Curmudgeon

The United States has:

770,000 homeless people

15,000,000 vacant homes

and

535 members of congress, who can't seem to find any solution to this problem.

Mar 10 at 4:48pmWeb
Show threadNantucket LitMar 10
@jetton That does put the "housing crisis" into perspective.
Show threadKyle MontanioMar 10

@jetton

But just think what would happen to housing prices - which we have, as a society, decided should be the foundation to wealth - if we didn't allow for speculative ownership of our housing assets!

(He says rolling his eyes at the shitty system we've built.)

Show threadTheriacMar 10
@jetton
... but they can find 1 billion a day when they want to.
Show threadSteven D Rowe ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งMar 10

@jetton In the UK:

382,000 homeless people.

1.5 million unoccupied dwellings.

Seems the US is not the only country who can't get their act together.

Show threadAlexanderVIMar 10

@stevendrowe @jetton

Repeat for Canada.

I'd guess Australia and NZ are probably similar.

Show threadSteven D Rowe ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งMar 10
@AlexanderVI @jetton Maybe there are other factors involved such as those who don't want to be housed, those with mental health challenges. The figures are interesting though.
Show threadJestbillMar 10
@stevendrowe @AlexanderVI @jetton That's one of the points for a UBI.
If people had enough money to live, the drunks, drug addicts etc. would stand out and could be treated appropriately.
Show threadGrumble ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฑMar 10

@jetton To be fair, they aren't *trying *to find a solution. We might debate why they aren't.

I suggest their donors are OK with the status quo. If the donors gave a shit, they'd hand their politicians draft legislation with a campaign check, as usual.

Show threadStephen Dioxide Mar 10
@jetton The problem repeats at all levels of government, so the number of people who can't find a solution is considerably larger. I speak as someone who has to weave through homeless people to reach my office.
Show threadobscurestarMar 10

@jetton But how could they keep rents high, keep the people nose to grindstone too afraid of having the means to feed their children to stand up to fascism if they did the right thing?

How could the right continue to be worthless parasites feeding on the blood of the working class, screaming hate about lazy homeless people while they're off to Aruba on the renter's dime , all the while feeling worthwhile because they were born with wealthy parents and a silver spoon.

Show threaddisorderlyfMar 10
@jetton Canada isn't doing much better with just shy of 60,000 estimated and 1.3 million vacant homes. Starting to notice a pattern...
Show threadlucaMar 10
@jetton Say it proper: a bunch of rich enough people that don't care.
Show threadHarold SmithMar 10
@jetton the power of property goes even far beyond that, up to the point of mass killing.
So we have to ask exactly this question: why can't we imagine a world without property?
Show threadDumpster Bitch ๐ŸšฎMar 10
@jetton similar
Show threadToddZ โ“‹Mar 10

@jetton

The United States also has:

652 daily news segments about the housing crisis featuring housing builders who say the problem is we just aren't building enough housing.

Show threadMcWabbit ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‹๐ŸŒป๐Ÿ‰Mar 10
@jetton High time for Le Chop Chop.
The difference in wealth between the ultra rich and the poor is much larger than it was in France before the French Revolution.
Show threadNuwagaba GiftMar 10
@jetton
The solution is right before their eyes and they just choose not to take it. There are even more vacant homes than the homeless people. Why are they funding useless wars instead of creating homes for their citizens?
Show threadSarah SavageMar 10
@jetton thatโ€™s dangerously close to the notion of โ€œbus the homeless awayโ€ since the homeless may or may not be in the same place as the houses.
Show threadJayMar 11
@sarah @jetton Bussing does not fill human needs but rather political ones, whereas housing homeless people is the single best thing to do to improve their lives.
Show threadSarah SavageMar 11
@WhiteCatTamer @jetton my point was that the homes that are unoccupied may not be where the homeless are. And we have to be careful to not take national numbers without concern for regional realities.
Show threadฮ“ฮนฮฑฮฝฮฏฯฮทฯ‚Mar 10

#Iran for 15 years has instituted a minimum salary for all

No wonder they are bombing it

@jetton

Show threadMaggieMar 10

@jetton While I definitely agree with your sentiment, the 15M number is worth digging into!

"Vacant households were broken down into several categories: "for rent," "rented, not occupied," "for sale only," "sold, not occupied," "for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use," "for migrant workers," and "other vacant.""

This does not excuse Congress being utterly worthless or local & state officials refusing to change deeply restrictive housing regulations!

https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/states-with-most-vacant-homes/

Show threadCarl CMar 10
@jetton They could do something about our wanna be dictator, too. There's a lot they could do for the public good, but it doesn't seem to be about that.
Show threadchandlerkyle93Mar 11
@jetton I see 535 problems.
Show thread๐“ผ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ช๐“น๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฑใ€ใƒ„ใ€‘โ˜ฎ(๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ)Mar 11

@jetton

This begs the question why homes are so expensive and why they are even being built. Building them costs, maintaining them costs, but if they are vacant they dont generate income.

Could it be that it is inflation and people just buy homes and inflate that bubble, because they want to park their money somewhere to protect from "inflation"?

Maybe there should be an alternative outlet for people so home prices and rents can collapse and become affordable again.