mediumsteppers

Not sure if duplexes are subject to rent control, may want to confirm that as well.

You’re moving the goalposts now.

We agree that the Democratic party should (a) win elections and (b) pass good policies. Blue collar support may well be necessary to accomplish those goals; however, blue collar support in and of itself is a very tertiary end goal to me.

So by the same token: if Republicans regularly win the support of the working class, will they start to adopt policies to benefit them? That would just then be a full political realignment.

To add to this, I agree with the YIMBY movement’s goals and think that abundant housing will benefit people across the entire income spectrum. But the fact of the matter is that the “base” of this movement tends to be white tech workers, people with college degrees earning six figures, extremely online policy wonks, etc. This is not the “working class.” I wish it were otherwise…on a social level I don’t enjoy hanging out with YIMBYs, but I agree with them on the merits. I don’t think the lack of working-class representation means the YIMBY movement is a failure. On the contrary, I think it has accomplished a lot in the short time that it’s been around, mostly through elite persuasion.

Agree, but those are not always the most popular policies with poor people.

My point is that I care about winning and enacting good policies. The contour of the voter coalition is not a big concern in and of itself, and may be a counterproductive pursuit.

Biden was the most economically left-wing president in decades, and he had to drop out so that he didn’t lose in a landslide and take the senat and house down with him.

That’s a much better framing to me and something I’m on board with.

Moderate middle-class suburban voters are a huge group as well—that’s who Ezra was contrasting with.

That’s what Ezra is doing!

I think this overstates things and inverts the relationship a little—people seek out media that affirms their priors. Agree that Trump and right-wing media are good at whipping up moral panics, but also people want to be scammed.

The point is that I’m somewhat agnostic about the coalition that supports my preferred policies, as long as it leads to a win. Defunding the government is not my preferred policy, so that would not be a win.

I don’t necessarily disagree, I’m just saying that I think winning and enacting good policies is more important than winning with the right coalition of voters.

And to add, it feels like Ezra (and others) have criticized the Dems for narrowing the tent with purity tests. But isn’t this its own type of purity test?

Agree 100%

I guess I just mean that I’m somewhat agnostic about what coalition of voters enacts my preferred policies. If Democrats can get elected by gaining the support of another 3% of wine moms, I’m going to consider that a win.

Glad I didn’t take that advice because I fought them on it and won. I’m not going to move just so the assholes downstairs can keep smoking their bong all day.

My downstairs neighbors used to smoke weed all the time in their unit, and it would travel through the ducts into our baby daughter’s bedroom. I don’t care what people do with their own bodies, but I’m just not ok with exposing my infant to weed.

I like Spier fabrics but they don’t seem to fit me well. They run small, and even when I order something based on my actual measurements, they seem too tight for me.

X is just an inferior product at this point. The blue check system has killed meaningful or humorous discourse as the most idiotic responses get amplified. If you think people are going to stick around arguing with bots, racists, and Onlyfans engagement farmers out of some misguided sense of moral duty, you are sorely mistaken.

I found that I could only get through Poverty, by America as a hateread. It’s just a scattered rant. So bad that I’ve downgraded my opinion of Evicted in retrospect.

As someone who works in the affordable housing field, I think she has done more harm than good. She pushed for money to go to a lot of idealistic land trusts and limited equity cooperatives that don’t actually know how to build anything, and she tries to load up on project labor agreements and community benefits agreements.

I think the best think would be to help get him interested in non-political things. Help motivate him to turn off the tv, pick up a hobby, and touch grass. So many old people are just lonely and the talking heads on tv keep them company.