In a post about systemic racism, John McWhorter writes:
A science teacher conference in Washington state last year included a PowerPoint slide preaching that “If you conclude that outcome differences by demographic subgroup are a result of anything other than a broken system, that is, by definition, bigotry.” This should have been corrected: “If you conclude that outcome differences by demographic subgroup are a result only of a broken system, that is, by definition, willful ignorance.”
Sadly, such willful ignorance is guiding many of the nation’s teachers and making its way into the minds of our children.
The Washington DC city council recently passed amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan as a way to deal with gentrification. One of the supporters of the changes said, “We need economic growth with guardrails.” That is stated intention of the Comprehensive Plan, as well as virtually every other economic plan put forth by government officials. Such plans ostensibly seek an effect–economic growth–while attacking its cause–individual freedom. Politicians think that they can place guardrails on the producers who make economic growth possible. Guardrails prevent producers from creating the values of their choosing and in the manner of their choosing. And then, when the predicted results don’t materialize, and they never do, politicians and regulators will propose more guardrails to correct the problems caused by their previous interventions.
Opponents of gentrification often argue that building new housing increases rents in a neighborhood and results in the displacement of current resident. A recent research study by an urban planning professor at UCLA found that this claim is dubious. He found that adding new housing to a neighborhood causes other rents to decrease slightly. He added:
People want to buy into these neighborhoods. Do you want newer residents moving in and displacing residents in the existing housing? Or do you want them to be in brand new housing where, while they will change the neighborhood by their presence, they don’t put as much pressure on the existing housing stock where a lot of the current people live?
If wealthier individuals want to move to a particular neighborhood, they can outbid lower income residents for the existing housing stock. However, if the housing supply in that neighborhood increases, such bidding wars are less likely to occur. But to understand this, one must look at the facts objectively and consider the full context. And those are intellectual endeavors that few opponents of gentrification can engage in.