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Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 19, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I'm kind of surprised nobody else is pointing this out! Am I hitting on some truth neither side really cares to acknowledge because it doesn't support their favorite platitudes or am I just smart enough at economics to twist myself into a gnarly retarded knot?

There's a direct line from that argument to strict immigration policies on a national level. The high housing price areas are also all very liberal so making basically assures they'll never listen to you.

Yeah this argument felt much more like "why bother YIMBYing if it's just a bunch of low tax per capita extremely unproductive Guatemalans?"

You can have both good housing policy and good immigration policy. I actually think that should be the baseline expectation for a western country but our politicians seem to disagree.

high housing price areas are also all very liberal so making basically assures they'll never listen to you.

In a way they are, given they're allergic to building stuff.

Yeah this argument felt much more like "why bother YIMBYing if it's just a bunch of low tax per capita extremely unproductive Guatemalans?"

No.

Those people are obviously problematic looking enough that it's not even worth debating. I mean some people will debate it but that's not interesting to me.

The point of my post is to advance the premise that even (e.g.) well-meaning white families with jobs who follow the law and don't have high medical burden might also be social dead weight.

How do you calculate the cost of education, though? Yes the family's likely social dead weight when the children are growing since they're being subsidized, but at a certain point that child's going to become economically productive etcetera.

The point of my post is to advance the premise that even (e.g.) well-meaning white families with jobs who follow the law and don't have high medical burden might also be social dead weight.

Thank you for the clarity