At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death • Hacker News Board

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#11

Post by ekoontz » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 8:51 AM UTC

reeses wrote: post #8

Why precisely is this Hacker News material?

Seriously though, I found it interesting and am glad it was on Hacker News. Social engineering is engineering, and engineering is Hacker News. You are minimizing the harm and cost in a society by providing a place where people can safely use alcohol. It's far better and cheaper than leaving them to do it on the streets.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#12

Post by originalgeek » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:10 AM UTC

State sponsored homicide on the installment plan.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#13

Post by ars » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:12 AM UTC

originalgeek wrote: post #12

State sponsored homicide on the installment plan.

Suicide maybe, but not homicide - they have to get their own alcohol, the center does not provide it.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#14

Post by nkurz » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:32 AM UTC

reeses wrote: post #8

Why precisely is this Hacker News material?

I'm not sure this is a good question. If significantly more people vote it up than flag it, and PG doesn't specifically ban it, it's Hacker News material. Personally, I thought it was an astonishing article that I was happy to read, but flagged it for fear that HN is starting to lose focus. I think the right question is how votes and flags should be weighed.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#15

Post by jackolas » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:33 AM UTC

Groxx wrote: post #7

Interesting. I can see how it would be appealing to long-time alcoholics (the "endless optimism" would get pretty sickening). Not entirely sure what my stance is on it, though - it's essentially long-term non-profit euthanasia. It's what they want, but it's also what they want because they're addicted and it's re-wired their brain so drastically they'll do just about anything to keep feeding it. On the flip side, reh…

I want to know if someone actually stops drinking being in there. I mean if they viscerally feel death and don't actually wish it...

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#16

Post by btmorex » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:35 AM UTC

reeses wrote: post #8

Why precisely is this Hacker News material?

You're one of those people who spends all their time deleting articles on wikipedia, aren't you?

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#17

Post by Groxx » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:36 AM UTC

jackolas wrote: post #15

Groxx wrote: post #7

Interesting. I can see how it would be appealing to long-time alcoholics (the "endless optimism" would get pretty sickening). Not entirely sure what my stance is on it, though - it's essentially long-term non-profit euthanasia. It's what they want, but it's also what they want because they're addicted and it's re-wired their brain so drastically they'll do just about anything to keep feeding it. On the flip side, reh…

I want to know if someone actually stops drinking being in there. I mean if they viscerally feel death and don't actually wish it...

That'd be an interesting thing to check out. They do get to see first-hand what it's doing to others around them, over a period of time. It'd be a unique incentive to quit.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#18

Post by joe_the_user » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:41 AM UTC

Groxx wrote: post #7

Interesting. I can see how it would be appealing to long-time alcoholics (the "endless optimism" would get pretty sickening). Not entirely sure what my stance is on it, though - it's essentially long-term non-profit euthanasia. It's what they want, but it's also what they want because they're addicted and it's re-wired their brain so drastically they'll do just about anything to keep feeding it. On the flip side, reh…

Even as something of a liberal, this makes me feel conflicted. It doesn't quite feel like harm reduction - just cost-reduction for the agencies. It's very bleak.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#19

Post by alexandros » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:43 AM UTC

jackolas wrote: post #15

Groxx wrote: post #7

Interesting. I can see how it would be appealing to long-time alcoholics (the "endless optimism" would get pretty sickening). Not entirely sure what my stance is on it, though - it's essentially long-term non-profit euthanasia. It's what they want, but it's also what they want because they're addicted and it's re-wired their brain so drastically they'll do just about anything to keep feeding it. On the flip side, reh…

I want to know if someone actually stops drinking being in there. I mean if they viscerally feel death and don't actually wish it...

Also, when the constant pressure is taken off and their basic needs are taken care of, maybe some of them can reflect and take a less forced decision to quit. But maybe I'm underestimating alcohol's hold.

Re: At St. Paul 'wet house,' liquor can be their life - and death

#20

Post by verysimple » Sun, Feb 20, 2011, 9:44 AM UTC

reeses wrote: post #8

Why precisely is this Hacker News material?

Taken from http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

What to Submit

On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.

Are there good hackers that find this interesting? look at the votes.