Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

1-7-2016

SSRN Discipline

Legal Scholarship Network; Social Insurance Research Network; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Law & Society eJournals; Law & Society: Public Law eJournals; International Law & Trade eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Public International Law eJournals; Financial Economics Network

Abstract

My alter ego Rodrigo and I discuss deepseated poverty of the type found in dirtpoor colonias or shantytowns located along the Texas border with Mexico Many of the houses there lack basic amenities such as water or sewers which would appear to violate basic norms of health and safety Yet these settlements are located in unincorporated areas far from major cities so are largely beyond the power of local authority to regulate Moreover regulation even if it were possible might drive up the cost of building so high as to price the residents out of the only form of shelter they can afford Since no solution is readily available within the current liberal paradigm the two discuss radical measures including disruptive activism and decisive intervention by distant rulers applying minimal human standards and making sure that the region meets them for all who live there

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