Comment by devindotcom

WalterBright got flagged into oblivion because of a war with reality. He said something to the effect of immigration causing/keeping real estate high/unaffordable. This IS what is happening. I live here in West LA. Immigration is causing this. It’s basic supply and demand. I live on one side of a 2 family in a 2 bdrm and rent out the living room space to make it more affordable. Next to me is a 6 unit building, all 2 bdrm units. Everyone is a recent immigrant from either Guatemala or Mexico. All six units house a family of at least 4 people. They work together to pay rent. No one is coming here from south of the boarder and paying 4K/month, themselves, to live in my neighborhood. They move in with immediate family or cousins or extended family. With 4-7 people working, the per person portion of rent is decreased substantially compared to COL expectations of indigenous Americans. This longterm trend pushes middle class people out, keeps real estate high and wages low. Even if you don’t live here all that is required to understand this phenomenon is basic econ and the courage to follow logical reasoning. I was born here. My family lived a very middle class life. The middle class was huge back then. The dynamics I explain have gutted the middle class and created a two tier class of the wealthy in the Hollywood Hills and a low income, immigrant, working class in mid city. This is growth economics and GDP must go up at the expense of everything else. I don’t blame the people running away from their own country’s problems to come here. It’s the path of least resistance. I like the majority of them as friends and neighbors. The system is massively exploitative and destructive and can only operate by replacing higher standard of living expectations with lower standard of living expectations. LA was a middle class American paradise from the 1950s-1980s. Lots of opportunities and sense of community for most people. LA has been transformed into a brutal globalist stratification. I work for Google and make relatively great money. Within a couple more years I’ll be able to buy a tiny million dollar ranch in San Clemente or opt to leave the state entirely. Most of the people I grew up with have not been as fortunate. There is another aspect of Southern California that virtually no one who didn’t grow up here is aware of. This is the endless expanse of building and development for the sake of building and development (growth economics) into the desert. East and southeast east of Ontario Airport is more or less (or was) extremely hostile rocky desert. Moreno Valley is one such artificial community. Zoom in with your maps app and take a look at the earth between development zones. This endless development into the desert makes the economy of Southern California go round. Southern California is not the model I want for the country. The density fetishists disturb me more than anyone else. There is no water here.