YIMBY vs Pirate

Sometime in the 1970s, a new term for crotchety old neighbors started to spring up. NIMBY stands for “not in my backyard”, and it was symbolized by that one neighbor that everyone has that objects to everything. All progress that got stopped was blamed on them, and very quickly opposition to these people who seemed to be everywhere (because the news told us so!) formed and turned themselves into a ‘movement’. In a stunning spark of binary thinking, they called themselves YIMBYs, for “Yes in my backyard”. It’s such an obvious reaction that it’s almost certain that reactionary neighbors and real estate developers (maybe someone who was both!) decided that pouring money into defeating the lone dissenters in neighborhoods would also help them make more money by labeling anyone who said “hey wait a minute” to any of their plans. The binary nature of “YIMBY vs NIMBY” just meant that it was easier for the moneyed interests to drive wedges between neighbors and profit mightily.

Fast forward to 2024, now. YIMBY is nationally famous, driven as a movement by associations with no less than the current vice president. We have YIMBY politicians here in California like Scott Weiner, a relentless shill for developers. Citizens United means that real estate developers can point a firehose of money at any politician they choose and get their agenda passed. YIMBY/NIMBY wars involve one of the most contentious issues in Northern California these days – attempts by billionaires to establish “Network State” cities in rural areas in complete disregard for the people who live there (the “NIMBYS”) by throwing their money around the way YIMBY organizations do. There are multiple organizations with YIMBY in the title that funnel donations to these politicians, and anyone who calls for even a modicum of oversight or public review. They claim to want to help “solve homelessness” but are oblivious to the root causes of homelessness – namely poverty and disability.

The conflict is always framed as YIMBY vs NIMBY. This is an unfair fight. The true NIMBY doesn’t exist, to begin with. If they do, they are not organized at all. As such, the term only exists as a label to denigrate opposition to YIMBY policies. The YIMBYs need new opponents that exist – such as the Pirate Party. It’s not just the one neighbor that objects to being steamrollered by the YIMBY developer lobby – in major cities around the country there is a growing consensus that this lobby is only out to line their own pockets while failing to solve the problem they claim to be addressing.

As a party, the Pirates are very concerned with corruption and unfair, unsafe practices. These are rampant on the YIMBY side and need to be called out. YIMBY policies were responsible for things like the Millenium Tower here in San Francisco – rammed through without adequate expert recommendations on a corner that used to be in the middle of the bay – built on landfill. Now the tower is leaning and sinking. Maybe this is what YIMBYs wanted? Because the price of condos in this building has dropped by over 50% since it opened. It turns out that people don’t want to live in a fifty-eight-story building that is leaning 20 inches in any direction.

According to insurance industry publications, construction defect lawsuits are on the rise in California since 2020. And the construction industry doesn’t care who it defrauds – another infamous case here in San Francisco involves OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who got taken by a developer who probably could have used better inspectors on his projects than the City of San Francisco has to offer. That’s a WHOLE other story – or is it? If these YIMBY developers can rip off rich people with impunity, what hope does anyone else have?

The enormous amount of money behind the YIMBY lobby means they can afford to pay “marketing consultants” for online trolls, propagandists, websites, mailers, etc. They attempt to control the discourse on homelessness as if they can solve it. The best evidence that they can’t is that their “movement” has been around for decades and we still have homeless people. How much money do they spend on this lobbying effort that could go into real estate development? It’s hard to say. And that’s the whole grift right there – if you take away the homeless issue, there’s not much of a reason for YIMBY as a movement to exist. They will exist as long as there is an issue for them to exploit.

As Pirates, we have a whole section on our platform addressing this.

As Pirates, we are duty-bound to work towards the most equitable solution for ALL Californians. The main problem with the current political environment is the endless worship of “compromise” as a political tool to advance causes. As the past eighty years have shown us, that route leads to oligarchy and kakistocracy. There are some things we can compromise on – leaving Californians on the street while lobbying for more high-end apartments only millionaires and billionaires can afford is not one of those things.