A Dutch City Is Creating the First Habitable, 3D Printed Houses

[Sanguine]

@Sanguine

Euphemism.

Shorthand for "they are going out into the country where they will have like-minded companions to play with out in the sunshine,just like we did with your sick puppy."

Yeah, I guess I'm a little sensitive since I live "out here".

[sneakypete]

So, what do you propose to do?  Shall we prohibit all labor-saving devices?  Just think, if we went back to digging holes with shovels and buckets, we could hit 100% employment!  Damned that James Watt and his infernal steam engine.

@Oceander

Well,I know what the kind-hearted humanitarians that refer to themselves as Progressives and Liberals will do,and that is mandatory sterilizations for those considered to be of inferior breeding stock,and labor/death camps for the rest.  I know this because they identify themselves with the Soviets and Nazi's through their speech and goals.

[Oceander]

Now you're beginning to get it.  Yes, if we went back to human labor, probably everybody would be able to find a job of some sort.  But, you and I agree, that isn't where we are now.  Times have changed. So, what do we do with the large number of people who are and will be unemployable in the world we live in now?  Do you deny that they exist?

We educate them.  We retrain them.  Those who are sufficiently old we give early retirement.  This is one reason why a public retirement/pension scheme makes some sense. 

[sneakypete]

Now you're beginning to get it.  Yes, if we went back to human labor, probably everybody would be able to find a job of some sort.  But, you and I agree, that isn't where we are now.  Times have changed. So, what do we do with the large number of people who are and will be unemployable in the world we live in now?  Do you deny that they exist?

@Sanguine

ONE possible solution is to get into wars that are none of our business so the unemployed will be able to die off while fighting in the military,and maybe even allowing illegal alien invaders to come in and take away what menial jobs there are in order to  become the focus of a civil war,giving the politicians and their handlers the excuse they need to suspend the Constitution and declare a state of emergency exists "for the duration".

But we wouldn't do that either,would we?

But we would never do that,would we?

[roamer_1]

I wonder if they could get structural approval in hurricane prone areas.  At $25/sq ft I could build me a mansion!

Hold on... Is that $25 Ft2 FLOOR, or really $25 Ft2??
Two entirely different things, that.
 

[Sanguine]

We educate them.  We retrain them.  Those who are sufficiently old we give early retirement.  This is one reason why a public retirement/pension scheme makes some sense.

We already have them.  What are we doing with them?

[Sanguine]

@Sanguine

ONE possible solution is to get into wars that are none of our business so the unemployed will be able to die off while fighting in the military,and maybe even allowing illegal alien invaders to come in and take away what menial jobs there are in order to  become the focus of a civil war,giving the politicians and their handlers the excuse they need to suspend the Constitution and declare a state of emergency exists "for the duration".

But we wouldn't do that either,would we?

But we would never do that,would we?

I'll give you that that has happened many times in the past.

[Oceander]

We already have them.  What are we doing with them?

That’s where Adam Smith and the non zero sum nature of economics comes into play.  They find work to do that uses their new skills and the economy grows.  Provided, of course, that we don’t do stupid anti-economic things like imposing tariffs and other trade killers - oops. 

[Sanguine]

That’s where Adam Smith and the non zero sum nature of economics comes into play.  They find work to do that uses their new skills and the economy grows.  Provided, of course, that we don’t do stupid anti-economic things like imposing tariffs and other trade killers - oops.

No, right now we dispense enough "taxpayers' money" to sustain them through their families.  And, they do what unoccupied young men have done since the beginning of time, they get into trouble.  We already know what the problem is, exactly what it looks like and the results thereof. 

[Oceander]

No, right now we dispense enough "taxpayers' money" to sustain them through their families.  And, they do what unoccupied young men have done since the beginning of time, they get into trouble.  We already know what the problem is, exactly what it looks like and the results thereof. 

Sorry, but we simply are not awash in permanently unemployed people who are unemployed because we no longer dig holes with shovels and no longer build or operate horse-drawn carriages. 

Unemployment is a much more complex issue than that.

[Sanguine]

Sorry, but we simply are not awash in permanently unemployed people who are unemployed because we no longer dig holes with shovels and no longer build or operate horse-drawn carriages. 

Unemployment is a much more complex issue than that.

I'm glad that you recognize that it is a complicated issue. 

You apparently do not see however that the combination of welfare and reduction in low-skilled jobs has created an underclass.  Very simple in some ways, very complex in others. 

[RoosGirl]

Hold on... Is that $25 Ft2 FLOOR, or really $25 Ft2??
Two entirely different things, that.

I didn't really dig too hard into the numbers. I did the simple math of $10k for 400 sq ft.  I suspect that is the cost just for the shell of the building, but maybe not.  If it's just the shell I don't think that would be any cheaper than any other construction method.

I went back to that article Sanguine posted and it says $10k for the whole 400 sq ft building., not including land.  That's pretty dang cheap. Standard construction is running $125ish per sq ft in my area.

[Oceander]

I'm glad that you recognize that it is a complicated issue. 

You apparently do not see however that the combination of welfare and reduction in low-skilled jobs has created an underclass.  Very simple in some ways, very complex in others. 

No, I don’t see a permanent underclass based on technological changes.  To the extent there is an underclass, it derives mostly from political acts, including anti-economic nonsense like the tariff idiocies being indulged in by Trump.  It also arises from the leftist desire to maintain a permanent underclass as a bastion of power, either through voting, protesting, or outright violence. 

In fact, barriers to entry such as a Luddite approach to preventing technological change, also create and maintain an underclass.  As a result, prohibiting this new technology would simply entrench another underclass, not alleviate it. 

[roamer_1]

I didn't really dig too hard into the numbers. I did the simple math of $10k for 400 sq ft.  I suspect that is the cost just for the shell of the building, but maybe not.  If it's just the shell I don't think that would be any cheaper than any other construction method.

I went back to that article Sanguine posted and it says $10k for the whole 400 sq ft building., not including land.  That's pretty dang cheap. Standard construction is running $125ish per sq ft in my area.

eh- It depends a lot on design... but when I redid this cabin, I seriously considered mowing it over and starting fresh - Stick frame, dried in, would have been about $16k on this 1120 ft2 house. 

I can't imagine concrete being less expensive than sticks... Just on the sheer cost of the concrete. Especially rural costs.

[RoosGirl]

eh- It depends a lot on design... but when I redid this cabin, I seriously considered mowing it over and starting fresh - Stick frame, dried in, would have been about $16k on this 1120 ft2 house. 

I can't imagine concrete being less expensive than sticks... Just on the sheer cost of the concrete. Especially rural costs.

Are you talking DIY?

[roamer_1]

Are you talking DIY?

No, that was the bid from the contractor - Well not bid exactly... more like a really accurate thumb, since it never went to contract... I had to keep my existing in order to grandfather the septic...

[sneakypete]

Sorry, but we simply are not awash in permanently unemployed people who are unemployed because we no longer dig holes with shovels and no longer build or operate horse-drawn carriages. 

Unemployment is a much more complex issue than that.

@Oceander

True,most are unemployed because they don't want to work,and they can live better on welfare than they can the wages they get for moving slow and not knowing or doing anything.