I think a fairly basic EV Focus platform would absolutely kill it right now. Ford has the Eluminator motor as a crate engine. Just throw enough battery in there to do 190 miles and people would go nuts.

Use the radio in the helicopter to call for help?

eugenics

Not science.

atom bombs

No argument here. Science was also used to develop airplanes and buildings. You can create with the knowledge earned from science, but religion (can) give the justification to misuse those creations.

It is not about the tool but how we choose to use it.

Well said.

Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings.

Layer 8 issue.

cries in sciatica

That’s pretty dope. I would totally donate some of my skin to make a sick wallet for one of my family members (they’re into weird curios).

Clarification : After I die. Not while I still need the skin.

I vote for school tax levys. I don’t (and probably will never) have kids.

It’s really useless too. If I wanted to cheat on a test so fucking bad, I’d learn to read braille and just stick reference material under my desk.

Snake yawns are the most cute of yawns and I will fight every one who says otherwise.

Yeah, I think we are pretty closely aligned on whether or not the analog clock face is necessary to daily life, and we just differ on if we should bother to teach it in school.

Also, I got a kick out of this…

Nobody would add an analog clock to a microwave

For the longest time, my grandparents microwave had an analog clock in it, and you literally turned dials to set a mechanical timer which ran the microwave.

…which by the way is just reading the number the freaking shadow points at…

And how do you read an analog clock? By looking at the number the arm points at. Learning how to read the clock is not just “what number is it on” but it’s getting familiar with the clock face so you can read it quickly. It’s like the difference between spelling and reading.

Eh, we don’t teach them how to read a sundial or make a fire anymore either. I don’t see a problem with removing old technology from school instruction.

I should do a video on the bad UX in the Mach E.

Bear in mind that the community would render aid to anyone who needs assistance in maintaining their own properties as well.

Ah, gotcha, so when my neighbor’s house needs to be redone because he rewired it himself, I’m on the hook for that. Too bad I have to stand by and let a couple of transient drug addicts cook meth in the house next door again, after I just spent last year decontaminating it and rebuilding it after the previous amateur chemist stripped out all the copper and dumped industrial solvents in the basement.

You’re also ignoring my mention of the benefit that this mutual aid would enable others to travel to maintained community housing anywhere in the world for free.

Sure thing. That’s totally going to happen. Even if this system was in place, how would one go about getting one of thosr places to stay in. Either it’s a free for all, first come first serve, with no guarantee that when I get to a destination that there will be a place to stay… Or there is a controlling board with a system to allow or reject people based on criteria set by a small group of people with extra power and leverage over others.

The big problem with the communal house idea (which keeps popping up despite it’s glaring flaws) is that no one bothered to examine it critically at all. As soon as you ask simple questions like “who takes care of the empty houses” or “how do you deal with people being assholes” it fall apart into vague handwaving about how everyone will be all helpful sunshine and smiles, which we know for a fact, people aren’t that at any level of their being.

I think most people would want to keep their home in good condition…

Except it wouldn’t be their home. Someone else built it, someone else maintained it, and after all that work, someone else got nothing for the effort when they had to leave it. Why would some squatter care about putting that effort in, when they can just hop to the next empty house that someone spent years maintaining?

I think in most cases, short-term housing as you describe would be best served by more dense apartment complexes…

Okay, but that just kicks the can down the road, those apartments still need to be maintained. Yes, you answer that right here…

…that are maintained by the community…

So the community bears the effort and cost of maintaining houses (or apartments) which they are not allowed to benefit from.

A single family home would be unlikely to be empty for long in a desirable area…

Maybe. What if the neighbors are assholes? What if the house needs to many repairs? Having a dilapidated structure or dwelling next to yours can create a whole host of issues, from fire risk, to nuisance animals, pest and even increased rates of crime.

I don’t think abandoned homes would be a significantly bigger issue than they already are under our current system.

Hard to say. I think it would be worse. For all the faults the current system has, there is a direct financial incentive to own and maintain property. If you get a house and let it rot, you won’t have a house to live in. If you get an apartment and let it rot, you won’t be able to rent it out. When housing is free, the house itself becomes valueless, and not in a good way. I think we would see a significant number of people jumping from home to home, trashing each one and then moving on to the next, leaving the community with the choice of cleaning up those homes, or letting them become uninhabitable hazards, and a blight on the neighborhood. If you think people would suddenly start taking care of a home just because they have one, then I’ve got a bridge to sell you, just look at all the litter and pollution people dump everywhere. Take a moment and look at cars in parking lots, and I bet you’ll find at least one that is packed to the brim with garbage, to the point of being dangerous to drive.

I haven’t got time to read a book this morning, but for the basic premise of what you told me about The Dispossessed, I think I spotted a fundamental flaw in that system…

Couples and families are given larger accommodation when it becomes available, which is managed by an elected housing committee.

The only way to force someone to maintain their home in our current society is with HOA’s

No, there is a financial risk and financial incentive when you own a home, or even rent an apartment. If you don’t take care of it, then you lose out on that risk. HOAs aren’t necessary to enforce maintenance, there are zoning laws, city, state, and national laws that pertain to maintaining a home, along with certifications and inspections to make sure the dwelling is safe to inhabit.

Anyway, this wasnt meant to be a dialogue on the current system. It’s clear that there are major flaws with it, but it’s also clear that “just make housing a right and let anyone move into a house that the community has to pay for and work to maintain” is an idealistic dream that naively handwaves away reality.

Why would a house be empty?

Maybe it the family in it moved out because they only needed a quick place to stay short term after moving to a new city? Could be that it’s housing for a college student who has gone back home during summer break? Maybe a nicer house opened up in the area, so the resident left their old house to go to the new one?

Your question seems to have the answer I was looking for in it though. It would fall on the neighbors to maintain the house until someone else moved in to it. So they would be doing extra work without any kind of compensation or benefit to maintain a home that anyone could just walk up to and claim. How do you think they are going to feel when some “house jumper” moves in, who just lets the place fall apart and moves on to another location because it costs them nothing to let the house go to ruins and they have no personal interest in maintaining it?

Sure.

If you don’t maintain a house, it falls apart extremely quickly.

Examples on my house. Plumbing leak. If it’s not fixed the house can become uninhabitable in a few weeks.

Gutters filled up with leaves. If you don’t clear them out, they’ll sag and fall off the house, and you’ll get creeping damp coming into the base of the house.

If you don’t repaint exterior trim as it ages, the wood/metal underneath will rot/rust.

If you don’t mow or maintain the green spaces, you’ll end up with a bunch of brush and plant material near the house which can be a huge fire hazard.

Trees near the house need to be trimmed and maintained to prevent large limbs from damaging the roof.

If the house isn’t lived in or maintained, animals will get into the attic, nest, urinate, and defecate, which will make the building uninhabitable.

Just a few examples there, literally there is an endless number of problems a house can have, and if someone isn’t around to fix it at least mitigate them, then the house will very quickly become uninhabitable. I’ve personally seen it happen in less than a year.

Who maintains the homes that no one is living in?

Spiders are great to have in your house. I’ve got big house centipedes too. The poor pest control guy doesn’t get a penny off of me. No termites, no silverfish, earwigs…etc. Sometimes I get ants in the kitchen, but that is easily controlled with some cleaning and cinnamon.

Seriously, those spiders are doing you a favor. Let them do their thing.