[RE]

There can be no solution then.  Not short of a revolution. 

Sadly, this is the case.  Because the Property Ownership system is so deeply embedded into our culture, all property of any type will either belong to an individual or belong to the state.  So to make Free Housing possible, all housing has to belong to the state.  It doesn't all have to be equal, if you make more money by working harder or have a higher paying job it can be priced higher, but the availability of free housing at the bottom level undermines how much can be charged for more luxurious digs.

While the dream of free housing isn't achievable this way, AFFORDABLE housing probably is.  If these container size homes are offered at a cheap enough price (say $5000) and cities zoned for where to put them and built the Frameworks they go into, charging say $500/mo rent and to hook up to the water, sewage and electric, this would put housing within reach of most people with min wage jobs.

Meanwhile, until then I still advocate for the Stealth Van & Trailer combo as the closest approximation you can have as an insurance policy against falling straight down to the street level sleeping rough level.





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[K-Dog]

I agree that everybody who is able bodied physically and mentally should have to work at something and that everybody regardless of education or how brilliant they are should have to do some time each week working the shit jobs nobody wants but some people have to do all the time because they aren't qualified for anything else.

However, what do you do with the person who is just plain lazy and doesn't show up for work he doesn't like?  What is the punishment for Laziness if a person is guaranteed food to eat and a place to sleep, shit and shower?  Do you imprison them?  Force them to listen to Rap Music?

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I had to go to work so I could not answer the question right away.

It would take more than one incident to label a hard case, but while at work an interesting thing happened.  Before closing a couple came in to do some shoplifting.  They each left with a full shopping cart, their take was in the thousands.  They picked by price.  Hard cases they are.  Serious grifters.

If we confront a shoplifter, we will be fired and this causes the young men I work with to do nothing at all.  I'm part time employed on the bottom of the totem pole.  Actually not even on the totem pole.  So it was not on me to call the police.  I would have.   

This was case where the police should have been called right away.  Everybody working knew what was up, and the couple were in the store a long time to make sure that they would not be messed with on the way out our door.  The couple should be arrested and jailed but in the land of plenty we just call what they do 'shrinkage' and pass the costs along.  To this couple the huge new 'we prosecute shoplifters to the fullest extent of the law' advertised the fact that, no actually we do not.  We just like posting signs big signs that lie to you.

In a world where we have eliminated homelessness and hunger not everyone gets a tenth floor penthouse and prime rib for dinner.  A restaurant may have a free menu like a kids menu.  You can have a cheese sandwich and an apple any time you want.  Ordering something else would require a plastic credit card with a job or retirement so the card has a positive credit balance.  All of which the state can provide.  But everyone still has to work.  Not paying bills would have consequences.  Theft is still theft.

I have asked myself the question, how would your life (mine) change if your (my) socialist dream ever came true.  You (I) still have to get to work on time, or my social credit score (work history) suffers.  I have asked myself this question many times.  What would be different.  It has been a useful exercise.

Consequences we have for bad behavior now are inconsistent and as it is now, our society breeds criminal behavior.  In a more planned economy BOTH consequences for negative, and rewards or positive social conduct (showing up for work or not) become consistent.  More consistent than what we have now.  A fact which no doubt, scares the pants off some people.

A right-wing nutjob fears society would fall apart under socialism because everything is suddenly free.  They are wrong.  Prime rib still costs more.  We still have money.  Rewards for behaving in a socially positive way would mean a family is be able to buy a house unlike they are able to do now.  In a managed system rewards and punishments become consistent, more consistent than they are now. 

People go off about China having a social credit score.  I don't get their concern.  What is an American resume, a credit score, and a clean criminal record but the same fucking thing.  To get the good jobs I have had here required I looked good and show my papers.  As I must do in any civilized system.

With expectations more clearly defined, most people would be able to live a more successful life.  Define success as you wish, but a cheese sandwich and an apple does not work for me.

[RE]

In a world where we have eliminated homelessness and hunger not everyone gets a tenth floor penthouse and prime rib for dinner.  A restaurant may have a free menu like a kids menu.  You can have a cheese sandwich and an apple any time you want.  Ordering something else would require a plastic credit card with a job or retirement so the card has a positive credit balance.  All of which the state can provide.  But everyone still has to work.  Not paying bills would have consequences.  Theft is still theft.
............

With expectations more clearly defined, most people would be able to live a more successful life.  Define success as you wish, but a cheese sandwich and an apple does not work for me.

This returns to my original proposal.  NOT showing up for work does have consequences.  The consequence is that ALL you get is the bare bones box to live in and mac & cheese you eat.  If you are an ascetic who is happy with just this, you can live this way.  But if you want anything MORE than this, you need to work.

You start with the Mandatory 10 hr/wk Community Service job that everybody must do. These are all the unskilled jobs from street sweeper to janitor etc that would pay min wage.  They would be assigned weekly at the community employment office.  Once completed, if you have another skill like Dentist, you can drill teeth and make more for those work hours.

There's still problems.  People who do their community service job might be slackers.  They show up for work and pick up the broom, but they don't get much sweeping done.  They work slow and take long smoking breaks.

Then for the people with skills, if they are in short supply you might need say electricians to work lots of hours to get everybody's electricity going after an outage.  So they don't show up for their community service job.  If it's just once in a while, OK, but what about systemic shortages?  Not enough Nurses, are you going to make a nurse work 10 hours pushing a broom?

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[K-Dog]

There's still problems.  People who do their community service job might be slackers.  They show up for work and pick up the broom, but they don't get much sweeping done.  They work slow and take long smoking breaks.

The supervisor will write in his/her report that the individual is not be invited back next week.  The individuals card balance falls to the cheese sandwich level.  Bouncing around from job to job would identify someone who needs training.

No different than now, except that someone with a problem gets help.

[RE]

There's still problems.  People who do their community service job might be slackers.  They show up for work and pick up the broom, but they don't get much sweeping done.  They work slow and take long smoking breaks.

The supervisor will write in his/her report that the individual is not be invited back next week.  The individuals card balance falls to the cheese sandwich level.  Bouncing around from job to job would identify someone who needs training.

No different than now, except that someone with a problem gets help.

OK, what about the problem of professions with chronic worker shortages?

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[K-Dog]

There's still problems.  People who do their community service job might be slackers.  They show up for work and pick up the broom, but they don't get much sweeping done.  They work slow and take long smoking breaks.

The supervisor will write in his/her report that the individual is not be invited back next week.  The individuals card balance falls to the cheese sandwich level.  Bouncing around from job to job would identify someone who needs training.

No different than now, except that someone with a problem gets help.

OK, what about the problem of professions with chronic worker shortages?

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Those jobs pay better.  People still get paid.  How else are you going to get personal property if you don't earn money?

[RE]

Those jobs pay better.  People still get paid.  How else are you going to get personal property if you don't earn money?

That's not what I'm talking about.  I mean on the requirement that everyone has to do some low level jobs to fulfill their social responsibility.  Nurses would be needed to do nursing work during all their working hours.  You could make the same case for Doctors and Dentists.

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[RE]

Another article bemoaning the housing crisis, and another one drawing the same tired conclusion:

The crisis of housing affordability took years to emerge, and it'll take years to solve.

Yea, great, so what are we supposed to do in the meantime?

Now, he does point out Socialized Housing is an essential:

Whitzman was also quick and careful to point out that nonmarket housing is an essential part of any answer to the problem. In the United States, the idea of a green social housing development authority provides some hope for tackling two problems at once: housing and climate change. In Vienna, Austria, rents are much lower than similar cities in Europe thanks to its 220,000 socialized housing units.

Not sure where this green social housing development authority idea is coming from or who is promoting it?   This is the first time I've heard anything about it.  The example of Vienna though has merit.

The reason WHY not getting socialized housing going is brought up:

Shortcuts run the risk of tanking existing equity and the fortunes of those who rely on their biggest asset to make it to and through retirement.

As I mentioned with the Thought Experiment of the Free Basic Container Housing idea, if you offer TRULY affordable housing to everyone, then it will tank the value of housing all the way up the line until you get to the luxury housing for the elite, because nobody would move out of the free or even just low cost socialized housing until their incomes were really high, otherwise the upgrade in your living standard isn't worth the 50% of your take home pay it costs.  So we are protecting the value of the Boomers homes so they have a comfortable retirement at the expense of having affordable housing for Millenials.

What really pisses me off here is the "Enough Already!" title of this article when it's just another contribution to what we already have enough of, which is people moaning about it, saying it will take years to solve and then not really doing anything to get it solved.  They identify the CAUSE of the problem which is the financialization of housing and treating it as an asset which can be used for profit rather than as a social obligation and fundamental right of all the members of the society.  Their long term solution is "years of rising incomes and stable prices to really make a difference".  Where on the horizon are years of rising incomes coming from when we have had DECADES of falling incomes and rising prices, and nothing systemic is being done to change that dynamic?

So, once again, short of Revolution and/or Collapse, this problem is not gtting solved anytime soon and we'll keep on getting more of what we have already had more than enough of.

https://jacobin.com/2024/07/housing-crisis-homelessness-financialization

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[K-Dog]

Or how someone making twenty bucks an hour can't find a place to live.

Merica, do you still love it?

[K-Dog]

The Answer:

Build more housing.

[RE]

The Answer:

Build more housing.

Astoundingly obvious.   

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[TDoS]

Merica, do you still love it?

Anyone still living here must not think it is all that bad, otherwise they would have left for greener pastures already. How about that for a measure of how a citizen thinks about America? If you think of how the current slow movign American invasion is happening, it is because conditions elsewhere are intolerable enough to leave everything behind and make a bold leap into the unknown, and hopefully better. It was how America came about, and applying the same logic, if it was as bad as some think it is, why are they still here? If Venezuelans can vote with their feet across all the dangers between them and the US southern border, how ball-less are Americas to do it as well? Canada perhaps, it is a nice place, half of its speaks English. Some European countries would be nice etc etc.

[RE]

As long time readers know, I've always been a strong supporter of having a "Bugout Machine" as a collapse prep, not so much for civilization collapse asfor the more common local disasters or personal ones like losing your job and not being able to afford rent.  I kept my BMs continuously from 2008 through to after my amputation.  Always gave me an extra sense of security.  One of my best interviews was with Van Dweller, who had been living in his van since the 1960s.  He even lived here in Alaska for 3 years.  3 5 gallon cans of kerosene got him through the winters.

The subculture of people living this way is quite large, they have periodic meet ups each year in Arizona and Georgia  to share ideas, strategies, good locations and meet new people.  Sort of like nomadic HGs in prehistoric times.

Far as tools go, usually they carry quite a few,, many are itinerant construction workers.

Here's a nostalgic video from when I ran my food truck in the parking lot of my old apt.

Many more still up on the Diner Utube Channel.
.

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[RE]

As you can see here in this article, the housing situation continues to deteriorate at a rapid pace, from an already pretty bad baseline.  Far as political issues go, this one SHOULD be #1 on the Demodopes agenda and step up to the plate with a national plan for building affordable housing.  If they start hammering on that and drop letting trannies compete in girls sports, they might actually win some elections.

Leading Anchorage homelessness group raises alarm over 'affordable housing emergency'

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2025/03/08/leading-anchorage-homelessness-group-raises-alarm-over-affordable-housing-emergency/#

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[RE]

Now, the question is, what type of housing and where do you put it?  I think the Modular shipping Conex Tiny Home type housing is ideal for most locations.  It can be stacked to get good density and use of real estate.  It would come bare bones with just a cot to sleep on, a table and chair, a toilet, sink and shower.  Well insulated with heat and electricity.

The Brit Housing Councils must have read my suggestion for homeless housing solutions!  You heard it here first! 😁😎



https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/property-home/article/asylum-seekers-prefab-homes-portakabins-homelessness-uk-r8mxq9lkq

'Portakabin villages' plan to solve emergency housing crisis

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