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acister t1_j2bcwwt wrote

I think some affordable housing is good to build but is not the answer but just a small slice of what needs to change. Reminds me of the eating bugs as sustainable protein debate. I'm for eating sustainable proteins but it doesn't address capitalisms systemic use of waste and excess. Sure if people want to eat crickets (they're really not bad), that's great but let's change the horrendous mismanagement of resources that is causing food shortage. People in Maine are scared of spicy food lol; they're not going to eat crickets. Half of food that is produced goes to waste. We shouldn't grow almonds in the desert that requires a gallon of water / almond but that is extremely profitable somehow (laissez faire).

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vsanna t1_j2be52i wrote

I'd argue it's less like eating crickets (which are pretty tasty!) and more like going all in on monocultured lab "meats" instead of scaling down actual meat production to smaller, sustainable methods. But I'm a worker on a small farm, so I have a lot of time invested in that debate. Anyway, I think we're in agreement here. I'm also from Brunswick, where developers have been reined in lately from completely destroying the bay, so I am definitely biased.

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acister t1_j2bjnws wrote

Yeah fair enough agree about the cultured meat analogy which I also think is disgusting and unnecessary (much more so than getting people used to eating crickets). I guess just humans thinking they constantly need "answers" to things when they're already doing things neurotically wrong in the first place (because of profits and capitalism assuming resources are infinite) is the issue. To keep riffing about diet I think it's even asking people to change their culture to be vegetarian/vegan for sustainability (which again I think is great and it is objectively the best diet as an individual and consumer for environmental reasons - I eat meat myself). We objectively should eat less meat (Americans) but should also change industry instead of expecting consumers to police industry (which will never work). Low income folks will shop at Wal-Mart and Family Dollar because it's cheaper but they also destroy rural economies, that shouldn't be on the consumer.

I do think we need some affordable housing (some) built right now just to get some folks off the streets right away, it is a crisis. But yeah it will only be a temporary band aid if we don't change how markets work or at the very least regulate markets in the interest of people and not profits (probably impossible under this paradigm).

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