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Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

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Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#21

Post by mschuster91 »

vkou wrote: post #17
alexandercrohde wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was my understanding that SF in particular is an incredibly rich county and that there are adequate beds available in shelters for the homeless. Is this not the case?

There aren't enough beds, and many homeless people prefer sleeping on the street, then in a shelter, for a number of logical reasons. 1. They are more likely to be assaulted or robbed in a shelter. Shelter staff may or may not do shit to help you. 2. Shelter admission hours can be limited - they may be incompatible with their job. 3. You are expected to be drug and alochol free in a shelter. For someone with an addic…

> 3. You are expected to be drug and alochol free in a shelter. For someone with an addiction, this may not be something they can accept.

There's an addition to this: pets, especially dogs but also rats. For many homeless people their pets are their only living companion - but shelters accepting people with pets are a rarity even in Europe. Of course, because multiple dogs in the same space will lead to all night barking, territory fights etc. - this is why unconditional (!) housing first policies are the only thing that works.

Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#22

Post by cycrutchfield »

manicdee wrote: post #8
GuiA wrote: post #2

The whole report is a great read, which completely lines up with my experience living in various places in the US (particularly California + Louisiana) as a European - but this example near the beginning particularly stands out to me because, living in an area in San Francisco with a very visible homeless population, I witness it on a near daily basis: "I witnessed a San Francisco police officer telling a group of ho…

The implicit, undocumented, de facto aim of moving homeless on to somewhere else is to have them die quietly out of the public eye. A better way to solve the “homeless problem” is to give people homes, counselling, and access to work. This is because homelessness is usually a result of losing a job and thus a house and thus one’s self esteem (and in some cases, one’s mind).

No, they aim to move homeless so that whatever camp they create is not their de facto home.

SF spends a mind boggling amount of money on supporting the homeless population and trying to get them back on their feet. Unfortunately this compassion is rewarded by many more homeless people moving to SF to take advantage of the amenities.

Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#24

Post by Zelphyr »

Apologies for going off topic but what the hell did the developers of that do to the keys? If you scroll down and then use the down arrow you're taken to the top of the page and, paradoxically, one of the nav items opens. Can't use Command-Left Arrow to go back in the history. Just does nothing. Did they do that on purpose? Who thought that was a good idea? One I hope doesn't spread.

Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#26

Post by maxxxxx »

downandout wrote: post #20

"The proposed tax reform package stakes out America’s bid to become the most unequal society in the world, and will greatly increase the already high levels of wealth and income inequality between the richest 1% and the poorest 50% of Americans....It is against this background that my report is presented." It's interesting that he is a law professor (not an economics professor) and yet he stated this as if it were in…

In what way is it controversial that the major beneficiaries of the tax reform will the richest parts of society? I thought that's pretty obvious.

Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#27

Post by rayiner »

> 2. My visit coincides with a dramatic change of direction in US policies relating to inequality and extreme poverty. The proposed tax reform package stakes out America’s bid to become the most unequal society in the world, and will greatly increase the already high levels of wealth and income inequality between the richest 1% and the poorest 50% of Americans

Really hard to take this seriously. I don’t think anyone in the US needs a tax cut right now, so I oppose the tax reform. But the fact is that before the Trump tax cuts, US corporate tax rates were higher both in theory and in practice than in Germany, France, Australia, Canada, etc. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/07/541797699/fact-check-does-the...

Our taxes are also far more progressive than Germany, France, and Sweden: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/04/05/ameri.... Trump’s tax plan won’t change that: the cuts in the top rates are very small and even most people in the top 1% won’t be able to take advantage of things like pass through treatment.

Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#28

Post by mschuster91 »

IntronExon wrote: post #9
alexandercrohde wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was my understanding that SF in particular is an incredibly rich county and that there are adequate beds available in shelters for the homeless. Is this not the case?

Shelters are notoriously nasty places, and a bed alone is not what these people need. Many, if not most are seriously mentally ill, and need a level of care that isn’t available to people without serious money. Since the 1980’s mental health has been shafted in the US, with predictable results for homelessness and mass violence. Remember that the Us is a country in which a sitting congresswomen and bystanders can be…

> in which a sitting congresswomen

That's a part of the problem right there: Gabrielle Giffords is a woman, not a man - unlike the other 78% of Congress. As usual with politics, as long as you're not a white, able-bodied male with money, no one will care what happens to you. There will be a couple of rallies, maybe a week or so of media headlines and that's it. Oh and maybe anniversaries of the event.

Sounds cruel but I have the feeling that it will need a rich white powerful politician's kid to die or be maimed in a mass shooting to have any effect on gun control. And even then, I wouldn't bet my money on actual change happening.

As for mental health, no idea how more funding for that can ever be passed. Unlike with a person with a wound it's difficult to "see" mental health issues (or, the healing process), and a culture in which mental health issues are regarded as "weaknesses" that must be ignored/covered-over than be helped doesn't help eithr.

Re: Statement on Visit to the USA by Professor Philip Alston

#30

Post by wsxcde »

rayiner wrote: post #27

> 2. My visit coincides with a dramatic change of direction in US policies relating to inequality and extreme poverty. The proposed tax reform package stakes out America’s bid to become the most unequal society in the world, and will greatly increase the already high levels of wealth and income inequality between the richest 1% and the poorest 50% of Americans Really hard to take this seriously. I don’t think anyone…

Could you explain how the statement "before the Trump tax cuts, US corporate tax rates were higher both in theory and in practice than in Germany, France, Australia, Canada, etc. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/07/541797699/fact-check-does-the... rebuts the professor's claim that the tax cuts will "greatly increase the already high levels of wealth and income inequality"?
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