality. The local government probably builds the homesless shelter as long as they are rational - building the homeless shelter as cheaply as possible then it won’t be put in your backyard. It will be put in a poor persons backyard or around those who would rather have cheaper rent and a homeless shelter than people who are willing to pay a higher price to not live around homeless people.

The local government probably builds the homesless shelter as long as they are rational

What evidence have you ever seen from local government to indicate that rationality is prevalent or even present in most of their actions?

Reminds me of the meme that rich celebrities should welcome illegal immigrants to their homes and neighborhoods. They never take up the offer.

The local government probably builds the homesless shelter as long as they are rational - building the homeless shelter as cheaply as possible then it won’t be put in your backyard.

This is one of the wildest takes I've ever seen. I don't know of a single homeless shelter that was built according to this principle. They are almost always built to convenience the homeless in their preferred activities of panhandling, boozing, and harassing productive citizens.

You guys are probably right. I’m just close to a market absolutists and the issue here isn’t markets it’s politics encouraging nimbysm. No one by market principles would locate a homeless shelter on expensive real estate.

Well, no one by market principles would tolerate the current state of homelessness at all. It only exists because of publicly owned commons that are not policed as they would be if they were privately held. In addition, many of the public institutions that claim to have a monopoly on violence in a local area, would attack and imprison anyone who does take rational action with regard to their own private property.

The local government probably builds the homesless shelter as long as they are rational - building the homeless shelter as cheaply as possible then it won’t be put in your backyard.

The local government connives with some developer to give them a tax break on another project in exchange for the developer ceding the space for the homeless shelter, so they don't actually care about the cost of the lot.

Possible. But if you elect good leaders that want to provide public services efficiently then not an issue.

This isn’t an issue with nimby it’s an issue with your government.

Possible. But if you elect good leaders that want to provide public services efficiently then not an issue.

This IS efficient from the point of view of the government. They pay nothing.

if you elect good leaders

This is a more difficult problem than the original one he's grappling with, though.

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