Nimby

10/04. And why are there so many rich progressives? Here I was debating with myself whether to vote for a county program to buy more wild land, and I realized my interests as a moderately well-off suburbanite were served by fencing off as much property as possible — so poorer people can’t buy houses and crowd the landscape, lowering my property values. And higher gas prices and tolls are wonderful if I can afford them, because they keep the common herd off the road! And indeed, many puzzling progressive causes now make sense. For instance, the annoying servant problem: California just outlawed manual weeding, which of course means a whole class of poor day laborers will immediately be out of work, replaced by more expensive machines — and the supply of nannies and pool boys will immediately increase! ... It’s all so wonderful....

Not In My Back Yard: it’s good for society, and it’s good for me! Do well by doing good! ...

But I voted against the land grab....