My life in London's houseboat slums

[hunter]

2. In any civilized nation a certain sort of minimal housing ought to be availible to anyone...

... free, if necessary.

Simply because we are all human.

I've lived in places similar to the houseboat picture. Heck, I've also lived in my broken car in a church parking lot. I've "sofa surfed" too. But never for rent.

Housing is one of those areas, like employment, where the government must set minimum standards and undercut the worst sort of "employers" and "landlords" with better opportunities.

Nice small flat with actual plumbing and a terrace you can grow a few plants on, or a dirty shack or houseboat?

Crappy non-living wage job with an abusive boss, or a living wage government job with gentle coworkers?

Which would you choose?

Put the lowest of the low "capitalists" out of business by direct government competition. Let's see if fast food tyrant boss can compete with breakfast-lunch-and dinner seven day a week government cafeterias. Let's see if slumlords can compete with clean safe community oriented government subsidized housing.

Anybody at all in a civilized society ought to be able to safely walk away from abusive living and working conditions.