COMMENT ON HARTMAN,CHESTER THE CASE FOR A RIGHT TO HOUSING - THE RIGHT TO POVERTY WITH A ROOF - A RESPONSE TO HARTMAN

While the goal of establishing a right to decent, affordable housing i s noble, a right to housing alone ignores the variety of underlying pr ocesses that concentrate certain types of households in conditions of poverty. A right that simply makes surviving poverty marginally more b earable is a troubling notion. That approach to problem solving addres ses the symptom and not the cause. Rather, government should focus on enforcing existing individual rights and creating opportunities where possible and feasible so as to aid every American to achieve his or he r full productive potential as a human being.