While I agree that landlords are vampires, that here is wrong:
> But there is a stack of research a mile high that shows that the number one thing we need is a lot more housing supply
There are millions of units vacant everywhere, be it the US [1] or Germany [2]. The last thing the world needs is more housing construction, especially with the insane CO2 footprint of anything involving concrete.
The problem is that rural areas ("flyover states") have been left to rot: no reliable electricity grid, no public transport, basic infrastructure from grocery stores over schools to basic healthcare has closed down, no high-speed Internet which is a necessity for modern life - and particularly the latter is a major contributor in rural flight, as employers move towards more urban areas, which sets off a vicious cycle as the people follow the jobs, and the remaining infrastructure becomes too expensive to maintain. That this neglect is a direct cause of people losing trust in democracy is just the icing on the cake (and again, this also contributes to rural flight as LGBT and women flee far-right areas in droves).
We need to invest into rural areas again.
[1] https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/16-million...
[2] https://www.demografie-portal.de/DE/Service/Blog/191028-Wohn...
> But there is a stack of research a mile high that shows that the number one thing we need is a lot more housing supply
There are millions of units vacant everywhere, be it the US [1] or Germany [2]. The last thing the world needs is more housing construction, especially with the insane CO2 footprint of anything involving concrete.
The problem is that rural areas ("flyover states") have been left to rot: no reliable electricity grid, no public transport, basic infrastructure from grocery stores over schools to basic healthcare has closed down, no high-speed Internet which is a necessity for modern life - and particularly the latter is a major contributor in rural flight, as employers move towards more urban areas, which sets off a vicious cycle as the people follow the jobs, and the remaining infrastructure becomes too expensive to maintain. That this neglect is a direct cause of people losing trust in democracy is just the icing on the cake (and again, this also contributes to rural flight as LGBT and women flee far-right areas in droves).
We need to invest into rural areas again.
[1] https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/16-million...
[2] https://www.demografie-portal.de/DE/Service/Blog/191028-Wohn...