Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#281

Post by dsabanin » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

tedivm wrote: post #147

dsabanin wrote: post #86

What's up with the critical comments in here? How many of the judgemental and jaded posters here donated anything close to this to a charitable cause? Good deeds must be applauded, not shamed for not being better. Especially if the definition of "better" is made up randomly on the spot.

Asking who else has donated anything close to this is a bit silly considering most people aren't billionaires. It might be more fair to ask how many people have donated 1.2% of their net worth to charity, and I think the answer will surprise you in that a lot of people have. A second question is whether or not this makes up for how Bezos has gotten his money and the potential damages on society that has. If I burn do…

Have you donated more than 1.2% of your net worth to charity?

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#282

Post by ithilglin909 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

baddox wrote: post #251

CydeWeys wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not seeing all the other homeless people though who were displaced by high housing prices and who aren't spending all their time drugged out in highly visible urban areas. There are many homeless people living out of cars or shelters, or in tents. Many of them even still have jobs, they just can't afford housing. See: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ucla-anderson-forecast...

I'm not in Seattle (I live and work on some of the most conspicuous blocks in San Francisco for homeless drug users), but I'm sure that both groups exist in both cities. I think what's important is for policy proposals to treat the groups differently, rather than bundling them together into a proposal to "solve homelessness." In my experience in SF these proposals usually only focuses on one set of issues, like minim…

I agree that both are problems worth solving, but one is pretty obviously a more urgent public health problem, and unfortunately, the more difficult one to solve.

When people are talking about Seattle's worsening homeless problem, they're talking about the presence of needles and fecal material on the sidewalks, and being harassed, and sometimes even attacked, by clearly mentally ill people, not about people living in trailers in non-urban areas.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#283

Post by throwaway2048 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

lostmsu wrote: post #187

emodendroket wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - exploding drug addiction and related mental health issues I think cause and effect are backwards here. Low wages and high housing prices seem like they'd naturally lead to homelessness and rates of drug addiction and mental illness among the homeless, although very high compared to the general population, are nowhere near as high as people would like to think.

We are talking about sentient people. Wages and housing prices may be an excuse, but they don't shove drugs down people's throats. Mental illness - may be. But one needs to know if it's the cause, or simply an exposing factor.

You don't have to be a drug addict to be homeless, the majority of homeless people are not, nor are the majority (or even a substantial minority) seriously mentally ill.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#284

Post by Turing_Machine » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:03 PM UTC

fixermark wrote: post #232

asdkhadsj wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is really frustrating when a man makes that much and does so little. Like, I don't think/know if it should be law. I'm not talking about being Robinhood with our taxes or whatever. I don't know any of that. All I know is it's frustrating . Look at all the good Gates is working towards. There's just so much room for people with that much wealth to strive for. Honestly.. I think what's most frustrating is I can't ev…

FWIW, it used to be law. Tax rate on the top-1% of earners in the US was much, much, MUCH higher until the recent four or so decades.

It is a common misconception that high income tax rates would affect the ultra-wealthy to any significant degree. It would not, because their wealth almost never appears as ordinary income.

High income tax rates (such as we indeed used to have in the United States) affect people like dentists and pediatricians, not people like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.

Note that Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Sergei Brin, Mitt Romney, and Michael Bloomberg, among others, have all "taken a salary of $1/year" as a publicity stunt at various times, yet somehow managed to wind up billionaires in spite of that. Harry Reid never had a real job in his entire life, and never had any ordinary income outside his congressional salary, but wound up massively wealthy nonetheless.

Try proposing a tax on net worth/assets and see how many of the Pelosis, Feinsteins, Heinz-Kerrys, Warrens, Obamas, or Kennedys sign off on that.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#285

Post by kangax » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:03 PM UTC

ageitgey wrote: post #222

dmode wrote: post #101

Finally someone realizes that there is a problem. There is no justification in the biggest economy of the world to have this much poverty and homelessness. I am amazed every time I travel to Europe, how few homeless people there are, despite their economic growth lagging the US. And it is inherently a solvable problem with adequate resources. We have $1 trillion for the military. Surely, we can spare a few billions a…

Agreed 100%. I live in California which has the same massive homelessness issues as Seattle. I also travel to Europe frequently and have noticed the same stark contrast where they seem to do much better at this. To try to understand why homelessness feels so much worse an California than in Europe, I did some very basic research (which I also posted on a similar thread once before). The numbers are shocking: San Fran…

I'm wondering why homelessness is not as large in NYC? The prices here are as high as in SF. Is it due to the slower rate of a price increase? Colder weather?

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#286

Post by s73v3r_ » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:04 PM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #227

dmode wrote: post #101

Finally someone realizes that there is a problem. There is no justification in the biggest economy of the world to have this much poverty and homelessness. I am amazed every time I travel to Europe, how few homeless people there are, despite their economic growth lagging the US. And it is inherently a solvable problem with adequate resources. We have $1 trillion for the military. Surely, we can spare a few billions a…

Do you really think the problem is at the realization phase? I'd say we all know this to be true, but whether we care enough is another question. There's a fair amount of people in this country that see homelessness as "lazy".

I'd say that's part of the realization phase.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#287

Post by ithilglin909 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:05 PM UTC

zapita wrote: post #234

ithilglin909 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not against programs to help people who can't afford normal housing. However, that's not the specific, hugely obvious problem in Seattle.

Maybe there’s more than one problem worth addressing in Seattle?

Agreed, there are many problems worth solving in Seattle, but some are more clearly urgent public health problems than others.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#288

Post by sdinsn » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:05 PM UTC

etaty wrote: post #26

All hail to Bezos... Earlier this year, under pressure from Amazon and other large employers, Seattle’s City Council repealed an employee head tax designed to provide housing and services for the homeless. In a statement, Amazon called the vote “the right decision for the region’s economic prosperity. We are deeply committed to being part of the solution to end homelessness in Seattle and will continue to invest in l…

A head tax affects people other than Bezos too. It was not a popular tax, not surprised it was repealed.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#289

Post by mywittyname » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:06 PM UTC

toasterlovin wrote: post #241

Janeman544 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you subsidize poverty you are going to have more of it and local bodies love these people as the establishment can always buy their votes through doles. This actually hurts the real needy people who are trying to get by.

I tend to be fairly opposed to the do-nothing stance taken by West Coast cities with regard to homeless camping, but I don't think it has anything to do with a vote buying conspiracy. There are much simpler explanations.

> There are much simpler explanations.

FYGMism.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#290

Post by Turing_Machine » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 6:07 PM UTC

sonnyblarney wrote: post #254

ageitgey wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed 100%. I live in California which has the same massive homelessness issues as Seattle. I also travel to Europe frequently and have noticed the same stark contrast where they seem to do much better at this. To try to understand why homelessness feels so much worse an California than in Europe, I did some very basic research (which I also posted on a similar thread once before). The numbers are shocking: San Fran…

You really can't compare. London is a large city. SF is just a tiny part of a larger metro area. Do you know what the 'homeless' rate in 'The City of Foster City' is? Probably near 0. I think a better comparison would be Bay Area to London.

He gave figures for the city of San Francisco and the entire country of England.