So I’ll bite …let’s say he’s right and they’re “not” homeless they’re suffering from mental illness, drug addiction or a combination of both WHILE being homess.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to actually fucking help those in need especially now we know they’re struggling with homeless AND other incapacitating issues.
Society should be judged on how they treat the weak, struggling members of society. They are not a burden but real people hurting, and we are all closer to homeless than we think.
There is also a cynical neoliberal argument that one could make. By helping those homeless people, they are reintroduced to the economy. They will produce value, consume products, and not dedicate on the sidewalk. In other words it’s a good investment.
So if I’m being honest, after reading Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, I see absolutely no need to ever embrace anything from the Chicago School of Economics or any bullshit Neoliberal ideology, it only serves to transfer wealth to private hands.
Even when my objective and a Neoliberal objective inadvertently line up, they are not the good guys.
I agree with you all the way. However, this is a very good talking point if you’re dealing with someone who doesn’t care about human decency or empathy
I hate that I’d even have to entertain that as a reason, or spew it at those who just won’t care about any other argument.
Even if that is true, does it somehow invalidate the fact that they are also homeless?! Are they less deserving to be out of the elements because they have an addiction?
That’s what I find so disgusting about this statement. It’s just an excuse and doesn’t address anything at all.
Using his own “argument”, it would seem to me that a path to less addiction and violence would involve having a place to live and sleep.
Lots of people feel this way about homelessness and addiction. It’s very easy to dehumanized people. My cousin interrupted me, when I said something about it, and told me “when you have people shooting up outside your house, then you can complain”. As if i couldnt have an opinion until i experience the issue that is homelessness, the war on drugs, and our failure to address mental health issues in this country with my very own eyes. She’s a bit snooty, and she doesn’t even realize it.
Nevermind that once you become homeless, it becomes much harder to dig yourself out of that hole (probably by design).
It’s such a self-centered point of view. They can’t even conceive of themselves ever being in a similar situation so they assume the person inconveniencing them must be fully to blame for their homelessness. Then they can ignore those degenerates without feeling guilty about it.
Yeah wonder what could drive someone to addiction and desperation? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm couldn’t be not having a stable food supply and a place to live?
Yeah the whole correlation causation thing is going to be very mixed up here. Like lets look at it another way:
Oh no I become disabled > Can’t work anymore shit I got no money > Try to apply for disability benefits oh fuck its a million forms and I need a lawyer oh fuck I’m broke > Crash at friends to apply for disability, first try fails after 1 year (this is pretty standard usually takes 2-3 trys), oh fuck friend kicks me out > go to homeless camp struggling to feed yourself, no time to think about applying for benefits anymore > The pain is too much I don’t have my medicine anymore its fucking freezing oh shit that guys selling drugs > get addicted
Boom, you’re homeless and addicted. That story could happen to literally anyone without generational wealth and an exceptionally strong support network.
Are they less deserving to be out of the elements because they have an addiction?
That’s not what’s being said. He is criticizing the fact that so many people assume that ‘just give them a place to live’ is the solution, when it’s much, much more complicated than that. In that way, “homeless” is very reductive, and masks those other issues, in favor of making it look like it’s a simple problem with a simple solution.
Very few long-term homeless people are homeless simply because they can’t afford a place to live.
So we shouldn’t house them unless and until we figure out all of the complex issues? They’re not going to benefit any at all, or have any possibility of getting on their feet, until we have a perfect solution?
That’s what’s being said there: homelessness is not something we should do anything about, because of reasons. So let’s do nothing.
That’s a fucking cop out.
So we shouldn’t house them unless and until we figure out all of the complex issues?
That’s what’s being said there: homelessness is not something we should do anything about
No, Cathy, that’s not what was said.
The fact of the matter is that we know what happens when we provide shelter without anything else. It doesn’t last and you’re right back where you started before you know it. After all, it’s that stuff that is the reason they became homeless in the first place.
If you don’t address the other stuff, ‘just give them a house lol’ literally doesn’t work long-term. That’s the reality.
Homelessness encompasses far more than rough sleeping. I agree that there are issues that many homeless people may face that wouldn’t be resolved just by giving them a roof over their head. But it’d be a great start. And don’t forget, a lot of homelessness is people and families in temporary or crisis housing, or couch surfing with friends and family, because they can’t afford a place of their own.
I wouldn’t say this contradicts anything I said, really. I don’t disagree with any of this.
I bristled specifically at the ridiculously glib and reductive “solve homelessness” line. People love to think issues like these are things that have simple obvious solutions that no one thought of before their enlightenment came along and deigned to bless the rest of us.
I cannot explain how disgustingly evil it is to witness the suffering of individuals, whether due to substance abuse, illness, or homelessness, and dismiss it as untruthful.
The numbers to fix homelessness may be controversial, with some sites saying it was 20 billion in 2010 and that’s just to provide vouchers for a year, and some fact checking sites saying it can cost $60 billion in a year.
The primary concern is the actions of a South African billionaire, whose net worth is $350 billion. Instead of recognizing the complexities of a significant social issue, he appears to dehumanize those affected and assigns blame, rather than offering assistance.
What a fucking evil take.
Those numbers all take into account existing housing assistance programs, which are used by mostly non-homeless people.
There are 250k homeless people in the US. For $20B, you could spend $80k per each person. Since many of the homeless are families, that’s enough to buy a small house for each family.
But you still have to keep paying into the existing programs, or more people will become homeless. Compared to a quarter million homeless people, there are 4.5M households using the existing programs.
While the word is “homeless” the problem is generally not just “lacking a home”. It usually stems from things like inability to work due to severe disability or psychiatric illness, unofficial immigrants struggling to find employment, addiction, abandonment from family, not enough money to retire but unable to work etc.
Like don’t get me wrong giving everyone a home is great. But it won’t magically solve all the problems. And they might not be able to afford maintinance, property tax etc. Also if it’s homelessness due to lack of employment I question whether the 80k home will be anywhere useful for someone to find a job they qualify for, and if it will have any transportation links or anything
Fucking dumbass. 25% of them are kids. Dude is a fucking loser.
As a broad statement it’s dumb, but depending on the city addiction can be a major contribution to the cycle of “homelessness”, especially the more visible populations who have reached peak “fuck it” and have no more cares for societal values or laws… Even if 25% of them are kids, yeah some of those may be hooked on drugs at an early age or be affected by parental/guardian drug abuse.
But ok then… he’s still a billionaire who could definitely spare a good portion of his wealth to improve both situations (homelessness and addiction) but would rather just leverage it to make more and more wealth while pushing policies that actually make life for the average person worse.
At the same time, homelessness and addiction are very much NOT just a throw-money-at-it problem and fucking both would require systemic change over time.
For Elon socially, how much of his wealth is liquid enough to make a difference I don’t know, but I haven’t really heard of him doing ANYTHING particularly altruistic with his money and Id say the changes/logistics required to make this world a better place are probably still a lot more feasible than building a colony on fucking Mars…
He bought and tanked twitter for more than that. I’d say his wealth is more than liquid enough
Bought and tanked Twitter and totally wasn’t funded by people who wanted to see it dead.
Pretty sure that move made him more money than it cost him.
Yeah, I’m addicted.
Addicted to the good old outdoors.
