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  • Apr 28, 2026, 7:40 AM

    “Every country that has tried to build its way out of housing crises without dealing with the underlying problem of inequality and distribution has built a slum. The whole world is filled with these places that have had no restrictions on housing, and they built a massive shanty town outside of their city.

    “And you think that can’t happen in a country like Australia. I grew up in Ilford, which is a poor suburb of East London...it was a poor suburb for working-class families, and it is now a slum. It’s as simple as that. All respect to the people that live there, is a place of desperate poverty, and those family homes are now expanded backwards, expanded upwards, and rented out by the room.

    “Australia is a bit behind on this, but you’re going in the same direction. You will build a super luxury centre surrounded by extremely low-quality slums.”

    watoday.com.au/politics/wester

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Replies

  • Apr 28, 2026, 8:32 AM

    @phocks gotta say this guy vastly overestimates how many people even know who their local mayor is in Australia

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 9:29 AM

    @phocks excuse me, I rented a room with 5-7 strangers in ilford and still had to skip enough meals that... well anyway it's not a slum. because of the reasons.

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  • wy knottwyatt_h_knott
    Apr 28, 2026, 11:30 AM

    @sinvega @phocks My mayor won't let us build slums so instead we have people living in the woods in tents. And they were there before covid stimulus checks, as well as after.

    In the US at least, building slums was a CHOICE made by racists and enforced by systemic racism. They were called PROJECTS, and every major city in the US with a black population had at least one.

    And it has fuck all to do with "stimulus."

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 10:05 AM

    @phocks @MelissaBearTrix There are no slums or shanty towns anywhere in Japan. Strict building regulations, strong infrastructure, and relatively low levels of extreme urban poverty have prevented that kind of widespread informal settlement from developing. There are pockets of poverty and temporary sheltering along some railways and in parks. But no shanty towns or slums. So no, not every country.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 10:31 AM

    @MelissaBearTrix @phocks Japan has a declining population. Real estate is expensive if it’s within four hours of a major city. Cars are very cheap & inexpensive & most Japanese families only have one car that they drive perhaps ten times a month.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 10:41 AM

    @phocks @MelissaBearTrix Spot on, it’s a complete reversal that has seen entire rural towns left completely vacant. Japan has around 10 million vacant homes across the country. Australia has around 122,000 people experiencing homelessness.

    Japan’s empty homes could house them many times over.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 10:19 AM

    @phocks @MelissaBearTrix On the contrary, despite an image of harmony, inequality still exists in Japan. Irregular workers, gender pay gaps, & ageing rural regions reveal uneven access to wealth, stability, & opportunity across society.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 12:28 PM

    @SydneyJim @phocks @MelissaBearTrix This is plain untrue. Japan has serious problems with its social system that parallel those in Germany, and there are many people in Japan who are effectively "working poor", and who live in tiny rooms that are effectively slums.

    Check out the documentary "Japan: A Story of Love And Hate" from 2008.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 12:48 PM

    @promovicz @phocks @MelissaBearTrix Living in “tiny rooms” has been a norm in Japan since WWII. I didn’t say there were no “poor Japanese.” There are no “slums” that fit the English definition of the word in Japan. I lived & worked in Japan for ten years & visit with my Japanese family every year. I’m quite sure I have a grasp of how Japanese society is functioning at any given time.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 12:50 PM

    @SydneyJim @phocks @MelissaBearTrix I don't see how "living there" would necessarily connect people with those realities - let alone in Japan, where personal problems are shunned as non-conformity. Most Germans don't have a clue about our social "slums" - and they're less "slum" than a favela, but still socially disadvantaged as heck.

    Check out the doc, it's really good!

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 12:52 PM

    @SydneyJim @phocks @MelissaBearTrix Personally, I don't care how we define "slum" - but I care if people are socially disadvantaged at scale. To me, that's defining for a "slum". If you don't get to choose where you live, that's already "half a slum".

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 12:53 PM

    @promovicz @phocks @MelissaBearTrix I am a Zen Buddhist priest, if you don’t know, that entails connecting with those who are less fortunate & assisting with those who are in need. I don’t think watching a film is going to give you any greater insight into a society than living in it.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 12:55 PM

    @SydneyJim @phocks @MelissaBearTrix I don't follow that belief about "local experience", but it may be correct for you. For me, it's not. If you live there, that's "ethnographic" knowledge. Sociology does not require field presence or subject exposure, because it's objective, whereas ethnology is subjective by definition.

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  • Apr 28, 2026, 2:27 PM

    @phocks

    TBH, as long as monied people are buying residential property as investments, prices and inequality will be driven up.

    Tons of well-heeled Australians who have a second, third, or fourth "investment" house are surprised to learn that their kids can't afford to buy anywhere near them, if at all. Once in that investment mindset, they also can't easily pull out and will fight any effort to reduce scarcity or pricing

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