In Defense Of Housing - You don't have to be stupid to get confused, and a lot of good-intentioned lefties in the United States are really confused about housing, real estate, and why house prices are high in some places. One book, In Defense of Housing, shows the beauty: the authors are not stupid. On the contrary, the book is well researched and explained and well written. But the premise that the source of the house price problem is housing commodification again obscures how housing shortages lead to high prices – and futility – in the marketplace. The commodification of housing is not a problem, but the lack of housing is.
First of all, the authors are absolutely right, housing is a commodity. Like cereals, cars and mobile phones, houses are built with private investment and sold with the intention of recouping the initial investment. The book gives a perfect example, an apartment for rent. In some housing markets, monthly housing costs are so high that there is a financial incentive to rent an apartment, pay monthly rent, and then sublet that apartment to someone else for a profit. Again, this kind of behavior is driven by the promise of financial reward, turning the shelter into a commodity that can be bought and sold.
In Defense Of Housing
The problem is that this accurate description of the strange, profit-oriented behavior created by the housing shortage goes no further. Conclusion: abolish private property! If the land and residences were jointly owned by the government or other benevolent entities, all this madness would stop. Housing would be collectively owned and managed, decommodified and the crisis would be over. Here is a phrasing of this point of view presented in another article some time ago by one of capitalism's most eloquent and intelligent students and critics:
Housing, Erie, Pennsylvania. Electrician Wiring Defense Homes At The Franklin Terrace Housing Project. Homes Are Provided With Electricity, Sewage, Police And Fire Protection. In Many Cases, A Lump Sum For All Services
In the higher phase of communist society, after the slavish subjection of the individual to the division of labor and with it the contradiction between mental and physical labor had disappeared; after work became not only a means of livelihood, but also the main necessity of life; after also the productive forces increase with the overall development of the individual and all sources of cooperative wealth flow more abundantly - only then can the narrow horizons of civil law in its entirety be crossed and society inscribed on its flags: from each according to his ability , according to everyone's needs!
. I'm not being sarcastic about Marx. I am a student of his work and I believe he was really right. Private property leads to conflict and disenfranchisement of those who have no control over private property. Look no further than housing.
But what is lacking in a socialist approach to housing is not obvious – housing is scarce, it is always in demand so people can sell it for a profit – but exploring more deeply why housing is rare and asking if housing is good would provide relief to those causes. The truth is they won't.
Let's say that in the United States we have somehow reached an extraordinary state of consensus on housing and declared it a right, maybe even enshrined in the Constitution. And let's say the local authorities have dealt with it by studying and grinding a lot of data. Let's also assume they allocate 750 square feet to each person and at least 1,000 square feet to families. What would be next?
Lahore Real Estates
Someone should build all those apartments! Production requirements to meet demand in fast-growing cities will remain exactly the same as before the rise of the right to housing. What would also survive is the fierce resistance of local residents who resist change. Parking, design issues, visibility guards, "reckless growth" complaints, all would still be there - the very things that are encouraging movements in places like Los Angeles to halt all development. People in need would trade high apartment prices for rationalization - you get your 1,000 square feet in five years, in a place you don't want to live.
There is a solution to the problems current homeowners have against housing: getting rid of private ownership. Suddenly those who oppose the "Not-in-my-backyard" changes will no longer have the economic ties to oppose that new apartment building down the street. Adding more homes wouldn't dilute the value of the property with, well, no value because it was public property. I think you can see where this story would end. Attempts to privatize public property (see contributions by Charles I in the 17
V. England) or making common ownership of private property (see Russian Revolution) usually does not happen with a shrug and a smile - such moves lead to violence and civil strife.
So, as I said in a comment to a friend on social media, whether it's Che Guevara or Milton Friedman, you can't put 10 pounds of dirt in a 3 pound bag. The housing shortage is not the product of housing commodification, but of poor policies that undermine housing production in places where demand is high. That's where commodification comes from. If we had regulations in place to encourage the market to produce lots and lots of housing, the deficit would decrease, which would reduce the value of housing, along with much of the behavior associated with housing as a commodity.
Improving Public Housing For Our Family And Others: In Defense Of Rad Pact
Smart people can disagree about housing and even confuse the origin of the problem and the solution. For example, the answer is not simply "letting the market solve the problem", any more than abolishing private property. And what seems logical in theory, turns out to be simply not true in practice. The answer to high house prices is quite simple: more homes. However, as with many simple solutions, getting there is complicated. Markets can solve much of the housing shortage problem with higher production, and we can develop smart and efficient ways to subsidize housing. We need to stop discussing the cause and start looking for a solution, building more homes everywhere and for all income levels. WASHINGTON — W. Jordan Gillis, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainability and DoD Chief Housing Officer, is inviting DOD housing residents to participate in the department's annual Housing Satisfaction Survey, which begins in December.
Each year, through military departments, the DOD surveys current residents of state-owned, rented, or privatized family homes and current unaccompanied residents of privatized housing. The goal is to get feedback on their life experience.
A housing inspector conducts a quality assurance inspection of a home in the Patton Village residential area to prepare it for the move-in of a military family in Fort Benning, Georgia, November 21, 2020. Fort Benning has significantly tightened housing inspections over the past year as part of a wide-ranging effort to improve housing services locally. Recently, as part of that ongoing effort, officials here have set up a network of phone numbers and housing attorneys residents can contact to report maintenance needs and ensure those needs are properly met. These steps, combined with the use of an online work order system and a 24-hour lodging hotline, among others, are expected to significantly improve customer satisfaction with the maintenance service, officials said. (Photo: Patrick Albright) SEE ORIGINAL
Participation in the survey is voluntary and Gillis encourages residents to share their views on their current housing, resident services and community amenities. According to Gillis, “Resident feedback is important to help the department improve the quality of housing and customer service for residents.”
Micro Apartments Expand Housing Options Across Many Demographics
A link to the survey* is emailed to each household by one of two external consultancies that manage the collection, tabulation and analysis of feedback on behalf of the department. Only one person per address will receive the invitation email. All information about the respondents is confidential. It is not linked to the overall feedback results shared with DOD or results shared by DOD with privatized housing companies or other stakeholders.
An apartment building in the Timbers residential community in Fort Drum, N.Y. Built by Mountain Community Homes in 2009 for singles and unaccompanied military personnel, the four-building residential community was rated best in 2019. (Photo: Photo courtesy of Mountain Community Homes) VIEW ORIGINAL
The results of the study will help inform plans for near-term and future improvements to housing, resident services and community facilities. Gillis stressed the importance of getting the perspective of service members and families so that the department can provide them with a better quality of life through improved housing and community services.
Each military service will announce in December the exact date the investigation will begin; each survey remains open for responses for at least 45 days. Residents of government-owned, leased, or privatized DOD housing should contact their facility's military housing office if they have questions or need technical support, or if their household did not receive the survey link email by Dec. 18 .
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