Universal basic housing/Leftism
For universal basic housing (UBH) to really work as well as we'd want it to, maybe we'd need to overthrow capitalism. For this page, suppose we put aside the general discussion on whether revolution is good or bad - let's just do a thought experiment: How could UBH work, ideally, if we weren't bound to the rules of capitalism? Note that the laws of physics still apply here.
- Would it be enough to seize existing vacant housing from banks?
- If we need more housing than that, how much labor & resources would it take to build more, and/or subdivide existing units?
- Where would you draw the line for who to seize housing from?
- On one hand, there are rich capitalist landlords that hoard housing (i.e. own multiple apartment buildings).
- On the other hand, there are upper middle class people who own cottages they barely use. There are grandmothers who live alone in a big house and maybe sometimes rent out a room to someone. If housing is really scarce, could such homeowners be encouraged to share part of their homes, without being forced to? Could it be done in a way that doesn't take away privacy? Maybe a way to make it easy to subdivide housing? And what would be the incentive for the homeowner? I guess for very elderly homeowners there could be the benefit of having more people to care for them, without needing a nursing home? What else?
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