The problem isn’t the powers that be. A lot of regular homeowners fight new developments tooth and nail. And many blue states unfortunately give them a lot of tools to do so.

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epistasis 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

People want to blame the 1% for massive wealth ineqality, but when it comes to unaffordable housing, a basic necessity of life, the villain is actually about 30% of the population that is rich enough to own homes, act like rentiers, and block access to neighborhoods and opportunities.

The greatest inequality difference is that between those with housing assets and those without. Yes the 1% are a problem but they are not the reason that young people can no longer afford housing without generational wealth, that's all due to the seemingly normal guy that's enforcing a class system based on home ownership versus non-ownership.

	▲	shimman 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think the majority of the electorate very much blame the people you're talking about. Who do you think progressives and MAGA refer to when talking about neoliberals? They're talking about the corporate class; those that care more about money but willing to play up useless culture war issues that impact small amounts of people.

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solid_fuel 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> A lot of regular homeowners fight new developments tooth and nail.

In a system where those with more capitol have more power, homeowners are the powers that be. They're more likely to vote and have more money for discretionary spending - like donating to politicians.

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calvinmorrison 6 hours ago | parent [-]

People have been steered for decades into using their home as a vehicle for retirement. Of course they want to protecet it.

	▲	solid_fuel 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I'm not blaming individual homeowners, there are very strong incentives for treating homes like retirement investments. It's an issue of policy, but we do have to address that it is also causing rent to rise and contributing to the homelessness crisis.

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JumpCrisscross 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> A lot of regular homeowners fight new developments

Which is self interested. The paradox is renters being turned against their own interests by large landlords pitching anti-gentrification.

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lovecg 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Don’t know why this is being downvoted, that’s exactly right. One needs only to attend a local city meeting about any smallest step towards more development to see how the voters think.