SkepticalButOpenMinded

When I looked into it a few years ago, I found that, contrary to the stereotype, Japanese homes are surprisingly big. Smaller than the US or Canada, which are some of the biggest in the world, but actually bigger than most of Europe.

The result of a quick search: the average Tokyo apartment is 65.9 sq m (710 sq ft). The modal apartment size is 19.7 sq meters (212 sq ft), so maybe that's what you're referring to. But that's only 21% of Tokyo apartments.

Yes some people are going to change their mind because most Americans aren’t paying close attention. You say “these people are already convinced”. This is just black and white thinking. Some are convinced, but many don’t feel informed enough to have strong opinions.

The lesson from the Dobbs decision is that, sure SCOTUS can ignore public opinion, but it matters when they do. After that decision, voters, including many independents and even conservatives, revolted, leading to many surprising victories for Democrats.

I’m honestly puzzled by your comment. Is this a call to stop spreading anti-fascist ideas? To stop making arguments and spreading concern? Why? Your theory seems to be that talking about ideas doesn’t matter. Fascists, on the other hand, keenly understand the power of ideas!

Yes, car centric suburbs have tons of problems but when has that ever stopped us? We build them in literal flood plains, and along cramped mudslide prone mountains. I’ve never heard of an empty piece of land in the middle of nowhere being zoned for high density residential in the US.

To me, these look like ESL errors not AI errors. Content farms.

I think that, more likely, they'll plump up healthcare services for only themselves. Boomers don't vote against big government social services for everyone, they only oppose it when it's not for themselves. That's why both Republicans and Democrats defend Social Security and medicare for the elderly. Even DeSantis is campaigning on defending SS.

Why do you say that? We destroy plenty of nature and it almost always ends up single family home suburban sprawl.

I agree that subsidizing mortgages is a bad solution. The other two parties are even worse in this regard. Conservatives have proposed massively extending mortgage terms, and removing or lowering stress test requirements. Conservatives implemented many of the existing subsidies for homeowners. The Liberals introduced a brand new tax free account for housing (FHSA), which only helps those who have already maxed out their TFSA (less than 20% of the population). A tax break for the already wealthy to increase demand for housing. Idiocy. These are all way worse. So are Liberals/Conservatives even bigger idiots?

The idea that Canada can build housing top-down instead of empowering the market to do it bottom-up is ridiculous since our governments’ capacity to get anything done top-down has absolutely cratered.

The NDP obviously endorses a private housing market, so I don't know who that criticism is supposed to apply to? Do you mean there should be no public housing at all? It's not "market vs. government". It's simply delusional to think you don't need both. Every other functioning rich country, from Japan to France, Singapore to Switzerland, has public and co-op housing, including Canada. And yes, we used to build a lot more of it.

Here's the thing: like healthcare, minimal shelter isn't a choice. It's a necessity. (i.e. Demand is relatively inelastic.) So when you make it so that people cannot live without entering the housing market, it makes prices soar. Imagine if buying a house was a choice, because there's always high quality public housing if necessary. That's how it is in most Scandinavian countries. Literally no country has affordable housing provided purely by the private sector. No housing expert or major economist endorses a pure market based solution this extreme.

Alas, the sensible moderate solution of the NDP, the thing done everywhere else in the world, endorsed by experts and evidence, is seen as "unrealistic" in Canada. We are thoroughly brainwashed.

You're clearly a smart knowledgeable person, and we probably don't disagree as much as this discussion makes it seem. But allow me to respond.

What is the evidence that the BC NDP are a special case? Just look around the world, especially countries with similarly car-centric NIMBY housing problems. At every level, only (not to say "all") progressive governments, like BC, California, Massachusetts, New Zealand, Portland, Edmonton, etc. have enacted serious reforms. Supposedly "free market" conservatives have been failures on housing regulation reform everywhere. I have zero hope for housing reform under PP, despite his promises. His wealthy older voting base is pure NIMBY.

The national NDP are the only major party proposing massively increasing public and co-op housing, like we used to do when housing was affordable. Like healthcare or education, relying solely on privatization to solve housing is just magical thinking. And yet, that free market dogmatism is the failed direction under decades of Liberals and Conservatives.

So why does "idiocy" describe the NDP, and not the other two parties?

Those criticisms of housing simply aren’t true. Take BC, the only NDP provincial government (until MB very recently) are the most aggressively YIMBY and pro supply: municipal supply minimums, cuts to regulation, standardized housing plan approvals, etc. Meanwhile, the conservative housing solution is hyper NIMBY and anti-market: more suburban sprawl and expensive highways like Ford’s plan in ON.

It’s a myth that conservatives are champions of a well functioning market. That’s why they use terms like “free market”, as if cutting taxes and deregulation is enough to magically create wealth. That’s not how the economy works. Externalities exist. Market failures exist.

The NDP are not socialists, but democratic socialists, which is a middle way approach similar to Scandinavian countries. These countries are considered the most competitive and successful in the world, not despite, but because they have strong regulations and high taxes. They are pro-market, but not pro-capital. In fact, often, mindlessly protecting capital is anti-competitive, which is why conservatives favor oligopolies and oppose functioning labor markets. e.g. All the poorest unhappiest US states are conservative, and the only exceptions are petro-states.

Given that there is such a perpetual shortage of drivers, I would say the pay is too low. They currently make about $22-32/hr, and working conditions have only gotten more demanding.

Whenever I hear someone compliment Vancouver as a model of urbanism, it always astounds me. We are so car centric, with free parking everywhere and huge 6 lane roads cutting through many parts of the city. It goes to show how much worse the rest of the continent is. Vancouver would very mediocre in most of Europe or Asia. We can definitely aim to do better.

I reject this “both/all sides!” thinking.

The NDP have the best policy proposals overall. It’s amazing that we have been so thoroughly brainwashed into believing the narrative that the NDP are incompetent or unrealistic. Meanwhile, their policies are similar to those of centre left parties in Scandinavian countries, which are some of the happiest, healthiest and most economically competitive countries in the world.