There was a time when the US government built homes for working-class Americans

Housing as Root Problem (“Housing Theory of Everything”)

• Several commenters argue that cheap, abundant housing would relieve a large share of social ills: financial stress, labor immobility, inequality, and political extremism.
• Others counter that housing is only one symptom of deeper issues (capital allocation, power, wages) and that “most” problems won’t be solved by housing alone.
• Some emphasize that it’s not just units but where they’re built: high‑density housing near jobs and services is seen as key to reducing transport costs, emissions, and infrastructure burdens.

Housing as Asset, Ponzi Dynamics, and Generational Conflict

• Many see current systems as a “housing Ponzi”: rising prices transfer wealth from young to old, and political majorities (especially homeowners) have strong incentives to preserve scarcity.
• Commenters note that for most middle and upper‑middle classes, home equity is their primary “retirement plan,” so policies that cut prices are politically toxic.
• Others argue that if high prices rest on unsustainable assumptions, letting the “Ponzi” deflate is necessary, even if painful.

Supply, Zoning, and NIMBYism

• Strong consensus that governments, especially cities, heavily restrict new housing via zoning, permitting, and legal veto points (“vetocracy”).
• Local homeowners often support housing “in general” but fight it locally, forming de facto cartels to restrict supply and protect values.
• Some highlight quality issues: rushed private developments can be shoddy or unsafe, yet still expensive.

International and Historical Comparisons

• Canada, Germany, Ireland, the UK, and US bubbles are cited. Patterns: big postwar/state building phases, then policy shifts that curtailed public housing and restricted supply.
• Ireland’s crisis is debated: earlier bubble seen as speculative; current shortage is framed as genuine supply‑side, worsened by lost construction capacity after the crash.
• UK council housing and some US projects are cited as cautionary tales: large public estates can decay into high‑crime areas if jobs, services, and management are lacking.

Decommodification, Scarcity, and Population

• Some advocate decommodifying housing as a right; critics argue that removing price signals worsens shortages.
• A long subthread debates whether human “wants” are effectively unlimited and whether meeting basic needs triggers runaway population growth; others point to demographic transition and falling fertility as counter‑evidence.

Government-Built Housing Today: Scale and Feasibility

• Commenters note that historic federal housing efforts were politically normal but limited in scale compared to current annual private completions.
• Skeptics stress administrative and legal barriers now far higher than mid‑20th‑century, plus fiscal realities: past per‑unit costs translated to today’s prices look politically unrealistic.
• Supporters reply that much scarcity is artificial; large public or publicly enabled building programs, especially dense and near jobs, remain the clearest path to affordability.