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Why For-Profit Housing Ruins Kitchens (www.currentaffairs.org)
submitted 3 months ago by OneRedFox@beehaw.org to c/socialism@beehaw.org
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When profit is the bottom line, functionality and human enjoyment do not matter.

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[-] Boozilla@beehaw.org 10 points 3 months ago

The kitchens are an issue, and the larger point about profits is spot on.

We desperately need more affordable high-density housing in the US. Unfortunately these places are often miserable to live in. Noisy, cramped, and cheaply made.

They don't have to be miserable. There are designs, and construction materials and methods that work better.

Working class people deserve more.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago

When profit is the bottom line, functionality and human enjoyment do not matter

Unless you’re selling to humans, at which point your profit becomes linked to the degree to which you provide the functionality and enjoyment that human is in the market for

[-] t3rmit3@beehaw.org 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

That is only true when supply outpaces demand, and buyers can choose not to purchase the shitty products, which is not the case for housing thanks to years of NIMBY and protectionist zoning regulations preventing housing development on the low end of the market.

Also, necessities completely upend the supposed "free market" dynamic by not being something buyers can opt-out of when no better option is available.

If you control necessities, people are trapped with you no matter how shitty your product is.

[-] onoira@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

at which point your profit becomes linked to the degree to which you provide the functionality

except when the commodity is a basic necessity and there's no alternatives. 'the market' can't really 'vote with their wallet' on the cost and quality of shelter, particularly when price fixing is rampant.

sidenote: 'voting with your wallet' implies people with more money than you should have more say in what's 'more valuable', because the rich can always outbid you, and homo economicus is only a thought experiment. (see: foreign real estate investment, conspicuous consumption…)

this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
24 points (100.0% liked)

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