Socialists should embrace luxury apartments

https://www.ft.com/content/d15171ec-6665-40c6-99df-6962bcf4c761

by paulpauper • 3 days ago

2 9 3 days ago

rekabis• 3 days ago

Why? The vast majority of people will never be able to afford a luxury apartment.

Now affordable apartments, which have dispensed with the limestone or quartz countertops and the imported Italian tile floors and all the other fancy bits and baubles that jack up the price by 50% or more, THAT is what we need a lot more of. Not drab or dreary accommodations, but thoughtfully designed places that maximize livability while minimizing cost.

Let me see a low-cost but functionally robust and well-built apartment that won’t need major repairs or upgrades for 30-50 years, and I would gladly see a small part of my taxes carved out to lower the monthly costs that renters are faced with.

The Vienna model is particularly apropos to this situation.

Because what we need is housing that is trivially affordable to ALL of the working class, and not just the parasite class.

And the true measure of any society is how they support and take care of their most vulnerable members.

matchbok33• 3 days ago

Did you read the article? There is ample evidence to support the article's title.

eesmith4• 3 days ago

I didn't, as I am not a subscriber. My views are similar to rekabis. Could you perhaps summarize the evidence?

I mean, Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism sounds fun and all, but at what cost to the environment? Is it warmed-over trickle-down economics? Why are the progressive taxes on those people so low that they can afford a luxury apartment, and how did they make that money in the first place?

Just how deluxe is "luxury"? Is an extra 25% of living space per person (and a room of one's one) sufficient luxury? Because what I've seen, "luxury" is a never-ending hedonic treadmill as rich people judge their luxury by what even richer people can afford.

Lastly, the FT is the newspaper for the already-well-off, with summer homes in France and fancy kitchens, who likely want comfort that the luxury they have is justified.

Socialists should embrace luxury apartments

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