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by anthonypasq 19 days ago
Yet we somehow managed to build the interstate highway system?

This is just so defeatist and annoying. Building houses isnt inherently hard. we've intentionally made it hard for no good reason.

2 comments

Yes, with exclusive zoning and permitting rules. That's the entire point of Abundance.

The housing market dwarfs the Interstate Highway System, by the way. It's like comparing Europa to Jupiter. But the defeatism thing you're saying here: that too is an Abundance argument. It's a thing we're pissed about: that the government can't just go build things anymore.

It sounds like you're already one of us. Come on in! We have a conference and everything.

I don’t think you finished reading my comment. If you want the government to build lots of housing, fine. But you just have to really commit to doing so and expect it to be a perpetual project. Building out the highway system worked because we never stopped building it. China was able to build out its high speed rail system because it planned on connecting the whole country (and it’s still building, to its own detriment).

If you’re going to build three new subway stops, or a single housing complex, you’re not going to keep any of that expertise. You hire some consultants and contractors and then they move on to something completely different at the end of the project.

> The reason people can make a lot of money building houses is that it’s really hard and requires a lot of specialized and localized knowledge to figure it out.

I fundamentally don't believe this is true. This shit isnt hard at all. its a fucking building. Creating EUV lithography machines is hard, creating cutting edge vaccines is hard. Building a building is not hard.