Just FYI I was speaking more in big picture terms, not specific to The Mission, I know very little about what they do good/bad/in-between besides that they're a faith-based homeless shelter.
I hate to get off topic too far but I do have a sort of a rant on UBI ( I think that's what you meant @gbdinlansing )... It's almost certainly not sustainable or feasible today but with AI taking over most meaningful sectors of the economy in the coming years and decades we're going to have to figure something out. Needing a UBI in that scenario seems obvious but I couldn't picture how to get there or how to make it make sense economically (I still may not, I'm not an economist) but I have an inkling of an idea: In a potentially hyper-productive economy (like with AI doing most things), but with low demand (because most people have no income), extreme deflation sets in, destroying the economy and probably society. How do economists combat deflation? By printing money. But instead of doing it just in an emergency and funneling most of that money through bureaucratic channels it could be done in perpetuity (because AI will assumedly increase productivity in perpetuity) and issued directly to people (to create demand in the economy). Think of it as an everlasting stimulus check. The government also prints money to fund its own activities in this scenario, the level of money printing correlates to a particular inflation/productivity target. The government and the UBI is funded by inflation, more or less. The transition may be a little rocky but at least a system like this still allows markets to function as the economy's guiding force and still allows private wealth creation/ownership outside the UBI scheme that keeps much of the population afloat.
Well said, I am not sure about the AI takeover of most things' we humans do or if I will have to face such a situation as I am pushing the big 7-0 next month. I may be wrong to face such a thing with fear, but it sure sounds scary. It would seem rather stupid to turn all of our activities to AI there by impoverishing everyone by taking their jobs away, and manufacture stuff no one can buy. I like your ideas for the future, and it would be great if we could replace a certain non-functioning orange-stained human brain with an AI brain today before its owner destroys our economy and the rest of us with it. That one would freak out at even the thought of a universal living wage. It worked during the pandemic the stimulus checks, and childcare funds were spent in the economy and thousands of children were lifted out of poverty. OK rant over thanks for reading! Back to our normal programming!
I noticed the new fence in front of WLNS, it seems a little over done with the bent iron spicks arching down on the street side. It is not as ugly as it could be and I don't know what kind of threats they face but this fence is more defensive that the fence they put up at the governor's home which just has points on top, to me less ominous and negative looking than WLNS's.
Thanks for the transportation survey link, by the way. I wrote "clean up the graffiti!" eighteen times.
(Truly though. You leave it, you may as well erect a sign that says "we just don't care that much". That's the message.)
Seeing something in the Committee of the Whole meeting next week that had me confused. It's the sell of the lots at North Cemetery on East Miller Road we talked about back in 2022. I was under the impression that the sell had already gone through, but here in the agenda is a real estate sale agreement between the city and developer. Apparently, the parties had an agreement, but the developer called it off, so they're back here these many years later. lol
Reading the resolution, it seems that the developer was willing to pay $8,500 for the lot, which was slightly above appraisal, and then pulled out. The city did another RFP this year and the same developer rebid and got it for $3,000. Feels like we got cheated. lol Because the land is certainly not worth less than it was in 2021 when they appraised it at $8,000. Anyway, the money is going toward fixing up the old cemetery, but more than double the amount would have certainly been a big help.
I also pointed out the graffiti. I would like to see some enforcement of vandalism laws, maybe if these ''artist" had to pay for their crimes against our community others might not follow. Even I can tell that one or two people do a lot of the tagging because of their stupid repetitive and poorly done tags. Start with them!
I saw there are steel beams going up at the City Hall, and the apartment building in the next block has walls going up to the top floor. Just dirt at the Ovation corner. I would like to see the city get the owners of the burned-out liquor store across the street do something with their property it has been boarded up for well over a year with no sign of any renovation.
Comments
I hate to get off topic too far but I do have a sort of a rant on UBI ( I think that's what you meant @gbdinlansing )... It's almost certainly not sustainable or feasible today but with AI taking over most meaningful sectors of the economy in the coming years and decades we're going to have to figure something out. Needing a UBI in that scenario seems obvious but I couldn't picture how to get there or how to make it make sense economically (I still may not, I'm not an economist) but I have an inkling of an idea: In a potentially hyper-productive economy (like with AI doing most things), but with low demand (because most people have no income), extreme deflation sets in, destroying the economy and probably society. How do economists combat deflation? By printing money. But instead of doing it just in an emergency and funneling most of that money through bureaucratic channels it could be done in perpetuity (because AI will assumedly increase productivity in perpetuity) and issued directly to people (to create demand in the economy). Think of it as an everlasting stimulus check. The government also prints money to fund its own activities in this scenario, the level of money printing correlates to a particular inflation/productivity target. The government and the UBI is funded by inflation, more or less. The transition may be a little rocky but at least a system like this still allows markets to function as the economy's guiding force and still allows private wealth creation/ownership outside the UBI scheme that keeps much of the population afloat.
https://mckenna.mysocialpinpoint.com/lansing-non-motorized-transportation-plan/lansing-non-motorized-transportation-community-survey
And here's a map you can leave comments on:
https://mckenna.mysocialpinpoint.com/lansing-non-motorized-transportation-plan/lansing-ward-map
(Truly though. You leave it, you may as well erect a sign that says "we just don't care that much". That's the message.)
Reading the resolution, it seems that the developer was willing to pay $8,500 for the lot, which was slightly above appraisal, and then pulled out. The city did another RFP this year and the same developer rebid and got it for $3,000. Feels like we got cheated. lol Because the land is certainly not worth less than it was in 2021 when they appraised it at $8,000. Anyway, the money is going toward fixing up the old cemetery, but more than double the amount would have certainly been a big help.