I call it the Homeless Industrial Complex • Hacker News Board

Re: I call it the Homeless Industrial Complex

#81

Post by nunez » Wed, Sep 20, 2023, 1:40 AM UTC

ruined wrote: post #40

the reason people are throwing rocks at this guy is because he will organize groups for "trash pickup" and then go into encampments and remove tents

Apparently it’s more nuanced than that. Some of the tents were planted. https://www.foxnews.com/us/activists-plant-empty-tents-encou...

Now, this is Fox News we’re talking about here, so sources are probably dubious, but there.

Re: I call it the Homeless Industrial Complex

#82

Post by xg15 » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:55 PM UTC

> This was not enough though. We were only spending millions and the system wanted billions. So after months/years of intensive lobbying, in 2013 President Barack Obama inaugurated the Housing First model as a one size fits all solution to homelessness. Despite no evidence it would work the administration promised it would end homelessness by 2023.

So I guess, the problem really was Capitalism after all...

Re: I call it the Homeless Industrial Complex

#83

Post by xg15 » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 10:03 PM UTC

shuntress wrote: post #3

This skirts pretty close to saying that homelessness is an issue of "personal responsibility" while claiming to be apolitical. Homelessness is a complicated issue but the core of the solution is very simple: Provide housing. Whether that is a short term stay in a shelter or a lifelong stay in permanent housing is going to depend on the individual. But either way, you need a safe place to sleep and live before you can…

As I understand the author, his main objection wasn't the housing (I hope) but rather, that it's only housing, folloed by a "hands-off" approach for aid workers, which requires the homeless to seek out any psychiatric help, anti-addiction programmes, etc themselves - even though, they might not be willing or capable to do so.

I can kind of understand this sentiment of the author, (at least as far as it concerns willing but incapable persons)