[ma2rten]

I actually don't know if the crime rate in SF is higher than elsewhere, but if it is I think cause is the opposite. It's what happens when capitalism goes unchecked. Cost of living is on the rise while wages are stagnant. Crimes are often committed by people who are desperate. Also there are no facilities for people who are mentally ill, who will go on to commit crimes.

[epicureanideal]

Capitalism isn't what's happening in SF.

NIMBYism, cronyism, inability to build, tons of regulatory red tape to do anything, high taxes, etc. is not capitalism.

[ako]

All of those may be true, but the bad effects of uncontrolled capitalism most likely also have something to do with the situation.

If you expect people to live by the rules, they should have a honest opportunity to do so. But if all they can get is a job that doesn't even pay for a small room, what are your possibilities to live a honest live?

If you remove punishment, but the only option people have is to break the law to survive, the only outcome to be expected is increased number of crimes.

[smsm42]

From all the videos I've seen of people robbing stores in San Francisco (and there are a few), none of them looked like people on the brink of starvation stealing food or medicine to avert certain death. They looked like a criminal gang taking expensive items with high resale value in order to make a quick profit. Because that's exactly what they were. They didn't do it because they couldn't survive otherwise. They did it because it's profitable and nobody was going to prosecute them for it.

[ALittleLight]

Those are the opposites of unconstrained capitalism. In unconstrained capitalism you'd have lots of building, building bigger multifamily residences and towers, no zoning getting in the way, little to no taxes, etc.

[ako]

I doubt that very much: building space is scarce in SF, as a property developer if you have a choice to build an expensive high revenue buidling versus a more affordable building for low income people, what would you choose?

In capitalism there is no driving force to ensure customer desires will or can be met, making profit is what drives it. You need constraints or laws to ensure commercially unattractive needs ar served.