To get a sense of the madness of Mahan’s neoliberal approach to housing, take this exchange regarding the his weekly recap of the March 22, 2022 council meeting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BK2NUIrUxw&t=6s). Starting at 14:00, Mahan analyses the latest city performance results with regard to housing construction. The table shows that in the most recent eight-year period, builders have produced more “market rate” priced homes than planned but less than one-quarter of planned “affordable” housing units.

Mahan goes on to explain that “affordable” housing is subsidized by taxes imposed on the construction of “market rate” housing. So the more “market rate” construction that occurs, the more revenues are available for “affordable” home production. At the same time, the market-based logic Mahan employs–the very foundation of neoliberalism–explains that reducing regulations, taxes, fees and mandates will “enable” builders of residential property. But reduced taxes and mandates also reduce resources dedicated to “affordable housing.” Thus the logic of neoliberal thinking and policy overpowers and undermines affordable housing possibilities. So we get a new, millenial generation of politicians talking out of both sides their mouths, so what?

best way to make better people is too:

1) educate them better – and not just math and science – reading, writing, logic, and the ability to recognize sophistic rhetoric
2) build out a vocational education system to encourage trade careers
3) encourage sexual abstinence in teen-age and early adulthood – that is graduate and get a job before you have a kid, and if you have a kid marry the biological parent (or better yet, encourage a Christian lifestyle)
4) build enough houses that everyone who wants to own one, can
5) reduce regulations for small businesses so that everyone who wants to be their own boss, can be

If you achieve that, only a small portion of the population who are sociopaths will commit crimes….