Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please don't cross into personal attack. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
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Again, I am not asking for anything, just relaying feedback.
Hopefully someone can help you out.
$750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
111–120 of 206 posts
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Median vs. mean likely makes a very large difference here.
I don't disagree, but my response was directed to someone who was commenting on the average American. Didn't seem reasonable to interpret them differently just to build a more convincing answer.
"The average American" could easily be interpreted as the median.
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#113Money is good, researchers determine.
free money, even better.
Why is paying into a social safety net considered “free money” but usury is not? Why is it that when rich people as for money it’s a “loan” but when poor people ask for money it’s a “handout”. Free money is never free, money isn’t even real. You live in a society and if you want people to be there for you when you are down, you have a duty to return the favour.
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cash is sometimes the most efficient way to distribute aid to ill people. Unless - do you believe we shouldn’t aid ill people at all?
Why would you even ask a question like this? It’s clear that our society has issues that stem from people’s inability to navigate our complicated modern world. Your “why not just let them suffer” provocation adds nothing productive to this discussion.
The other reply to my comment proves that my question wasn't a provocation, but a successful intuition of some people's beliefs in this thread.
Further, the US' lack of universal healthcare shows that it's a societally acceptable stance to not give aid to ill people just because they are ill. I'm not trying to provoke anyone, I'm trying to clarify their belief within a set of beliefs that are socially acceptable.
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I'm not asking for money. I don't have a laptop, as I returned the last one like-new to the donor (per the text). If you need help, ask. Hopefully someone will offer help. If you are in the USA, have a disability, and can seek treatment, there are resources to help.
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Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#116"About 2% of the total went to alcohol, cigarettes and drug expenses — the largest portion of which was cigarettes" I'm pretty sure that the average American spends more than 2% of their income on drugs.
I bet that average homeless person does too. 2% seems ridiculously low. $15 a month total on drugs? That only makes sense for someone who does no opioids, no stimulants, and just smokes 1 pack of cigs and has a single beer across an entire month.
Basically, a monk.
"Hey we gave $750/ month to these homeless guys- yes the ones dressed in those brown rags and with that strange haircut- they were so thankful."
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#117As someone who is nearing 2,000 days of two stints of homelessness since 2017, I can offer feedback that such an amount would help to alleviate basic survival pressures. But, money will not solve any root cause issues. I've been unhoused and out of work for so long that any recovery back to a normal life has become exceedingly unlikely. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke, nor do I do illicit drugs nor prescriptions…
> still being criminally targeted, so I returned the laptop in like new condition to him a week later. (The side reports regarding systemic/criminal abuse against at-risk folks is a separate but related matter.) Many "progressives" like to claim that punishing criminals is counterproductive, and the real solution to address crime is to fix the poverty, the "root cause". In reality, the opposite is true: crime is one…
It doesn't need to be either or, you know. Or even those answers at all. Or a mix.
Question is: where can you start to make positive and effective changes? The answer almost certainly includes education and preventing people from falling into poverty. You can fight and deter crime at the same time. You probably need all of those, but I'm pretty sure fighting crime alone isn't very effective.
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
The fact that you call all homeless people "mentally ill drug addicts" is very telling. Do some basic research. I hope you find some empathy in your heart.
I don't need to research, I deal with them on a daily basis just to go about my day because in my town they are everywhere. The fact that you are ready to simply dismiss someones lived experience based on a few flawed studies tells me everything I need to know about your agenda.
What do you suppose their "agenda" is, other than encouraging you not to be condescendingly dismissive of a whole group based on your limited sample size?
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
> still being criminally targeted, so I returned the laptop in like new condition to him a week later. (The side reports regarding systemic/criminal abuse against at-risk folks is a separate but related matter.) Many "progressives" like to claim that punishing criminals is counterproductive, and the real solution to address crime is to fix the poverty, the "root cause". In reality, the opposite is true: crime is one…
What do you mean? Crime does not happen in a vacuum. The idea that people steal because it’s fun or commit fraud because they enjoy seeing their victims suffer is not supported by any sort of rigorous sociological or criminological understanding of social deviance. If you want to fix crime, you need to fix the social ills that cause people to turn to crime to begin with. Of course crime prevents people from improving…
When Nayib Bukele ignored the "experts" and locked up nearly 2% of El Salvador's population, not only did the homicide rate fall off a cliff—economic growth also increased. (Bukele also worked hard to woo foreign investors, without which this would not have been possible; but those investors only felt confident in investing due to the decrease in crime.)
Re: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
#120"About 2% of the total went to alcohol, cigarettes and drug expenses — the largest portion of which was cigarettes" I'm pretty sure that the average American spends more than 2% of their income on drugs.
I have a hard time believing that’s a legitimate statistic. Even being a normal daily smoker would equate to a lot more than 2%.
That's averaged in with a lot of people who don't smoke at all.