Housing is both a human right and a profitable asset, and that’s the problem
I don&#x27;t feel that housing is a human right. In fact I don&#x27;t believe it is even possible for housing to be a human right.<p>Human rights cannot be rights for someone else to build or do something for you, because it inherently causes a restriction or obligation to someone else. Also it&#x27;s possible that reality simply says the right cannot be provided, and reality tends to beat policy. For example if there are twice as many people who need housing as available houses, no amount of claiming that housing is a right is going to overcome the underlying reality.  In fact this damages the whole idea of rights because a right should not be able to be denied but in this case this right exists &quot;while supplies last&quot;. That&#x27;s a goal  not a right.<p>My free speech doesn&#x27;t exist while supplies last. It doesn&#x27;t require anyone to do anything for me to exercise it. It&#x27;s simply the right I&#x27;m given as a human. If someone violates it a court should give me recourse but no one is obligated to do anything on my behalf.<p>I understand a lot of people disagree with this line of thinking but I really think these unprovidable rights do more damage to the idea of human rights then the benefit.<p>This isn&#x27;t a rant against people having access to affordable housing. I support that goal but it takes careful planning and a lot of hard work. Simply calling it a right and leaving the details for someone else to solve achieves nothing.