Rent control appears to be the most
efficient technique presently known
to destroy city - except for bombing.
efficient technique presently known
to destroy city - except for bombing.
In spite of economists explaining the harsh costs associated with rent control, New York city still uses this inefficient system. Most New Yorkers also favor the policy, fearing the skyrocketing rents that might result if rent controls ended.
What do you think of rent control? Why is rent control bad policy? Is rent control "efficient" as your book describes it? In the comment area, address the previous questions and use your knowledge of markets to argue for the end of rent control and assure residents of NYC that the world will not end if rent control does. Post at least one statement and comment on a classmate's post.
To read the comments or post your own comment click "comments" below.
78 comments:
I think rent control control will ever work, at least not until we acquire a perfect communist society.
Its not good, it hurts the poor more than it helps, and it doesnt matter if it doesnt get controlled because eventually it will even out anyways.
i don't like the idea of rent control because it doesn't even help the people its designed to help (the poor). I don't believe it's efficient because it still leaves people homeless. Even if NYC ended rent control people would be fine because the prices may skyrocket but later on decline. After the prices decline more people would be able to afford housing and less would be homeless.
I believe that rent control is the downfall of the housing market inNew York City because people abuse the system and the people that the system is meant to help (the very poor) are not getting the benefits of the system. I think that rent control should not be used and that they should ended. The bad thing about ending rent control is that the prices may skyrocket at first, but then they will settle back down so it is in New York City citizen's benefit to stop rent control.
I think that rent control will never work because its benefits reach beyond the intended recipients (low income individuals and families) and extend to wealthier citizens, giving them breaks they do not require. If New York City ends rent control and assists financially only those who require it, they would be putting more money into the housing market which, in return, would spur new growth and eventually lower housing cost.
like it said in the reading any kind of price control just produces shortages. Landlords don't rent out their places because they cant get enough rent to pay the land taxes and in some cases utilities. I think rent control should be ended. And on a separate note I'm sorry master of the world but this great nation will never diminish itself to communism.
It is interesting that Master of the World brings up communism. Communism is essentially the government running the entire economy on a system of price controls and ignoring the prices determined by the market - as a result, shortages are a chronic problem in a communist society.
Mr. Wolla
I agree with the people that answered ahead of me that rent control hurts the poor more than helping them. The articles clearly show how rent control is bad and yet some cities still use it. Prices may go up at first but will eventually settle at the equilibrium of the supply and demand. With that said I believe that these cities should not use rent control any more.
The current rent control system in New York City is deffective, destructive, and ultimately undesireable. As stated in the article "Rent Control is the Real New York Scandal", the system has been in place since 1946, is causing a warped housing market, giving incentives to those who do not need them, as well as decreasing housing stock. From the second article "New York's Self Destruction", it is said that rent control's direct cost is $2 billion dollars a year due to the need of public assisted housing and the homeless. In my opinion, rent control should be an obsolete form of running a city's housing.
Rent control in New York will never work . It doesn't support the poor and it benifits the wealthy. The rent control system destroys the city's housing market by not allowing the landlords who own rent controlled apartments to make enough extra income to pay for repairs. It also makes it hard for people to be able to move, because it would be very hard to get the same deal elsewhere. In the article it states that, "21 percent of the city's renters live in apartments that are bigger or smaller than they would otherwise occupy."
I believe that master of the world's comment about communism is wrong. A communist goverment doesn't go by market prices, for they increase prices of goods when there is shortages and decrease prices when there is surpluses. Thinking that when they raise prices, businesses would increase production driven by their desire to increase profits, in doing so eliminate shortages. When there is surpluses the goverment would lower prices, hoping that buisnesses would slow down production in order to prevent loses. There for Communism doesn't usually work out because the businesses only increase their production to a certain level so they could keep the prices high, causing the poor to loose out.
this is to clear up what i said earlier about the "perfect communist society". What i meant was a pure communist society (stateless communism) such as Marx describes after there is no more need for government and everyone is at an equal social/economic status.
but ANYWAYS yeah i totally agree with zach that (with present human nature where communism couldnt work) it really only hurts the people it is trying to help more than a system that is unregulated and is allowed to reach equilibrium for all classes.
Well, it's looking like we aren't going to be doing much more than agreeing, because I think that rent control hurts the poor more than it helps them as well. With the government controlling price, equilibrium can never be reached and there will always be a shortage of housing. Like the articles said, with the high demand for housing, land lords have a lower incentive to keep buildings up. Another point that should be brought up is that with regulated rent, land lords make less money than they could make if they were setting their own rents. This gives them less money to allocate toward renovation of apartments. I think the best solution is to drop rent regulation and build more apartments.
ethan hr.6
Rent control in New York must be ended. People fear that without rent control the prices of apparments would skyrocket. This may happen initially but the resulting benefits will be greater. The article "Rent Control Is The Real New York Scandal" refers to wealthy people taking advantage of the rent control, which is meant for the poor. Also it mentions that single tenants occupying large apartments are hesitant to move due to the fact that they may not be able to find another affordable appartment. I think that if rent control was abolished builders would then have the incentive to build affordable housing rather than luxury appartments. This would help with the housing shortage and also create housing for low income tennants and the people occupying larger appartments than they need. All in all, building new affordable housing would benefit the poor more than the rent control did. Yes, at first the rents in New York would go up, but the equilibrium price would eventually be met.
I pretty much agree with everything everyone else said, except (master of the world). Communism would be a billion times worse than if the whole country was under rent control.
Pretty much I agree with everyone on here. Rent Control=Dumb Idea. Yeah whoever came up with it wanted to help the poor, but it's not exactly working in their favor. Unless making them homeless is in their benefit? Yeah ending it now prices will go up, but eventually they'll reduce. So the cities that still have Rent Control, need to not have it. It's not efficient.
Everyone has the right idea about rent control except master of the world. Even in a perfect communist society, rent control would not work because the government can't guess the right prices to set apartments at, the only thing that can do that is supply and demand. Rent control only makes builders want to put up more luxury units and not put up affordable apatments for low-income workers, which was what the system was made for in the first place. As stated in the article,"Rent Control is the Real New York Scandal","The regime has also incentivized builders to put up more luxury units." I believe that New York should be weined off of rent control in order not to shoot up prices and to get rid of this terrible system that is in effect in over 70% of New York apartment buildings.
Master of the World, READ THIS!
A lawyer, a surgeon, a builder and a communist were having an argument about whose trade was older.
'When God condemned Adam and Eve and exiled them from paradise,' said the lawyer, 'that was a legal act! So my profession is the oldest.'
'But please,' the surgeon said, 'before that God created Eve from Adam's rib. And that was a surgical operation! So my profession is older.'
'Forgive me,' said the builder, 'but a little bit earlier than that God created the world, he constructed it. So my profession is the oldest. Because as is known, there was only chaos before that.'
'And who created chaos?' the communist exclaimed triumphantly. 'Certainly, we communists!'
When did the first communist elections take place?
When God put Eve before Adam and said: 'Choose yourself a wife!'
A socialist, a capitalist and a communist agreed to meet. The socialist was late. 'Excuse me for being late, I was standing in a queue for sausages.'
'And what is a queue?' the capitalist asked.
'And what is a sausage?' the communist asked.
What I’m trying to say is that your “perfect” or “pure” communist society cannot and never will be. It is not our “present human nature” that holds it back; it is the fact that we are sentient beings that desire freedom and individuality.
Political Philosophies Explained in Simple
"Two-Cow" Terms
Socialism:
You have two cows. You keep one and give
one to your neighbor.
Communism:
You have two cows. The government takes them
both and provides you with milk.
Fascism:
You have two cows. The government takes them
and sells you the milk.
Capitalism:
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
i think that rent control is a bad idea. i mean when you look at it it is the start of communism because all that the government is doing is putting a set price on everything having everyone made equal. but that is not the effect, the rich pay what the poor should be paying but they can't because the people with steady employment are getting the apartments that are meant to the poor, what i mean is that the rich are getting an easy ride because they have to pay the minimum. the poor are getting the worst deal because the landlords are looking out fro themselves and only giving the apartments to the people with the higher incomes and steady jobs, leaving the poor either homeless or stuck in the ghetto because landlords are least likely to maintain their property when they can only make a set amt of money.
i think that rent control is a bad idea. i mean when you look at it it is the start of communism because all that the government is doing is putting a set price on everything having everyone made equal. but that is not the effect, the rich pay what the poor should be paying but they can't because the people with steady employment are getting the apartments that are meant to the poor, what i mean is that the rich are getting an easy ride because they have to pay the minimum. the poor are getting the worst deal because the landlords are looking out fro themselves and only giving the apartments to the people with the higher incomes and steady jobs, leaving the poor either homeless or stuck in the ghetto because landlords are least likely to maintain their property when they can only make a set amt of money.
i agree with everyone that says that rent control won't work because it is really only helping the rich and not the poor sure its keeping everyone at the same price but it is only helping the rich when it was intended to help the poor
I agree with everyone. Rent control might seem like a good idea in theory, but it sounds better than it works. Since the supplyers wouldn't want to supply as many apartments because of the rent control, more people would just end up homeless because there would actually be less apartments. If rent control went away we would have more apartments available. The price might go up for a bit, but eventually it would have to go back to normal and more people would be able to have apartments and everyone would be better off.
I concur. The rent control system can only lead to disaster. Renting at a low price will force landlords to only supply a few amount of housing and then only choose realiable tenants. Thus this system wouldn't really help the people it was ment for, which were the poor.
And i agree with everyone who said that once rent control is executed the prices will go up, but once the landlords figure out that people can't afford to stay in them they would lower the prices back to their original state.
To Zach and whoever else that was that posted those analogies: those were really awesome. They really show the difference between capitalism and communism. Sorry to the "master of the world" but your "perfect" and "pure" communist society won't ever be reached because communism is as far from perfect and pure as you can get. Look at the problems rent control is causing in one city. Now apply that to all aspects of life. Grocery shopping, cars, fashion... That would cause even bigger problems. sorry, but it just ain't gonna happen.
who knows. maybe rent control would work with aliens. just throwing that out there.
I think that New York should, if possible, try to slowly take away rent control from their city. Like anything, you can't just take something away all at once if that's all you've ever known or it has just been that way for a long time. I definitely agree with pretty much everyone on this blog, because everyone is saying how bad rent control is. I don't know if it is right, or if it would even work, but maybe NYC could try to eliminate rent control little by little.
I'm sure aliens would be having the same problems we are having with the rent control...
i think that rent control is a bad idea. they say its going to benefit the poor but in reality it isn't doing anything and only giving breaks to the wealthy people. yes i do believe they should end rent control because its only going to cause more problems in the future. the government with rent control doesn't come to an equilibrium so there is a lot of shortages. but the prices would raise and then they would drop later, so that's not all that bad. i agree with pretty much everyone that rent control is a bad idea.
Kaylee Hour5
I think that rent control is a bad idea. Rent control is meant to help the poor, but in the real world the only people that are taking the benefits from it are the wealthy. A lot of people are still homeless, and the wealthy are getting price cuts that they don't really need.
I think rent control should be ended, even if prices will greatly increase at first, they will eventually even out over time.
I agree with jake because the system of rent control is being abused, and the people that are supposed to be getting help from it aren't.
Kaitlyn Hour 6
I would have to agree with everyone's view that rent conrol is a bad idea.I think rent control does the opposite of what it is intended to do and is very destructive to society. It's meant to help the poor but it just makes things way harder for them. It slows down the development of housing, so less people have places to live and people are still homeless. I think New York's best bet to fix their housing market is to eliminate rent conrol entirely.
Morgan is probably right in saying that the landlords are only looking out for themselves. They don't think about how much the poor actually need apartments, they just give them to the rich, who can for sure pay the rent. It's too bad that some landlords play favorites.
I don't think that rent control really works. It's a cause of city's financial problems. It is suppose to benefit the poor but it only benefits the wealthy. In article 2, it says it is costing people 2 million a year for rent control. I think rent control should be stopped.
I agree with kaitlyn in hour 6. i think rent control only benefits the wealthy and it was intended to benefit the poor. this is why rent control should be ended.
ok, well i guess im gonna have to be a devils advocate here, and since communism jokes are funny how bout these.
Capitalism: You don't have any cows.
The bank will not lend you money to buy cows, because you don't have any cows to put up as collateral.
or do u like american styled capitalism?
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when the cow drops dead.
Now pure communism (WHERE THERE IS NO LONGER A NEED FOR GOVERNMENT) as I see it:
There are no government regulations on rent because there is no longer a need for government control (or rent). In this possible idealist society everyone would give their jobs a 100% effort and everyone can live in nice, kept up, average apartments. There are no poor, there is no longer a "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie".
So, in this system, there are no homeless, prices, or poor.
p.s.
to all the people here that dont understand, im not talking about Russian, Cuban, Chinese, or Korean communism. Im talking about a theoretical utopia where everyone works for the betterment of society as a whole.
mr. wolla said that if rent control was removed from NY then there would be many new buildings put up and NY would lose its flavor. I don't live there and when i go to visit i would rather see the older architecture than new buildings with more apartments available for the people to live there. I like rent control in NY because of this.
drew
p6
In my opinion, the article is right, the rent control is not really helping the poor, instead it is helping the rich. The solution mention by the article, might work too. Make the rich enjoying rent control pay the market price. This may atleast solve the housing shortage in New York
Divya N (5th hour)
I agree with drew that though, the old architecture in Manhattan is nice, it does not mean that we foresake the poor living conditions there. The food itself is more expensive in the city than outside. Just because some out of towner want to visit New York City once in a lifetime others should have no home? I support building of new apartment housings
Divya (p5)
... if there were ever communism in america i would leave and i believe many other americans would do the same. oh master of the world please tell me how communism works when the very idea of it will drive away the most productive people of the country. common sense says if you are required to carry all of the unproductive people on you back you would just get up and leave. Oh wait maybe communism would work if you just locked every person in this country and forced everyone into communism rule. I guess communism might be the government america needs.
drew p6
Rent control is being pushed to the limit. People are saying that it will ruin the city and too many people will be left homeless. I think that rent control is alright. Plenty of people can go find housing around the city. If a person has been living in the apartment for twenty some years, then they should pay the same amount.
Lynda 5
I like Drew's thoughts on the "flavor" of New York. The city is rather beautiful and ethnic. If new buildings were built it would take away from it all, but if they were built in one specific area, it would create another layer to the city.
Lynda 5
I think that rent control is ultimately not helping the people in NYC that have lower incomes. Even though that is the purpose of rent control, it just isn't happening. Instead, you only get a good rental price if you are " well connected" in the city. Also, the controlled rents aren't increasing the number of affordable apartments, so as I said before rent control isn't doing any good.
well drew, i did say it was a theoretical society where everyone would be willing to give 100% effort to whatever job they have and be comparatively equally productive. Also, in your logic thats exactly what your doing in this current society. Everyone pays taxes a bit of that money goes to things like welfare that do carry people that maybe aren't as productive as you. In the communist utopia i described there wouldn't be the need to carry the unproductive people because they would put as much effort into their jobs as you, and everyone else does. How about and example of a lawyer and a roofer. Just because in our society a lawyer makes more money that the roofer does that mean the roofer is less productive? The lawyer depends on the roofer to give him a dry home so maybe the roofer has a more important job than the lawyer has settling petty disputes. In that logic the roofer should be paid more.
So what it really comes down to is that in a pure communist society if you put 100% effort into your job you should be equal to any other person who does the same.
i think that rent control in NYC is not working. it is supposed to be helping the poor, but in reality it's only helping the wealthy. If they ended rent control there prices would go up at first but then even out. Because of this, there would be less homeless people.
I think i agree with everyone else on this page in saying that rent control in New York City will never work and will never be a good thing. It was supposed to help the low to middle class but it doesn't even do that. It is doing the exact opposite by giving the benefits of the this system to the upper class. This system should be ended. At first, if the system is ended, the prices will rise higher than usual, but after time will even themselves out and decline.
i agree with morgan when she said that people with a steady income are the ones getting all the apartments that are meant to be for the poor. not only are the rich getting all the apartments, but they are getting big price cuts on them too. landlords are giving them to people with higher incomes because they know they will be able to pay for the rent. this is ultimately why there are more and more people on the streets in NYC.
lawyers are paid more than roofers because of supply and demand. what is more valuable gold or water?... in logic water should be worth more according to you. you said that in a communist theoretical society everyone gives 100% and if will work perfectly. what happens to the people who will not give 100% effort? do we just dispose of these people since they are now a burden on society and no longer equals to those who give their full effort.
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be the last one to comment, but in my defense, okay, i don't have a defense, but seriously, i didn't mean to put it off this long.
Interesting converstaion about comunism, but more on that later.
Rent Control does not work. That is all there is to it. Any argument for it, there is a stronger argument against it. Any problems it seems to solve, there are better solutions that helps more people. Any benefits, there are greater costs, and so forth. Just a few reasons, the landlords do have less incentive to do any renovations or repairs. That is all there is to it. Nothing else matters. If the money isn't there, they probably won't do it. How many of us would do a job that we would be paid nothing or very little? They are going to do as much as they are paid to do. Another reason is the fact that there aren't going to have any new buildings made. Why would builders make them? There are other buildings that are going to pieces (literally), and no one to do anything about it because they can't. And about the new buildings taking away from the old, I think Lynda has the right point. Don't get rid of the old buildings, repair them. Then add on new additions elsewhere. Another point is all the people who are taking advantage and abusing the system. That's why the market is so important. It makes those who should be paying a certain price for a certain item pay it. Those who can afford more expensive living are taking away from those who really do need lower living expenses. And those who are currently living in places with rent that is far below what they should be paying aren't going to just step aside and let some more deserving person in. Once they are there, they know that they can't get out, because anywhere else they will go will be a downgrade if you will, because it will probably be smaller but for equal or greater price.
Since I am probably one of the last to comment, mostly what is going to be said by me was already said. that was inevitable. But I believe if we all understand this concept we will be able to start understanding and grasping more and more, and if we keep on this path, hopefully we will be able to do better in the future.
And I was going to try to stay out of the communism subject, but, what's the use of thinking about an idealized society where 100% of all the people would have to be willing to give 100% in order to make the society work. It isn't going to happen, so why spend any time trying to make it work?
Okay, I'm done.
Jenn R. Fifth hour.
I believe that rent control is bad for the well-being of a city simply because it discourages the city to build modern, up to date apartments, and doesnt really help the poor like its supposed to do. It is a bad policy because it hurts the very same people it was ment to help in the sense that there are not enough apartment buildings for all the poeple who need them and the poor people usually end up on the short end of the stick due to the fact that landlords can be more selective in who they choose to occupy their apartments. If rent control was put to an end in NYC the rents of most apartments would go up drasticly right away but then more apartments would be built almost immediatly and there would be much more housing available to the people who need it.
i forgot to put 6th hour in the post i just did but that is me to... I agree with Jake in the fact that rent control is the major contributor to the downfall of the housing market in NYC because many people abuse the system and they people it is meant to help suffer the most because there is no place for them to live.
Kyle 6th hour
Rent control is dumb. It is slowly tearing away at New York City. The regulations have been in place since 1947 and were expanded in 1969. It is not right that people who can well afford a nice appartment at market price are taking up all the appartments designed for the poor. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer in this situation. This whole set of laws can be eliminated and will help the economy of New York City. Prior to rent control 30,000 units a year were built. From 1990-1991 more housing was lost than gained. It is really surprising that somebody doesn't take a hint and eliminate rent controls.
I agree with weez because the rich are benefiting from this and the poor are really not. I also agree that prices may get high for a period of time but free market will bring them back down to affordable prices that are fair to everyone.
I don't think rent control would work and I don't see how the people who made it didn't see that when they made it. The poor people are still making the same amount of money, and the rent is still the same amount of money, just capped. That means that rich people don't have to pay as much as they should and poor people are paying the same. I agree with mostly everybody here, except for david h master of all things LAME. Everybody basically summed up anything that needed to be said.
i completely disagree with rent control. Rent control doesnt really help the poor at all and it helps the rich by making them richer and giving them breaks on rent. its stated that over 75% of appartment are controlled, some of which have rates frozen at 1947 prices. This is not right. people should have to work hard and pay the same prices as everybody else.
I Disagree with the master of the world. it might work in a pure communist world, however that will never be achieved. human nature doesnt allow it. Also He-Man, master of the universe, was way cooler than master of the world.
I think rent control is a bad thing because it doesn't help the poor. It helps the rich who don't need help. rent control should not be used because it still leaves poor people homeless and doesn't do what it is intended to do.
I completely agree with jake in hour 6. I agree that New York should drop their system of rent control cause its not helping the poor. It is helping the rich who don't need it. I agree that after it is dropped the prices will skyrocket but soon after they will go back to normal.
Master of the World no jokes this time... wait... I got one, Communism. No matter how you decorate your idea or play out your “utopia” defense, it is still a fantasy that will never happen. You say that “if everyone gave 100%” it would work. In reality no one gives 100% on anything. Even if I achieve 100% when doing something (let’s say a test) I still have not operated as efficiently as I could have. There is always room to do better and improve (faster for example) and you can always get better (faster) and you can never reach 100% because there is no set human limit. So in your utopia, the inhabitants would have reached “100%” in everything, because they have no room to improve. (They would essentially become the cow you milk for the milk of four cows as you say.) So in theory, you would only need one perfect inhabitant, who could do everything, and when there is only one inhabitant of course there will be a perfect society...
Until you have to reproduce...
Good luck!!
Maybe communism and infinity are the same place.
I disagree with rent control. From these articles it makes it seem like it just benefits the wealthy, or those people who know someone, which is true. Rent controls have been around since 1947, then changed again in 1971 and 1997 because someone finally realized that it was helping the wealthy renters. Today, however, some 43, 317 people are paying the 1947 rent price. That is obviously not right! Although lawmakers have been attempting to assist the not-so wealthy people, they are only making it more difficult for everyone because then more people will be able to rent an apartment.
I totally agree with basically everyone on here haha. David makes a good point by comparing this rent control with a communist society and i like those analogies:) Rent control is causing shortages, and giving the wealthy an advantage, which is not what this rent control system was made to do.
Rent control is a good thing but a bad thing at the same time. On the one hand your rent is less but on the other hand there is less places to rent because the landowners do not want to rent there places for such a low price. Josh in 5 hour
I think david has a point but a bad one at that because we as the human race are imperfect and are unable to resist the urge of absolute power. So in other words a communist society will never ever work while we are humans........
Josh in 5 hour
I do not agree with rent control. It does not help the poor and that is who it was created for. It will never work to help these people so they should just get rid of it.
Most people said that they do not agree with rent control. I agree with them and it does not help the poor, it helps the wealthy when they are the ones hat do not need help with their rent.
Rent control is a bad policy because it isn't efficient. The price ceiling set on the rent doesn't allow equilibrium to over take, and even out, the market.
P.S.
this is america we have a capitalist economy.. if you dont like it move to north korea
Rent control, sounds like a good thing on paper but unless you are Charlie Rangel or David Paterson, there is little benefit in it for you. I see the problem people worry about though if rent control was lifted. They only look into the near future, but if they knew anything about the market from an economists point of view they would see the prices settle back into the equilibrium.
I agree with people who say that the poor still don't benefit even when the system is supposed to be in their favor. No matter what the rich see to find some way to take advantage of such systems
I personally don't think rent control is good in any way. It's design to help the poor pretty much just backfired. Instead, the more wealthy, who actually could afford to buy or build their own home take advantage of rent control. It's an example of the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. Everywhere else (except for maybe them darn communist countries) have switched all but New York. And I believe that NYC could house way more people in a more efficient manner if they got rid of rent control
Eric hour 6
I definitely agree with Harv (Zach). Communism isn't some magical fairy land with cute bunnies and such, like some beleive that what infinity is.
Eric hour 6
josh K has the intelligence level of an average lab rat
rent control only helps the wealthy and those with steady jobs, it was created so the poor would be able to afford monthly rent but instead they are not able to rent at all because everything is given to the ones with a higher salary.
Yeah, I agree with most everyone in this blog. Rent control basically only helps the rich and not the poor.
i agree with most of the people on here. with rent control comes a shortage of housing which then causes people with out a place to live except for the ghettos which were created by the rent control in the first place.
I think rent control does NOT work. Rich people are benefiting from it instead of the poor like it is supposed to be. Mr. Rangel has four rent-stabilized apartments! All that room for one man... unbelievable!!
i agree with about 99% of everybody that blogged. :)
Mh hour 6
ok, so here it goes.
first turner: He-Man is one of the masters of the universe, but his title is The Most Powerful Man in the Universe... nerd
secondly i will respond to josh.
I didnt say it would work, i know, i agree it couldnt work because we are imperfect and cant resist corruption. i was simply trying to show what it would be like if humans did change, and could go beyond things like lazyness and greed. You know, everyone working together for society as a whole(aka pure communism).
okay now zach...... whyyyyyyyy?
you do realize i just had got done saying i knew it probably would never happen. and then you say:
"in theory, you would only need one perfect inhabitant, who could do everything, and when there is only one inhabitant of course there will be a perfect society..."
nooooooo. how can it be a society with 1 person? The perfection of the utopia comes from everyone working together, with no 1 person who is better than the others.
Oh yeah, did u just call my communists cows you milk? thats just harsh.
and sorry to wolla for destroying this blog with a side discussion about communism.
"Communism is for us not a state of affairs which is to be established, an ideal to which reality [will] have to adjust itself. We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence."
–Karl Marx
I hope to have the last comment and someday get to infinity! I agree with David that he singlehandedly destroyed this blog with communism talk.
I think that rent control can only hurt the economy and thus should be done away with. I think that the government should only interfere with economics when there is imminent need. If NYC could do away with rent control I think that the city would be more prosperous.
I will agree with the master of Economics that the (master of the world) single-handedly took this discussion off-topic. Communism will never work except in a "perfect" society, so drop it.
Could you start a blog about the book we just started reading? It wouldn't be for a grade at all but it could just be for general discussion of the book and our views on it. Just a proposal.
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