HOUSING CRISIS IDEA. A good follow on X is @YIMBYDemsSD. They recently shared an X post from Voice of San Diego about “Homes on Smaller Lots to Ease Housing Crisis”. What does this mean? It means greater density. It means ADUs, more townhomes, more high-rises, splitting lots. From an economic perspective it makes a great deal of sense. Right? In fact, there are many real cases of housing supply increases causing real estate and rental prices to drop. Instead expect NIMBYs to complain about traffic, parking, infrastructure, schools, the environment, their view, etc. You know the routine. It’s a supply vs demand issue and NIMBYs ignore the economics. If supply does not keep up with demand, the housing crisis will get worse and worse. Higher prices, less inventory, more homeless.
POWAY APPOINTMENT. Last week I enjoyed interviewing my good friend Pete Neild who put his name in the hat for the District 1 spot on City Council. Pete offered some solid ideas to get more input from citizens within the district so their voice is represented on council. There are 6 total applicants. John Carson is another good guy that is on the list. Some people think Chris Pikus may have the inside track. We will find out soon.
POLITICAL MACHINES. It’s interesting how some politicos have such a strong presence on X. I am thinking specifically of Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren, Robert Reich and Nina Turner who have created machines of political evangelism in social media. From a purely social media perspective, I really like the strategy. They double down on their important issues, they trigger others, they create discussion. It’s provocative content that lovers and haters respond to. I just wonder about the operations of it all. My guess is that there must be a core set of ideas and talking points that are reinforced throughout their organization, but the social media staff have some level of freedom in how they present the content so as not to slow down the flow. I admit I am a sucker sometimes responding, almost always in opposition rather than support. It’s often a venting for me, but I think it helps me a bit building my own audience. Regardless of message, what these politicos are doing is impressive.
CANCEL STUDENT DEBT? Speaking of politicians with a strong social media presence, if you follow Elizabeth Warren, you will see plenty of posts about her support of cancelling student debt. This always strikes me as really odd given how much she demands that the rich “pay their fair share”. Can you see the inconsistency too?
HOW MUCH DO LA FIRE VICTIMS DESERVE? I know this is going to ruffle some feathers, but I don’t think it is a good policy for government officials to offer cash bailouts to people that are victims of the fire. Managing one’s own life and one’s own property is the responsibility of the individual, not the government. People are supposed to have insurance to handle such risks. It just seems to me to be a way the federal government can express empathy while politicizing the topic. It’s a way for incumbent politicians to buy votes. But now the aid itself is being politicized by GOP politicians in DC. Should the cash come with strings attached? It’s a fair question. But we shouldn’t have special rules depending on the state’s Electoral College voting history.
TWO FIXES TO CALIFORNIA FIRES. While I am watching these devasting LA Fires from 120 miles away in my Poway bubble, I can’t help but think of things that could improve the situation. There have been many creative thoughts that have been shared including the re-imaging of how a town should be built in the 21st Century. Two fixes that I have identified have to do with power and insurance. The first is to bury the power lines given that these are often the spark that lights the fire. I often look around in many neighborhoods in my home town and I see the power lines and power poles. It just strikes me as early 20th century technology. Thankfully new neighborhoods are burying their lines. Of course this is expensive for utility companies to bury, but it’s got to be cheaper than the destruction caused by the fires. There should be a way the utility companies and insurance companies could support burying the lines. In the end, they will just charge homeowners, but it still makes sense. The other fix is with Homeowners Insurance. We have insurance companies not renewing policies or leaving California entirely because the business model does not make sense. The level of risk from fires is too great to justify artificially low insurance rates that are limited by government regulations. This is further worsened by the housing crisis that makes these homes so expensive to rebuild after a fire. There are many topics tangled. Sometimes we seem to lose sight of what insurance is supposed to be. Insurance is a risk management tool. It’s not simply an unfair, unjust excessive financial requirement when buying a home. Imagine how much different Southern California would be if homeowners’ insurance policies matched risk. Homes likely would be less expensive. There would be greater focus on building with safer materials in order to qualify for insurance. There would be greater incentive for property owners (including the government itself) to maintain the land so it is less fire prone. But somehow Californians think that insurance is something that must be managed by politicians in Sacramento and that insurance rates should be set based on age, income, or ethnicity rather than the risk level itself. The housing market in SoCal is nuts. If you peel back enough layers, it typically comes down to distortions caused by “well-intended” politicians that want to “do the right thing”… while taking huge payoffs from donors to do just that.
NEWSOM SHIMMY. Have you seen the video clip of California Governor Gavin Newsom responding to a TV reporter where he wiggles his shoulders back and forth? It’s funny and it is being mocked by many on social media. When I saw it, I immediately thought of former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu. He has a way about him that is similar in TV interviews. He will often wiggle and shimmy while smiling, even if the message itself is something the interviewer doesn’t approve of. It’s an interesting body language tactic to attempt to be more likable. Seems that Sununu does this naturally while Newsom was experimenting with it. Just funny to me. I am certain some of these politicians are very aware and often coached on body language, fashion, and more. Not sure we will see another Newsom Shimmy anytime soon.
IS SOCIALISM OR CAPITALISM MORAL? This is a fair question. IMHO, Free Market Capitalism is the only moral economic system that exists because it is based on voluntary trade with sound laws to protect in case of theft, fraud, etc. Whereas Socialism and many other economic systems require coercion by state officials that dictate what people and companies can buy and sell, and for how much. IMHO socialism is immoral. It’s interesting though this gets twisted around by many people. Some will point to the healthcare industry as immoral and blame it on capitalism. It’s greedy, profit-seeking companies that are ruining it! But the reality is that the US Health Care industry is a very highly regulated system with huge government control. Capitalism is defined by private property and free trade. According to some people’s moral code, it is immoral to let people make free choices in a market-based economy. The only moral thing to do is intercede! LOL. It’s hard to have a rational discussion when the definition of words is so fluid.
BALANCED BUDGET? I don’t think Democrats and Republicans will ever balance the budget again. Do you? There is no appetite for spending cuts and/or tax increases to bridge that gap. All of this grand standing by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy about cutting $2T in expenses seems disconnected from political reality. I had a good discussion with San Diego Young Republican, Zack Gianino, who genuinely wants to address the problem. It’s important to note that Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, “Defense” and interest on the National Debt represent 80% or more of spending. These programs all need major reform, but I doubt currently elected officials want to risk their political future by cutting benefits to their constituents. Perhaps the best chance is to have a tremendously growing economy so federal revenues accelerate, like what Bill Clinton experienced in his second term.
PERSONAL ATTACKS. When I started my project expressing my opinions on a variety of issues, I knew I was going to run into personal attacks. I’ve seen plenty here in my home town of Poway. At first it got to me. But the more I experience it all, I realize that most likely the haters attacks are really subconscious attacks on their own behaviors. They are projecting. In fact, with my increased awareness I can sometimes catch myself doing exactly the same thing. The thing is that we are all different and have different opinions. That’s what makes life interesting. So some will hate. So what? I often will think of an often-repeated phrase “If evil people hate you, you must be doing something right.”
FACEBOOK FIRES CENSORS? Social media users, mostly from the left, are outraged that Mark Zuckerberg has fired his third-party agency that polices and censors content. Some think he is kissing up to Trump. Some think he is encouraging disinformation. I never liked the heavy-handed censoring of expression, while still supporting the right of the company to manage their products and services as they see fit. Sure, there are some messages that should be suppressed. But for the most part, a post filled with disinformation is best policies by the Community Notes format that X has popularized. This way the liars can be called out by others with facts for everyone to see. This way individual users can distill the truth themselves. Good move by Zuck to go with this strategy.
PRICE GOUGING IN NATURAL DISASTERS. Gavin Newsom is already shrieking about price gouging at the LA Fires. He says it’s illegal for people to make low ball offers on peoples’ fire ravaged properties. Others are morally aghast at hustling entrepreneurs that bring generators, water and supplies into disaster zones to offer to people in need, simply because they are doing it to make a profit. You may not like it, but raising prices on high demand items prevents some from hoarding… and it helps provide immediate resources to people in need. I am always reminded of the guy that rented a U-Haul truck, bought 20 generators at Home Depot in Northern Alabama and drove them down to the coast that was hit by Katrina. He sold the generators for double what he paid to cover his expenses, his time, and some profit for the hustle. People that really wanted generators got them. Yet somehow this entrepreneur is the villain. Make this make sense for me. People just want others to sacrifice to help others. They want a LOSE-WIN outcome because they think that sacrifice is moral. They want that guy to hustle down those generators and donate them or at minimum sell them for the price he paid. These people struggle with the idea of a WIN-WIN outcome. They think WIN-WIN is WIN-LOSE.