I now live in Amsterdam, a city which has always had a strong commitment to public housing, and with the new government is going to be building 5000 new units a year (in a city with about 880,000 people).

And it seems to work. Amsterdam has seen a housing boom like everywhere else, due to the ultra-rich of course — but unlike other cities, have managed to keep a reasonable quality of life because Amsterdammers can still afford to live here. By no means has it been perfect — there are bitter complaints about gentrification here too — but compared to New York City whence we fled, it’s like night and day.

Until Americans understand that competition to the death for scarce resources does not ennoble humans but degrades and in many cases destroys them, public housing is unfortunately going to be a non-starter. Social Darwinism is the Moloch of contemporary America and demands the bodies and lives of the underclass for its rituals.