Anonymous
asked:
How about gentrification? I've seen the pro-property destruction people discussing that, and it's not illegal so appealing to the legal system wouldn't work. And often worker abuse laws are not enforced well, and bringing the lawsuits harms the workers.
theunitofcaring
answered:

1) I do not think ‘your livelihood is destroyed and you are possibly injured or killed in a mass riot’ is an appropriate penalty for ‘some asshole decided you were participating in gentrification’

2) Random mass violence sure is a way to keep property values down, I guess, but if your goal is ‘low property values, period’ rather than ‘livable communities with affordable housing’ then we just profoundly disagree on priorities. 

3) …and rioting and destroying businesses never harms the workers, I’m sure. Look, raise money so exploited workers can quit. Ask them what they want and do that - I guarantee you it’s not going to be ‘smash the business and attract tons of police attention’. Don’t decide for yourself who is guilty, decide for yourself that legal mechanisms won’t work, decide for yourself that peaceful mechanisms won’t work, destroy tons of stuff, and then call that ‘fighting for marginalized people’.  

4) If your radical leftist politics amount to ‘Kristallnacht, but trust us, they deserve it’ then I’m sorry but fuck you.

mitigatedchaos

What violent leftists think will keep housing affordable: using mob violence to physically prevent outsiders from moving in to a neighborhood.

What would actually make housing affordable: Japanese Zoning Laws

philippesaner

What are Japanese zoning laws?

mitigatedchaos

They have a maximum zone type instead of strict limitations of one type for one zone.

Click that link.  Look at how smart their plan is.

As a result of this and other policies, their booming metropolitan areas see no significant increase in housing prices relative to American cities and the UK.  I had a chart I saved for this but it’s elsewhere.  Basically, London prices have gone up like 500% without anywhere near a 500% increase in population, while Tokyo prices are up less than their % rise in population.