The Left-NIMBY Canon
People have rich sets of conflicts. Many of them don&#x27;t fit into a political narrative. But politics is a convenient dividing line that exists, to people try to fit new information to the model they understand.<p>Trying to fit attitudes towards zoning and development into a broader political philosophy seems unproductive. &quot;NIMBY&quot; itself has become an insult, rather than any sort of productive and well defined word. Is historical preservation of a building that prevents further development related to political philosophy? Is zoning and capacity planning indicating a lack of infrastructure for a certain number of new people in a given area a political philosophy? Is a rich person deciding they don&#x27;t want their scenic view disrupted by a new large building or wind farm related to a political philosophy? Ecologists objecting to a new suburban development because it disrupts wildlife? Do they even have consistent motivations? Are they all NIMBYism?<p>My point is that <i>NIMBYism</i> is a word that makes people stupider immediately. It is a nam shub to stop critical thinking on a varied, unrelated issues and creates a binary divide where one does not really exist.