Lloyd the architect/New Urbanist Professor has put his foot into it this time. Such that even the other denizens of Treehugger told him he was full of sap. In a post “Urban density is not the enemy, it is your friend,” he turns apologist.
He lives in Toronto, btw and is trying to tell the rest of us that New York City isn’t just one monolithic city. It is a number of “separate places separated by bodies of water” to explain away (at least on 3/25) the rise of COVID-19 infections:
The parts of New York City with the lowest density have the highest rate of COVID-19 infection.
All the urbanists are crazed by the New York Times headline Density Is New York City’s Big ‘Enemy’ in the Coronavirus Fight. Brian M. Rosenthal speaks to the experts:
“Density is really an enemy in a situation like this,” said Dr. Steven Goodman, an epidemiologist at Stanford University. “With large population centers, where people are interacting with more people all the time, that’s where it’s going to spread the fastest.”
Now I hate that phrase everyone throws around,”Correlation does not imply causation,” but it applies here. Asian cities like Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei are far denser than New York City and they have far fewer cases per capita. There are other examples even closer to home.
And like me, y’all are probably going different environments, different governance models, different population modes – there’s no comparison there. And you’d be right. And you’d all tell him he’s nuts and trying to make a bad argument shine like the turd it is. Even one of his erstwhile supporters told him that:
fcfcfc:
You are selling snake oil Lloyd. Look, suck it up already and say, “this is one of the downsides of urbanization, but the benefits outweigh the negatives during extraordinary times”. Then move on. This is the smart play. You are standing in $hit, stinking badly trying to proclaim, “look, there is no smell here”. Get on with it…..
Yep. No, he’s just being an apologist for “New Urbanism” in this post while still taking “a you know what” on anyone that disses cities. And Bill (aka fcfcfc) was right then but subsequent went off the rails and declared that “Socialism saves America, or does it?” and his pet theory of Concentrated Wealth owning and running everything and Mnuchin’s Money Cannon is the concierge service to pour more money into it and that’s the reason why Bernie had the election stolen from him by Hillary…and…there you are, a rant. It was fun to read because I could see him foaming at the mouth. I’d tell you to take a gander at it.
And I decided to correct him on his outlook on this money pipeline (which I see as Government trying to use money in trying to fix yet another problem that Government creates but it now trying to portray itself as “the Peoples’ Savior”:
GraniteGrok:
Here is a big difference between Socialism and Welfare States. If that Big Money Cannon was demanding equity in private companies (like Obama did during the Great Recession when it came to the Big Three auto companies), that would be Govt starting to own the means of production.
Simply slamming out money isn’t owning the means of production (Socialism) or completely regulating such Govt doesn’t need to own it (corporate fascism). Right now, it’s simply throwing “future money” at everyone and everything that will make it harder to pay back the national debit (which will be $25 Trillion – which is all but unpayable).
And then Bill lets the cat out of the eco-Socialists-at-Treehugger again with this:
fcfcfc:
Such is the difference between DS (Democratic Socialism) and the traditional theory of Socialism. DS does not seek to own the production, only share its profits.
So innocently put, isn’t it? As simply due to their name, they have some unspecified right to someone else’s stuff. We’re only looking to “share”. Sorry, that’s what Socialist say before they get the Power to actually just walk in and TAKE it. Just like when you hear politicians of both sides of the aisle “We’re only asking that….”. Sorry, there is no ask – there is only “it’s mine now“:
GraniteGrok:
And in order to “share its profits” implicitly means to own that production. Only owners get to share “profits” – and usually, there is a large price to pay in order to be an owner.
You just wish to TAKE those profits. And if you are TAKING those profits, you have made yourselves Owners.
Can’t have it both ways. One requires the other. You just believe someone else’s profits belong to you because SOCIALISM.
And since I do get the DSA (Democrat Socialists of America) emails and read their site from time to time – you’re actually wrong. They DO want to wrest control and ownership of the means of production from current owners and simply take it because SOCIALISM!
It’s like Democrats – they always use the smooth words to make what they want to do so pretty-like – until their hammer comes down when their agenda becomes our reality. The DSAers will then come in with the scythes for the heads that dissent. Bill is typical – “we only want to share”. Sounds real innocuous, doesn’t it. That stupid phrase “sharing is caring” crap that anyone under 22 has seeming been indoctrinated with since kindergarten.
And you wonder why we’re losing our next generation whose heads are stuff with this crap? There are those in DSA Leadership that have made it clear – the “Democrat” part of the name is for the rubes and useful idiots. It is clear what their intentions really are – and they really believe in those intentions.
Far more, sadly, than most Americans believe in their God-given Rights.
And believe that Government will protect them from COVID-19 and everything will go back to being the same again. It won’t unless we all make sure that it will.
UPDATE: Forgot I had tabbed this post: Coronavirus Reveals the Downsides of Urbanization
