Homeless people are people. Just give them homes. It's been proven to save public money. Just give them homes. It's been proven to reduce drug dependency and mental crises. Just give them homes. It literally ends homelessness. Just give them homes. NOT KILL THEM.
@KFuentesGeorge during the worst of COVID people who were homeless were able to stay in hotels. We made it a priority to feed every child. We brought millions of children out of poverty.
There's absolutely no reason our government along with some nonprofit help can't build similar housing, paired with services.
With the smallest mindset (and funding) shift this can happen.
I cannot explain how disappointed and angry I am at ending the state of emergency COVID status, precisely because it means that the few safety nets that were expanded are now going to be demolished.
@KFuentesGeorge@d2
... and I see certain parts of the US are taking the opportunity not to return them to "as they were" but to cut them even more than before.
Extraordinarily disheartening.
@KFuentesGeorge Here in Singapore the government’s public housing agency (Housing Development Board, HDB for short) offers shoebox-style and one-bedroom apartments (referred here as “one-room” and “two-room” flats respectively) at controlled rental rates, generally targeted for those living near poverty or otherwise need housing but don’t have any other options available to them.
@KFuentesGeorge Despite this tho, there are still a population of homeless people here in Singapore; indeed right now as I’m typing this I’m watching a local documentary on the homeless population here, on the local news channel CNA.
@KFuentesGeorge In Singapore’s case tho, the more common reasons why someone would be homeless (in addition to poverty) can be due to family issues, interpersonal problems, or even just personal pride, or “face” (an Asian societal concept) - some would just prefer to tough it out alone than to ask for/receive help.
@KFuentesGeorge That said, even tho our situation and solutions aren’t perfect, the fact that we have rent-controlled public housing available does mean homelessness is less of a problem here in Singapore. When someone here is homeless, it’s less of “can’t afford housing” problem (though that does still happen) and more “my family kicked me out”, or “just let me tough it out”, or even “just leave me alone” problem.
@KFuentesGeorge Homelessness is a complicated societal problem, but providing basic housing for free or on the cheap would definitely greatly help in fixing a large part of it. It’s not a magic bullet, and needs to be paired with strengthened social safety nets and such, but it is definitely a necessary foundation on which other solutions can be built upon.
@KFuentesGeorge The one reason why America doesn't want to do this is the exact reason why America doesn't like free education or free healthcare
White poor folks would rather suffer than support services that would also benefit black folks.
It always goes back to race and racism.
@Agora wtf. don't blame the whole country (assuming by America, you mean USA) for the conservative right who are in government purely to stop government from doing government things.
@travisfw When I say white America, I get the same “not all white people” —white people overwhelmingly vote for these people whose single most agenda is to keep black and brown people out. This time I chose NOT to write “white America”, and that's also bad! What do you want from me? People who live here know exactly who is responsible for this carnage! White conservatives! Oh, and Clarence Thomas.
@Agora that's great. Please do blame white conservatives. I think Robin DiAngelo would probably find that finger correctly pointed, even when the "not all white people" comes from white liberals who haven't examined their own racial bias. (Though I do not identify as liberal, I have, and everybody should, tested myself for bias. There is scientific, easy testing for it. Knowledge of personal bias is the first solid step in truly combating -isms, imo.)
@KFuentesGeorge What's the motivation to work if everyone gets free homes, or free food and medical care? With that said, what we should be doing is providing mental health services for those homeless who need it, and "REAL" opportunity for those homeless for other reasons. A simple "everybody is entitled to free...." is a losing economic proposition. Temp housing to access and provide help or opportunity is OK, free ride, unless you're planning to pay for it....not so much.
@jimdoppke@KFuentesGeorge I'm not Reagan and if you reread what I posted I'm not against helping the homeless. What I am against is just giving free houses to anyone who is homeless
I can be homeless tomorrow and quit paying property taxes, utilities and groceries and let you pay for them....just give me my free house and stuff.
There isn't a single rational reason to oppose giving free houses to homeless people. The data are in and they are clear as day.
-It saves money (even a Reaganite should appreciate that)
-It's better for public health on Every. Single. Measure.
-It helps people get into the workforce, jesus christ, I thought you were about making people work? Right?
-It's the decent, humane thing to do
The only - the ONLY - reason to oppose free houses for the homeless that I can imagine, is a desire to punish people for their own poverty.
@KFuentesGeorge@marleybits39@jimdoppke
> "What I am against is just giving free houses to anyone who is homeless. I can be homeless tomorrow and quit paying property taxes, utilities and groceries and let you pay for them....just give me my free house and stuff."
Yeah, I have to say, I really cannot see a single logical reason for any of this, not one little bit. You are talking as if "the economy" is just some bank account that working people somehow fill up with taxes, and it can run out of money and then... something bad happens. Don't tell me you actually believe this? This is really NOT how the economy works, like this is so far detached from reality that I don't think I can even begin to explain how wrong this is.
Let me just say this: if you have watched the news for any amount of time in the past 20 years, you will know that congress can cut taxes while simultaneously approve massive spending bills on the military, or conjure up money out of thin air to bail-out banks or massive too-big-to-fail corporations, all on deficit spending, while the federal reserve can just create money out of thin air (or remove it from circulation) and adjust interest rates to ensure the economy keeps moving.
So why in the holy FUCK can we not just conjure up money out of thin air to house the homeless? It really has to be out of pure malice that anyone wouldn't want to do that.
White folks don’t want Black folks to be equal to them, especially not by giving them housing
Even White Republicans support “welfare” if they think it’s going to a White person. I would say that’s probably the biggest reason for a lack of social safety net
@peterbutler@KFuentesGeorge@marleybits39@jimdoppke that's why having people that's poor but otherwise privileged front and centre is effective in political campaigning, even if it might (and probably should) look bad to most informed people.
The point is to afterwards actually distribute the resources farther than just the most privileged section of the poor when governing (which is easier said than done, though).
@peterbutler@KFuentesGeorge@jimdoppke the irony is that most welfare programs do go to white people, but even poor white people will vote against them if some of the program benefits black people. Welfare and public housing was popular until Lyndon Johnson expanded those programs to include POC.
@marleybits39@KFuentesGeorge If we had a collective vision to improve society and make our civilization better, that would be a great incentive to get people to work
People want to work if they know their work is valuable and valued
@peterbutler@KFuentesGeorge I would agree with that. I just don't think the answer is giving away free houses. I do support govt subsidizing affordable housing, and providing temp housing for those who need it. In other words, I'm willing to provide access to transportation, but I'm not buying you a car.
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