The way that housing co-ops work in Switzerland may seem foreign to many. But the central idea is simple: What if homeownership had no profit motive and no capital gains? Advocates say their model could reshape how the world thinks about affordable housing. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/r...
But but capitalism!!
Usa minds cannot comprehend "non profit".
📌
Whereas in America, every basic need is a way for the rich to become richer. Healthcare, education, housing, food, water, shelter... you name it, the richest profit off of the rest of us. Tax the Rich. Feed the poor.
crime rate is coming down youtube.com/shorts/Sax5l...
I love this housing model, but we have to acknowledge but not condone that our capitalist society is solely driven by profits, even our public health system is, right?We’re one of the few countries that allows toxic dyes in our foods. Follow the money, if you wonder why we are where we are.
Only if you have the kind of safety nets PLURAL that Switzerland has. For most in the US, their home is their only asset - their piggy bank, their retirement. Plus, kids, private equity is now into housing. So that ship has sailed - and sunk.
looks cool but fuck the paywall. i do not mind having an ad-supported base tier and an ad-free premium tier. and you cant even bypass the paywall by stopping the page from loading in time 🥀
You'll never see YIMBY activists calling for this. Wonder why...
Doesn't YIMBY mean "Yes, in my backyard?" I thought that meant YIMBYs wanted more housing density, increased public transit, etc. Aren't housing co-ops part of that vision? Leaving development to the private sector is part of how we got into this mess?
You would think so!
I think so, as someone who thinks of themselves as a YIMBY. Which is why your comment is confusing me a bit.
But then, how would the rich get ultra-rich???
Sadly, they'll find a way...
We just need to roll back the 'Greed is Good' meme, then keep rolling.
Wish I'd seen your comment before I posted something similar. Capitalism creates the means for problem-solving in some places, but hero worshipping in the U.S.
By designing better electric cars and space rockets
*cue every single landlord whetting their knives*
If you think this is a good idea, get on the phone or e-mail and tell your reps in DC. It only takes a few minutes and it doesn't cost any money. We don't need money in politics. We just need people to participate. www.nationalfinancialplan.com
But this is an anathema to Americans especially "no profit motive and no capital gains". They always have to make a profit with capital gains. The house you live in is not a money making asset it is where you live your life as it is the centre of your life more so as a family. But what da Hey$$$$
Not in the land of Crony Capitalism. Wouldn't it be lovely though? If the things humans need to survive existed outside of profit motive...
It would’ve also why it generates the most profits today.
What if had no profit motive and no capital gains...
I wrote a poem today: Kill my landlord Kill my landlord Kill my landlord
Refrain: I work, make money, be my landlord. Then I kill my landlord
SNL? Eddie Murphy? If so, I feel the need to respond with, "See that dog? Do he bite?"
Yes...thx. 😂
Needs a second verse or a chorus? Maybe.. Kill my landlord...
You can live vicariously through me. I’ve got the FBI investigating my former landlord for human trafficking due to his unusual number of tenants from Micronesia after a questionable past 😈 I look forward to the day I get to wave hello to him while he’s on trial. reason.com/2015/06/25/o...
why tf does that headline look like its from the onion? so cursed, or as gen alpha would say "Ohio". looks like there really are monsters there lmao
That was literally his excuse, and he got away with it because he knew the right people.
Probably more of these landlords got the money they got to buy rental properties through breaking the law than we suspect (they profited off crime, poured it into rental property)
Oh, I know this dude definitely used his connections through the city council to make some shady deals.
youtu.be/aCiYmCVikjo?...
IYKYK 😆
Very cool
That would be renting.
May well be clickbait, but until we people say NO, the 1% will always treat us the same way we treat battery hens
Corporations are buying up residential homes and driving up values. If communities remove air b&b, devise owner residency requirements, would this end? A balance of home owners & renters sustain communities.
That's the crux of the whole situation in the US. "What If" is not conducive to the oligarchy.
☝️🛖 Nice. It really works...
Coops/“third way" housing existed in the US for a century. NYT should uplift Community Land Trust model, groundedsolutions.org/strengthenin... Over 300 CLTs exist in low income & high cost Nantucket. Yes, we can learn from Swiss/Scandinavian countries, but we have our own story. NYT tell it!
Still sounds eye-wateringly expensive
Is thaw answer by banning people from flushing the loo after 10pm?
WHAT?
www.explore.com/1374805/toil...
This is great, and addresses some of the reasons for the “will never live in a condo or apartment ever again” mind set I’d developed
Oh no! You can’t mean….socialism?!?
Should never been profit and capital gains influenced to begin with!
Ooh! I can hear billionaires squealing with terror already ...
Common sense doesn't work in America. Almost everybody's chasing the almighty dollar, no matter who they have to step on.
I need a relationship that can lead to marriage because I'm now ready to settle. I live in florida miami
The problem with affordable housing is that the existing residents are loathe to allow any construction that might decrease property values in the area. Zoning and EIS studies are the mechanisms used to stop development.
Oh but "socialism bad" ffs
So they figured out that housing is meant for people to live in it?
It looks like the Howard-Johnson in Fort Lauderdale back in the 80's.
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Crazy how leftists have been saying this since literally forever ago
They just don't like woke leftists. 🤭😉
Homes are for living in, that is the NORMAL way to think about them.
It’s the #1 way working and middle class people can develop intergenerational wealth. That is not a bad thing.
The only way this wealth is generated is by keeping housing costs high. It's cancerous, and unproductive.
False dilemma.
The one is entirely dependent on the other.
There are any number of countries, cities, and regions where home ownership does not disrupt all economic life—the two are not inextricably linked. Rather than rave about a Manichaean society, consider that solutions exist beyond “Tear it all down!!!”
Families benefit substantially from building this kind of wealth—especially useful in an economy without universal health care or guaranteed work/income.
Can you explain to me where the "wealth" from homeownership comes from?
Sounds like you’re waiting to pounce. Tell me your idea!
It literally is a bad thing. Human rights should never be treated as for-profit commodities.
Sure. In no way incommensurate with my point.
It is so funny that when a country like norway or switzerland decides to just provide housing that we treat it like this rare and crazy thing and marvel at it... and then continue to worship predatory capitalism....
When you stop profiteering from housing, great things can happen. Affordable housing is a right, get capitalism out of it.
Wrong Wrong Wrong, I live in Switzerland and there is a massive housing problem, just like in the rest of europe.
And Trump would call it socialism. That's why America has homelessness...
Why does the white supremacist publication who supports genocide post on @bsky.app?
Switzerland housing is still extremely expensive in any case, no?
This is exactly what we need. Take out the profits, make things cooperative, and it works better. And for grocery stores, have the employees own them. They share the profits, not some CEO.
Making life easier for those dirty smelly poor people? Why? This is unconstitutional. I'm suing Switzerland.
Brit here who used to live in Switzerland for work. Most of my colleagues rented, a 'half house', which were generally lovely looking homes from the outside. Each half had plenty of space for a family. Many, like myself rented an apartment. For context this apartment I rented had more space
than I have ever had in a full blown house in the UK. My wife and I loved living in Switzerland.
Mitchell-Lama housing has been in NYC since the 1950’s and shares a similar approach.
But...but the poor Hedge Fund critters! What about THEM?
Everywhere, but not in America. America is too arrogant to use an idea that they didn't think of or can't get rich with👽
Actually I believe co-ops were invented by the American Walter Russell
No, they're older than that, Germany (technically Prussia) had coops in at least 1867, when Russel was a child.
“What if owning a home wasn’t about profit? 🏡 In Switzerland, housing co-ops show it’s possible—no capital gains, just affordable living. Could this change how the world sees housing? bit.ly/4lOOzYL
Nobody working for decades in the same field or trade should have to share a home with a stranger or dismiss retirement as a fantasy... This should be painfully obvious
“what if necessities for life in the modern world were considered human rights?” nyt asking the hard hitting questions!
Are you kidding? I hope you're not naive enough to think anyone in US politics would go for that, except maybe BERNIE and AOC, Warren? But not the mammon-adoring American rich.
Wowwwww. Such groundbreaking news. Thanks @nytimes.com for hard hitting reporting as usual.
Basically fuck capitalism
But of course they did!
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I could never live in an apartment building in a city. I need my space.
I have always wanted to live in a small group of family/friends on a large piece of land, co-op style. It doesn’t have to be an apartment in the city.
Switzerland is paradise. There will only ever be one.
We have a bunch in Canada. Unfortunately, they stopped building them in the 90s.
Oops
The worst thing to happen to the housing market was the phrase "property ladder."
“It may seem foreign to people.”Why not (accurately) say, we are ignorant of doing things differently, because we are not very smart.
We aren’t stupid, we have been brainwashed to believe that we are the luckiest people living in the greatest nation in the world.
So, no backhanders for local authorities? It’ll never work.
In France houses are bought to live in, not to make a profit on. Hence prices aren't subject to excessive inflation.
The answer to this is not to rent something a bit less expensive in a very expensive city,but to invest in a secondary or tertiary city (*outside* the New York / London / Paris commuter belts, or Helsinki's in Finland where I am) by buying, renovating and living there without expecting capital gain.
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In Berlin, Germany we’ve had a model called building group, where people would join to buy a piece of land and build their then affordable homes in a sort of coop. Unfortunately this doesn’t work anymore because of speculation and the resulting astronomically high prices for the land.
I loathe that this is such a crazy idea. It's not. It's exactly how most of human history went. It's fucking corporations that have made everyGDthing about profit. We need to end corporate capitalism and make society work best for humans instead of money. This isn't bizarre It's HOW IT SHOULD BE!
If there’s no way to make huge profits and shit on regular people….it won’t work here
"what if housing were treated like a fundamental human need? what a novel idea!"
CANCEL YOUR NYT SUBSCRIPTIONS 🗞
Americans hearing this story:
How does that work?
There are coops in NYC and they seem to work pretty well. I have family in one and it seems great. The building is from the 50s though when trying new housing ideas actually happened and housing was affordable.
But you know how they afford that? High taxes and an economy based in banks out of the tax next works.
Fuckin imagine that
Paywalled. But no matter, because you can read all about housing co-operatives in a whole range of different countries here - and I'm willing to bet that lazy NY Times journo didn't even bother to check this. #Co-ops #Co-operatives #Cooperatives www.housinginternational.coop
No necessity for life should be allowed to be exploited in any way especially for huge profits. Yes, this includes housing.
Unfortunately a lot people’s retirement funds are derived from the build up of equity in our principal residence. The whole structure of retirement would have to be reassessed. Most people have to self fund their retirement.
Another area that is scammed away from many a senior. Retirement funds scammed.
Bullshit argument. It's why there's a housing shortage in nearly every country: The focus is on INCREASING profits. This is about people who can't participate in a capitalist market, so the profiteers lose nothing. Why are so many governments fixated on proving that capitalism isn't a cure-all?
The housing shortage is less about not enough houses exist (in many places, plenty do) and more about how those houses are owned, priced, and distributed. Profit driven models treat homes as commodities first and shelter second.
Developers chase luxury projects because margins are higher. Investors hoard units because scarcity drives up value. Co op model works precisely because it carves out a system where the rules of profit maximization don’t apply.
It’s like saying. Fine, let capital markets do what they want. But here’s a sector where the priority is stability and affordability. capitalism doesn’t fail at housing it succeeds too well at maximizing profit. The failure is for people, not markets.
Your point is on target these models don’t actually threaten the profiteers’ core business, because most people in co-ops are outside the speculative market anyway. What they do threaten is the ideological claim that capitalism is the one-size-fits-all solution.
And that’s why many governments are reluctant it’s not about economics alone, it’s about legitimacy.
Retirement wouldn't be as much of a burden if housing was significantly cheeper. Also we could just push a few billionaires into the blender and liquidate their assets, divy it up as a retirement package.
Did Switzerland solve the housing crisis? Haha no. The Swiss housing situation has to be amongst the worst in the world. Rather than shopping around for a home that suits you, you instead have to apply for a bunch and hope a landlord picks you.
I remember we once went for an open viewing for a 2 bedroom apartment in Adliswil near Zurich and the queue was massive.
I must have applied for 40+ places before I got one. I remember it got to a level I didn't even bother visiting some and just applied. Without a doubt housing is the big thing keeping my family in the UK over Ch!
We definitely got lucky with our apartment in St Gallen. We got at our first attempt.
Affordable housing is not a thing in Switzerland. The costs of buying is very high. Even with a 30% market value reduction would still place Swiss property values as one of the highest in Europe.
That might work if it were not for the fact that we have big investment companies owning homes…..Blackstone
And now private equity is trying to buy or is buying Walgreens .. that worked out so well for JoAnn’s Fabrics
Simple. Apply the same tax rate of 85% on all earnings over $100m. Corporate taxes should be aligned with personal earnings.
Fondue?
What if capitalism was the problem and everyone knows about it?
Damn that building looks good! Mass timber frame, large exterior spaces, effective solar protection, that's a building designed for the XXIst century!
It is not as good as it sounds: there are not enough apartments, and each year the rents increase by at least 4.5% A low rent being 2500sfrs.
app.neume.io/songs/u-l7rE...
Sure. Americans will definitely go for a non-capital solution. Dream on pricks.
Considering it’s often the only way for people to gain sufficient wealth to retire above poverty, I think it’s kind of important that homes make a profit over time.
What are you talking about?! Weird.
Generational wealth is often transferred to children by way of inheriting a home. This can help kids pay for debts, or finally get out from being renters. I don’t know about your upbringing but I was able to get out of credit card and college debt when via inheritance. It was a huge reset button.
I am sure the folks with land will still be able to transfer to their kids. These nonprofit coops are mostly for folks that would have ended up in apartments or living with their adult children.
Switzerland? The hidden bank roll for the Holocaust? Everything their wicked kingdom does is perfumed by the death ovens their banks financed. Switzerland should be a pariah. Who stays on the sidelines when Nazis march?
What about the unredacted Epstein files? Guess you forgot to report on that…
Come on dude. Criticism for not reporting on something that has t happened? The press has many powers, but control over the executive branch is not one of them.
Pulte in the corrupt Trump administration will block this. Greed is EVERYTHING to this mob of thugs.
Trump is terrible
You think wealthy Democrats are against profit? Oh boy...
Absolutely! Democrats donate everything to the homeless! www.latimes.com/projects/la-...
So many americans in this thread suggesting that this would disrupt Capitalism... maybe. But the Swiss tend to be the most financially conservative and some of the most ruthlessly capitalist folk I have encountered. Might be something else there - don't know.
Reform capitalism rather than the effects of capitalism, will be much easier and simpler to start at the root cause.
Our "I got mine, screw you" model in the US would never go for that!
Make it so it's not profitable to buy property for investment. It's that simple. I'd go further and say that property should not be in the control of private entities at all.
It sounds foreign to Americans. Not to Europeans. Not al all.
I think the rental association unionization effort in KCMO is really interesting solution too!
Makes way too much sense. Oh and leaves out the oligarchs so it won’t happen here.
Co-ops require a homogeneous, high-trust society to function properly. The US doesn't have that
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Americans are too stupid and selfish to make any housing program work. We’re obsessed with money because of our entitlement and the need to avoid the carnage of unchecked capitalism. America is a land of economic cannibalism where we devour our people and resources until… well, this horror show.
If you examine Denmark, everyone pays taxes. Corp. taxes are about the same, at 22%,vs 21% in the U.S..The salary cap in the U.S. needs to be abolished,loopholes that allow the wealthy to pay little or no taxes need to be addressed. If we want a system like Denmark everyone will have to pay more.
The church tax is voluntary, for those that are members. It’s not mandatory.
Genossenschaftswohnungen (trotzdem noch ganz schön teuer)
but but but how could a single individual make money and enough so they could purchase a few mansions, several yachts and planes and be worth more an hour than most earn in a year!
This model will never work in the U.S. because of one concept….Greed!
yes they did, they didn't keep millions of illegal immigrants. very nuanced solution
My grandmother has been part of a co-op in The New York City since the 1950's. This is not a new idea you doltish goldfishes. Nobody wants to sell their building to a co-op because the developers WANT the profit motive. It is the only motive they care about and they're the only ones building.
The crisis is still present And there aren’t enough housing co-ops Private owned properties still rising prices after a face lifting. 🤷🏻♂️
Is Co-op City in the Bronx similar to this?
Canada did that 30 years ago
I live in it and it fucking rules
But "can"any real estate person care about people? Is that possible? I am having to move myself, at 70. I cannot find anywhere in my budget. Even one bedrooms. I've lived in this county my whole life. All my family lives here. I'm on a fixed budget. Money matters not people. How did we get here?
It won’t happen here (prove me wrong, universe). Our unofficial religion runs on three pillars: profits without limits, guns without safety, and Christianity without Christ.
This idea has been around for a long time in other European countries.
the Netherlands once had systems like that. We lost them when right wing governements started robbing them every year of over 1 billion Euro´s with a tax invented especially for that purpose
I've lived in two landsharing co-operatives. People need to know what they're getting themselves into. Community politics can sometimes be intense, especially when cliques form to run people out of their home. I suggest you rent before buying & meet the residents. 1earthmedia.com/novelist-pet...
I would appreciate that the architects of the appartment complex illustrating the article would be named. It looks nice !
Typical, not a thought of how the billionaires will cope. Talk about a marginalised demographic. I’m a radical woke lefty 🤪 #Who’sLookingOutForTheBillionaires
My very first loft was in a co-op and it was the best living experience I ever had renting.
America has simple housing problems: - corporate ownership of a large percetnage of homes - buy and flip mentality that raises costs of homes - NIMBY city councils that block all progress. America is huge, there should never be a housing shortage.
I think anyone, anywhere could create them. It took us about a decade from idea to move in, and we had political resistance - we did lots of organizing and fundraising. But now we live in a converted chocolate warehouse close to the city center
I live in a housing coop in Switzerland and I think this article misses some important parts of the story. 1) there are as many different types of coops as there are coops, each driven by different values . 2) resident owned coops are rare and created by a lot of time and hard (unpaid) work.
But US culture is profit motive and capital gains🤔💰🤔💰🤔💰🤔💰
Well that won't work here cuz how will the rich get richer
Everywhere else in the world they solved problems we suffer from in the US. The point is the US WONT solve it cause all they think about is profit, greed, death, human sacrifices, children being traumatized, and women dying in labor is okay. All for profit
How un-American 🤭
So long as neoconservative economist advise our politicians that the markets must be fed, this will never happen in the West.
Toronto has co-ops. We could have more, except our current premiere doesn’t like them because they don’t benefit his big developer buddies. #DougFord
Corporate conservatives would never.
Build up to save land! Place grocery stores, preschools, doctor offices, and social workers on the ground floor! Set folks up to succeed not to fail.
Did the bullying work? Did you finally start writing decent articles?
Can't wait to read all of your editorials against this.
📌
Landlords hate this one simple trick
That's some clickbait I can...click!
More like homeowners in general 😬
It's almost like...capitalism? is the enemy of the people and whether or not humanity is fed, clothed, or sheltered is purely incidental and not an actual goal of that economic model.
Love the way NYT pretends socialist projects didn’t completely eliminate this problem, without New York Times even acknowledging their own role in knowledge production in propagandizing against it. Nice trick!
there's no crisis they manufactured scarcity for profit we could house every person in the world today they just choose not to
No profit motive? No capital gains? In the U.S. that is considered heresy. ☹️
We cannot even recognize healthcare as a right nor a living wage.
Right wing zealots will ridicule the idea as, at best, socialism and, at worst, communism.
And they’ll laud a national takeover of Intel. Fuck what they think and let them live in squalor or spend 30% of their income on housing.
Not much education in that pond.....
Switzerland has 9 million people. They do NOT have socialized medicine that is a fucking lie they have Mandatory private insurance that is expensive as shit at around $500 USD a month. Groceries for 1 person around $850 USD per month. Rent for a 1 br is around $3100 USD a month. Stop with the lies
Oh and the retirement income is $2875 USD so you can see they have the same fuck the elderly as the US has.
So you are saying you want to give you your million dollar condo to live in a cinder block dorm room give me a fucking break. NYT are such muckraking liars.
You have a President whose admin just deregulated “alternative investments.” We’re talkin’ real estate in the 401k. I think the Swiss idea is nice, if we were back on earth 1.
🔥🤎🔥
Didn’t NY have these or still does?
Yeah only foreign thinking to Americans who think individualism actually exists & homelessness is a character flaw. Americans seem to love poverty, disease, guns, homelessness, war and the uneducated. All you lot do is call everything that helps people 'woke' and vote in a demented child rapist.
Sad, but true.
How dare you, sir! How dare you speak the truth about us uneducated Americans. It’s no one else’s business but our own if we decide to vote against our own self interest. If you must know, we prefer electing someone who is as much an idiot as the 70+ million of us who voted for him.
I would wager it’s only about 30%-35% of Americans who you’re referring to. It’s spot on what you say about them. In the UK nearly 50% support Conservative & Reform parties. Wander out & ask a farmer if he wants to sell to a group of young people for zero profit. Ask a Flat owner in London too.
It's like you know us or something
This is quite common in Denmark - and has been so for decades. About 10% of the population live in co-ops, especially in the bigger cities. My in-laws live in a small 12 house coop.
This is fucking absurd. What's next? Healthcare? Food? Water? Air? You give these selfish pricks anything, and they'll start expecting all of it. The market should decide who lives and dies, the way God intended.
👍👍👍👍👍👍
How siloed are you? Housing coops have existed in the United States for generations, centuries! 🙄
A house that's purpose is just for someone to live in and not an investment instrument. Are you insane? (note: satire)
Paywalled
YES PLEASE 🙏🏼 - basic human rights- housing and healthcare - 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🏡
Listen up Canada
Or maybe like Finland, the government gives everyone a house?
So the question is … do we overturn a long-running mechanism in the current economic system if doing so will bring harm to a few, benefits to many more, and solve one of the biggest problems in society. I think the answer has to be ‘yes’.
We could learn so much from other countries. Instead, we are handed idiots on a golden platter.
I read about housing co-ops in Switzerland in The Ministry of the Future. It's an interesting concept.
Wish I could read this but I got RID of my NYT subscription for a reason... ok many many reasons.
Same concept in Austria since many decades
"What if housing was a right?" is the most capitalist-assed question. Tf you mean "what if?" 🙄
It is not in the United States
Perhaps the biggest obstacle is one sees "capitalism" and reads "United States". Efforts to synonymize the two have truly fucked the American brain.
No lies detected
Yeah, duh, that's the point of the post. 🙄 jfc
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump AGAIN calls for Senator Chuck Grassley and other Republicans to stop abiding by the “Blue Slip” tradition, which have allowed a MASSIVE delay on Trump’s nominees. “‘Blue Slips’ need to go, bad for the Republican Party, and our Country!”
یہ ملک حقداروں، ناداروں، مزدوروں، کی دولت بدمعاشوں کی تجوریوں میں بند کرنے کیلئے بنا ہے، یہاں رہنا ہی بے وقوفی ہے، جنکا پیسا ہے یہاں وہ خود نہیں رہتے۔ اور اگر پیسے یہاں رہنے کیلئے کم ہیں تو دنیا میں بہترین ممالک آپ کو ان سے بہتر رکھ سکتےہیں
#yvr #vancouver #vancity #affordablehousing @petefry.bsky.social
It would almost be impossible to reshape in USA, BC for well over 100 years, Nat. Assoc. of Realtors, & their lobbying/lawmakers/candidates are so dependent on the current system, they will not back away from it without a huge fight. NAR represents too much $/power/eliteness vs. home buyer/renter.
But what will connected West African slumlords do with all the money they skimmed off the people of Nigeria and Ghana? They come over and buy up "distressed" 🙄 properties, jack up the rent, do little to no maintainance and treat the residents like sh*t. Tax avoiding Jackholes.
I have been saying co-ops need to be brought back!! We lived in a great co-op townhouse in Vancouver, indoor pool, meeting rooms and playgrounds. It was amazing and secure, affordable living. We don't cooperate anymore so they disappeared!! Seriously the me me generation rules. No cooperation!
No profit motive? Sounds like we should have a Land Value Tax
I'd normally be interested, but at it's the NYT, it'll be paid for fiction.
What will A'Merica do with all those unemployed 'ICE' operatives socially engineering inequality in the social fabric? Send/hire them all to Israel to wipe out all religions apart from judaism? I can't wait to hear this announcement from the White House on Monday.
I love this concept and plan to research this to learn more about how to make this a reality in Northern California!
The problem is America made it illegal to do anything that makes sense.
It is truly amazing how small minds constrain what is achievable. The binary dialectic that governs political discourse is absurd. Imagine what could be accomplished if we could create economic structures based on data and experimentation and not on boring dogmatic “isms”.
1 Bankers went to prison when Bush 1 was President dealing with Savings & Loan Crisis. People committed suicide dealing with Great Depression. Obama, Democrats allowed people who should have gotten life in prison to get away with their crimes. How many were able to buy lots of apartments, homes?
2 I watched Home Street Home with Tom Brokaw in 1988 when I was 18 years old - working poor not able to afford high cost of housing, Vietnam Veterans and trauma, children kicked out of home becoming drug addicts and prostitutes www.csmonitor.com/1988/0121/le...
3 Main reasons people become homeless lack of affordable housing bankruptcy caused by medical expenses domestic violence trauma LGBTQ teens often become homeless lesley.edu/article/the-... There are lot of ways to get affordable apartments, homes. When will this become top priority in USA?
Switzerland has a very, very different history, social and political structure to both the US and UK. The whole concept of home 'ownership' is deep rooted and based on a primal fear that someone (King, Baron, party, bank or private corporation) is going to take it away from you by force or fraud.
Switzerland is technically a communist country - it has 3200 communes. In the UK, 'The Crown' ultimately owns everything: we're still a feudal society. We don't currently have an overtly mad King and robber barons, but it rather looks like the USA is rapidly going back to that model.
Fresh
The construction and real estate industry would spend more on lobbying this out of existence then they spend on building homes
Financial sharks (pirhanas) in the US would never go that route. 🤓🔵👍🏼
So no reason to build
