Analysis,'Build more houses' sure sounds great as a solution to the housing crisis, but a few key factors scream 'buyer beware'

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 04:22:56 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-03/housing-crisis-problems-with-labor-promise-coalition-policy/104049622>

'According to Abraham Maslow's famed "Hierarchy of Needs", human beings will
act with urgency to address basic physiological requirements for survival
(food, air, shelter, water and so on) before worrying about more existentially
trifling issues, like whether they are actually happy or what they think of the
Marvel franchise.

In Maslow's theory, you only worry about the next level — they range up through
safety, then belonging and love, then esteem, then cognitive well-being and so
on — once you've satisfied the one before.

The final level, the pointy bit of the pyramid with which Maslow's model is
regularly depicted, is "Transcendence", which until recently in Australia
involved buying a $15,000 light machine off Pete Evans.

The theory finds broad support in the current Australian political environment,
where basic needs are absolutely front of mind: food, warmth, housing.

These basic needs are all expensive, and getting more so, and the number of
households finding themselves obliged to "pick any two" is on the way up.

But what is it about this last-mentioned need — housing — which lends itself
historically to quite such crazed policy-making at the federal level?'

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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