Before I start this article I should note I like Hbomberguy. Back when I was on the left, I became a fan of his channel for his wacky humor and great take-down of social conservatives. He often goes after low hanging fruit like Davis Aurini, Flat Earthers, and most recently, Climate Change Deniers. This sets him apart from other socialist YouTubers both because I can watch him without getting a headache (I don’t “get” ContraPoints is what I’m saying) and even though he more than likely does believe in eating the rich and all that, he doesn’t make that a focal point in his videos. Although now that I said that he’s going to make a full measured response on capitalism and why we should move towards a socialist system, just you watch.
The video is great, and I do mean it. Going after idiots like Steven Crowder, Patrick Moore, Courtney Kirchoff (our favorite transphobe), and Ben Shapiro. I would also like to state I hate all of those people, a lot, and think Hbomb is far smarter than all of them.
However, one part of the video has gone viral and I wish to talk about it. Yes, I believe in the fairy tale of the free market. And although I hate Ben Shapiro, I hate misunderstandings of free-market economics even more. Yes, Shapiro is not a good spokesman for neoliberalism (because he’s a culture warrior) however that does not mean I shouldn’t take this chance to talk about how climate change could affect the housing market.
For those who have not seen the clip, Shapiro says something along these lines:
Let’s say the sea levels rise by five or ten feet and it puts coast areas under water. Wouldn’t people just sell there houses and move?
To which Mr.Bomberguy chops through a wall with an ax (for some reason) and screams:
JUST ONE SMALL PROBLEM, SELL THERE HOUSES TO WHO BEN? FUCKING AQUAMAN!
This joke was also made by Cult of Dusty and a few others when Shapiro first had the talk. Obviously, Shapiro was incorrect in assuming people could sell there houses once they been flooded, however, the idea of a free-market solving climate change is not as insane as most think.
Let me ask you: Where’s the profit in the world burning? Maybe fire extinguisher companies, but not many others. Especially when you consider it was fossil fuel companies who lobbied the hardest for many of the first environmental regulations like the Clean Air Act. Yeah, that old myth about the Koch brothers paying everyone in Congress except Senator Sanders and Rep. Cortez a zillion or so dollars to ruin the environment is a myth. In fact, the Koch brothers have actually lobbied to expand regulations in the farming industry.
So what would happen if we did nothing, less than nothing in fact? What would happen if all coast houses were wiped out by higher sea levels? Well, you’d be surprised how much room is in the United States.
Currently, less than 5% of the United States is industrialized. In fact, if we were to put everyone on the planet in Texas (1/1000th of the land mass of Earth) every family could have a house with a small yard. What would more than likely happen would simply be entrepreneurs would build houses, making housing less expensive as there would be more houses. Basically, there would be more supply than demand even after a bunch of houses were destroyed.
So was Shapiro wrong? Yep. But he was not quite as wrong as Hbomb and his socialist friends thought he was.
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