homelessness

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hitbyambulance
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homelessness

Post by hitbyambulance »

the visibility of homelessness has increased greatly over the past few years, and this is especially evident in any major metro area. where i live, there are tents now inhabiting local parks and run-down RVs parked on streets all over. this is a constant issue in the city and it really feels like little progress is being made on this issue. i personally feel that there is an unwillingness to deal with the larger picture, and today i read a comment from a Seattle Times article that i felt worth quoting in its entirety:
There's a broader societal issue here of why are so many people homeless these days? Rather than tackling that question, the main "solution" offered seems to be "shove them off on some other city."

Part of this problem, of course, are mentally-ill people who can't function on their own, and should probably be in some kind of institution, but I guess we decided a while back that that was "inhumane." Still, fixing that is expensive, and who is offering to pay more taxes for it?

The other part of the problem is those who can't/won't find gainful employment that would allow them to live off the streets. Obviously many are drug addicts, but again that raises a question of why are so many people turning to drugs these days? I think the main societal issue we want to avoid discussing is the fact that in our increasingly high-tech society, it's harder and harder for those who aren't reasonably intelligent to get a good job. 40-50 years ago, you had a lot more low-skill or manual-labor jobs available.

And it really isn't only a matter of brains -- these days you have to be really well-organized, and if you're not, you don't get as many second chances. You have to know how to play the game to keep employment (how to dress, how to speak properly, how to behave right, how to keep your emotions in check). You get behind on your bills, or renewing things like your car tabs/drivers license/insurance, it will come back to bite you.

So in a nutshell --- how do we as a society deal with those who just aren't competent in one way or another?
i guess to sum up - the 'anti-homeless' (for lack of a better term) don't care how the problem is 'solved', just as long as 'those people' aren't visible and not living next to them. i suppose making homelessness effectively illegal is what they consider the solution. but on the other side, i feel there is just a lot of patching the symptoms and also not really addressing the underlying problems. yes, building more affordable/subsidized 'tiny homes' is probably the most effective short-term remedy, but there seems to be denial on the numbers of substance abusers and moderately-to-severely mentally ill percentage of the homeless population - what does one do for those who do not want to (or can not) get out of their own personal circumstances, and when the numbers of meth and opiate addicts seem to be increasing? it really does seem to be that mental illness is huge in this country, and many people in the general poplation afflicted are going without treatment.

i feel this is a forerunner of the universal basic income question, and it will become an unavoidable topic sooner than later.
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Jaymann
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Re: homelessness

Post by Jaymann »

And don't you have to have an address to get welfare benefits?
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Re: homelessness

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All we need to stop all this is much more money and somewhere to put them. Nevada maybe?
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Re: homelessness

Post by Blackhawk »

Jaymann wrote: Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:11 pm And don't you have to have an address to get welfare benefits?
No, you usually just need proof you're a resident, which there are other ways to go about. But you need an address and a phone to get a job, and you need references and a job to get a home, and so on and so on. Many of the ways out of homelessness require a home. And with so many places going to work-from-home, it'll only get worse. Some places will help (give you a 'substitute' address and message phone, or even a cheap phone with enough minutes to handle interviews), but their resources are limited and you have to know how to find them.

I spent a lot of time growing up homeless with my father, mostly between the ages of 10 and 17. I saw a lot of welfare, and I saw a lot of homeless shelters, overnight shelters, and family shelters, which accounted for maybe a quarter of the time we were homeless. I also met a lot of really good people who got knocked down and were honestly just trying to get up long enough to get moving in the right direction again. And yes, a lot of them had issues of one sort or another that worked against them, but they didn't deserve to be swept under a rug and dismissed as useless.
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Jaymon
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Re: homelessness

Post by Jaymon »

In the book series Terra Ignota by Ada Palmer, people would undergo a competency examination for adulthood. It was not based on age. It was based on a persons mental, social, physical, emotional ability to care for themselves. if you passed the trial, you were essentially released to your own care, to make you way in the world. If you don't pass the trial, you are a ward of the state or you family, and not considered capable of fending for yourself.

I know its just a book, but it seemed like a good plan. We have a lot of people leaving home at a young age, who are not prepared. 18 years old, out the door, no idea what compound interest is.

Our world is complicated, and its not getting less. Once you drop off the grid, the climb to get back on is steep, and I imagine its insurmountable for most people.
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Re: homelessness

Post by Blackhawk »

My son, 19, would not pass. My other son, 17, probably would. I would not have passed at 18. Maybe at 23. Watching my older son and the delays he's experiencing in emotional development and maturity due to his autism makes me realize that I was likely experiencing the same delays, but got dumped into the deep end of the pool to fend for myself, and it was counterproductive. I did a lot of damage to myself and my life before I was adult enough to see the damage I was doing.
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Re: homelessness

Post by Little Raven »

Jaymon wrote: Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:28 pmI know its just a book, but it seemed like a good plan.
How do we keep this hypothetical institution from falling prey to the same forces of systemic racism and oppression that plague every other agency that we've managed to create, though?

I mean, it's hard enough for minorities as is. Imagine if the government had the power to essentially void your agency as long as you failed some test.
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Jaymon
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Re: homelessness

Post by Jaymon »

Little Raven wrote: Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:48 pm
Jaymon wrote: Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:28 pmI know its just a book, but it seemed like a good plan.
How do we keep this hypothetical institution from falling prey to the same forces of systemic racism and oppression that plague every other agency that we've managed to create, though?

I mean, it's hard enough for minorities as is. Imagine if the government had the power to essentially void your agency as long as you failed some test.
yup. therein lies the rub. thats why its a fantasy book. In our current world, any such test set up by the gubment would be guaranteed to start out as marginalized and racist, and then only get worse. (write a short essay explaining stock shorts and margin calls, and how to best leverage assets against a failing company for maximum returns)

I don't have a good answer, other than, we should not be forcing our kids out the door at 18, some of them are just not ready.

many of the folks out of the street are not capable of fending for themselves in the current technological world, they need significant help. tiny houses is not enough. life skills education is needed. how to fill out web pages. how to use online banking. how to avoid phishing scams.

I know these programs exist, but they are woefully understaffed and underfunded.
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Re: homelessness

Post by Lorini »

California insisted on bringing in all these high tech high employee companies without forcing those companies to provide equivalent housing because California was so anxious for the taxes and now we are paying the price. Newsome was supposed to be on track to get like a million new homes but that's not going to happen unless the state strong arms localities which the state has not done. At the end of the day, no one who bought a house is ever going to support anything that will lower the value of the house because of a ton of new housing.

It (at least here in CA) is another one of those problems which no one wants to solve but is obvious everywhere you go.
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Blackhawk
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Re: homelessness

Post by Blackhawk »

Jaymon wrote: Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:02 pm
I don't have a good answer, other than, we should not be forcing our kids out the door at 18, some of them are just not ready.
Unfortunately, as we're finding out, our society doesn't really have a place for those people. When you hit 18, society expects you to instantly become and adult, and sets available options (and support systems) accordingly.
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dbt1949
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Re: homelessness

Post by dbt1949 »

When I was 18 I was pretty useless. It took me going into the army to make me grow up. If not for the serive and if my parents wouldn't take care of me I'd have been homeless and useless.
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Re: homelessness

Post by hitbyambulance »

somehow i'm on this mailing list:

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let's at least be honest - 'compassion' is the last thing on your minds. you just want the bums outta sight, doesn't matter where...
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Re: homelessness

Post by Isgrimnur »

ChangeWA is focused on delivering clear and consistent voice in statewide and local policy discussions focused on critical issues affecting Washington’s businesses and citizens:

Livability
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Did someone hear a whistle or two?
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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