Why Aren’t We Just Building Enough Houses for Our People?

When will I become the next victim of the housing crisis?

Joe Duncan
The Apeiron Blog

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

I’ll never forget Larry’s final Facebook post. I was scrolling and a mutual friend had shared it. It was a video of him sitting in his car late at night, parked somewhere in a park, and speaking candidly into the camera. He didn’t mince words. Larry told us that he was tired. He was tired of life.

“I’m just so tired. I’m so tired of trying. I’m so tired of trying to hold onto the little bit of hope I have left. I don’t have any hope left,” he said. He was exhausted.

He was exhausted with the struggle. Exhausted with the constant search for low-paid work. Exhausted with living poor and out of his car, sleeping in a reclined car seat that we all know is uncomfortable, even when we’re merely napping in it temporarily until we can get to a room and a bed. But Larry had no room to go to.

Occasionally, he’d hustle up enough money working the come-and-go construction jobs he’d get to afford a motel. But these motels, a thriving industry that flourishes by providing rooms to low-income renters who can’t afford the downpayment of a home, often doing more harm than good.

Without a break from constantly paying the high daily or weekly rates, which is sometimes…

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Published in The Apeiron Blog

An easy to read philosophical space that aims to elicit discussion and debate on matters of the universe.

Written by Joe Duncan

I’ve worked in politics for fourteen years and counting. Editor for Sexography: Medium.com/Sexography | The Science of Sex: http://thescienceofsex.substack.com

Responses (17)

What are your thoughts?

That would lower housing values, of course, but perhaps we’d be wise to look at houses as places we live rather than things we invest in.

Yes! I wonder what things would look like if the law restricted people from owning more than one home.

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It’s not that there are not enough homes. It’s that there are homes that will sit empty until someone can afford them. It’s that people who can afford more than they need, buy what they don’t. We don’t need to build more. We need to fill the empty space, even if the price of that space has to come down.

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Thank you for writing this - in particular your subtitle. People need to realize that in our uncaring Social Darwinist society, although they may feel safe this moment, they are in all likelihood one job loss (particularly if you are over the age of…...

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