Hacker News Reader

Comment by 2OEH8eoCRo0 | Hacker News Reader

I don't want more low income housing and fewer F-35s though- in fact I want the exact opposite.

Low income housing comes with associated costs to the city and the people who inhabit them pay essentially no taxes so everyone else's taxes need to go up.

View on HN

Unless we go with a very cheap option (kill all the houseless), housing them is actually a net positive for the city. Being houseless as a lot of negatives that cost us directly or indirectly. Think police enforcement, garbage cleanup, emergency rooms, even lost productivity.

I'm from a state with a long history of manufacturing and aerospace. The people who make F-35s are paid at least 75k without any qualifications and can take home much more than that if they choose to work OT. Definitely no need for low income housing for that crowd.

I never really thought about the tradeoffs, but given that the F-35 is mostly used to destroy low income housing of government undesirables, I suppose there is some tension there.

What conflict are you thinking of exactly when you reference F-35s being "mostly used to destroy low income housing of government undesirables"? I have no doubt the US military using fighter jets to mow down their own civilians would be well reported, so I'm sure there are lots of sources for the incident you're referencing.

Please be as specific as possible, I'd be surprised if you'd be ignorant enough to make such an accusatory comment if you didn't have an example ready to go.

Where did I say anything about "their own civilians"?

So what are you referring to then? No need to be evasive - just point out the conflict you had in mind. Like I said, it'd be ignorant to make the suggestion without some kind of example, so I'm giving you the floor for an explanation. Remember, your statement was that F-35s are mostly used for mowing down the housing of undesirables, all you need to do is explain where you got that idea from.

I'm referring to the experience of a lifetime - they load these things with bombs, but the examples of them falling on those with high-income individuals is vanishingly rare. To be honest, I wasn't referring to the F-35 all that specifically, it just seems to happen when you give governments bombs and planes; they aren't about to let them sit idle.

Excellent, it sounds like you're learning then. The F-35 is, as it were, not a machine designed to mow down civilian buildings.

Strictly speaking it is true that the F-35 is an air superiority fighter. At a more general level it is only a component of a larger war machine. Air superiority is typically asserted as part of a planned force projection. Civilian mobility and assets are commonly lost during military operations. None of this has much application to urban land use policy either way.

> Strictly speaking it is true that the F-35 is an air superiority fighter.

I wonder, does it have more kills in the air or on the ground?

Probably more ground - but that's not the point. The f-35 is built to be good in all conditions, have long range and carry quite a lot of ordonance, all the while being quite stealthy. It's a do-it-all plane.(80-120M usd)

The f16 is made to stay close to airbases and defend against intrusions. Kinda cheap - relatively.(60 M usd)

The f22 is the peak stealth air superiority fighter. It's made to go anywhere and murder anything. Much, much more expensive. Does not carry that much ordonance.(150M usd)

F18A are made to be do it alls on carriers.(66 M usd)

(I'd love to be corrected if i'm wrong)

> but that's not the point

There's a saying in systems engineering that comes to mind: "the purpose of a system is what it does".

It's why I've only become more and more convinced that we should leave the rest of the world alone.

Kraut has a video which explains why the position "US should leave the rest of the world alone" is a pretty elementary one which doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhXFgKEkwbU

I'd be curious for your thoughts.

the f-35 is mostly used for training. it has very few combat sorties to date.

I question the need for F-35's in future warfare. Ukraine has been using drones with ruthless efficiency.

And though it scares the living heck out of me. That can be scaled up with AI.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com