Social The homeless issue in The US.

[pugilistico]

It's a situation I never understood. I traveled a bunch of different places and I was surprised at the variety of homelessness situations in different countries, including very poor countries.

In some places people are poor, but nobody is starving and everybody has a roof over their heads.
In some places I've seen literal infants in boxes on the street side.
I've seen tent towns like you see in LA.
I've seen cities where there are homeless people but very few and far between.

All these countries with various economic statuses, demographics, drug problems, etc. I couldn't figure out what the main factor is. Some countries have homelessness even though there is no drug epidemic. Some countries don't have homelessness even though they have a low GDP.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Bill Maher put it nicely. He said we used to look for a way to end homelessness, now we treat them like an endangered species who must be preserved in their natural habitat.

Maher’s my boy, but it’s always been impossible to end homelessness. I mean, unless we were to provide them some homes. That could work. Nothing cures homelessness like a home, I always say. And nothing cures poor like money! But we can’t do that socialism crap.

I just hope all the scientists and park rangers and cia agents and endangered species we’re kicking out on the streets can join the homeless now, maybe help them build a better society. Somewhere besides every traffic light near an overpass, I mean.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

No point in trying to fix it. Its not fixable.

You could at least try and make a substantial investment into mental health which is the primary reason for homelessness.

 

[NoSmilez]

We don't solve homelessness in America. We just hide them. We can try to solve the affordable housing issue.

 

[Misfit23]

You cannot fix the homeless issue until you fix the fentanyl problem

That's one part of it. Another is affordable housing. It's just too expensive to live with shitty wages.

 

[wolffanghameha]

The biggest driver of homelessness is the cost of living - especially lack of housing driving up the costs of renting, buying and general living costs (which is good for landlords, since tenants can't afford to move away from subpar LLs as easily, so LLs can take the mickey more). That's why Republican states with worse public services still have less homelessness than Democrat states - the Rep states have a better balance of housing supply and demand.
The drugs and mental health components matter, but are overly focused on to take pressure of the government to facilitate building housing.

If housing is cheaper (compared to wages or welfare), people can weather things like mental/physical issues, employment difficulties, lack of family support or domestic violence with less risk of not being able to afford somewhere to live.
Not to mention that housing unaffordability and poor housing quality (which is more likely to arise if occupants have poor leverage due to shortages - always better to give people natural leverage than to make them rely on the government to enforce regulations) contribute to those other factors. Eg unaffordable rents can push people away from areas that have better employment prospects; or cut into their transport budget to afford to commute to better jobs; insecure housing is strongly linked to mental health issues; having no financial breathing space means people are more likely to take any work they can get in desperation, even if it long-term harms their health.

This US-wide study concluded: "state-level analysis revealed the cost of living index as the primary driver of homelessness rates." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10574586

That mental health is the main factor is the lazy answer made by people who aren't looking into it deeper and assume what they've heard repeated 100 times must be true.
Here in the United Kingdom, the big homelessness charities (Shelter and Crisis) cite the CoL/housing shortage as the main driver and have been saying that for quite a few years.
And no, ofc Trump doesn't give a shit lol. He's too busy doing stuff like cutting the CFPB so ordinary Americans can get scammed more.

 

[GreatSaintGuillotine]

No, but to be fair, the issue is too massive to be fixed over the course of one term anyway. Thats a multi decade, hype intensive, plan type of problem

 

[gentel]

Is our boy in the Oval Office gonna do something about it? Is it a world wide problem? How come it’s mostly Americans and not the immigrants?

Please, bratha. Trump and Edolf don't care about the American people, and especially not the poorest ones. Probably a fair few of the veterans fired by Doge will wind up homeless, and the trade wars will cost jobs and increase homelessness too

 

[Hellowhosthat]

The biggest driver of homelessness is the cost of living - especially lack of housing driving up the costs of renting, buying and general living costs (which is good for landlords, since tenants can't afford to move away from subpar LLs as easily, so LLs can take the mickey more). That's why Republican states with worse public services still have less homelessness than Democrat states - the Rep states have a better balance of housing supply and demand.
The drugs and mental health components matter, but are overly focused on to take pressure of the government to facilitate building housing.

If housing is cheaper (compared to wages or welfare), people can weather things like mental/physical issues, employment difficulties, lack of family support or domestic violence with less risk of not being able to afford somewhere to live.
Not to mention that housing unaffordability and poor housing quality (which is more likely to arise if occupants have poor leverage due to shortages - always better to give people natural leverage than to make them rely on the government to enforce regulations) contribute to those other factors. Eg unaffordable rents can push people away from areas that have better employment prospects; or cut into their transport budget to afford to commute to better jobs; insecure housing is strongly linked to mental health issues; having no financial breathing space means people are more likely to take any work they can get in desperation, even if it long-term harms their health.

This US-wide study concluded: "state-level analysis revealed the cost of living index as the primary driver of homelessness rates." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10574586

That mental health is the main factor is the lazy answer made by people who aren't looking into it deeper and assume what they've heard repeated 100 times must be true.
Here in the United Kingdom, the big homelessness charities (Shelter and Crisis) cite the CoL/housing shortage as the main driver and have been saying that for quite a few years.
And no, ofc Trump doesn't give a shit lol. He's too busy doing stuff like cutting the CFPB so ordinary Americans can get scammed more.

There's many factors but mental health is certainly a large driver. Of course they can go hand in hand because homelessness isn't exactly good for mental health but it's absolutely a factor.

Certainly the rich having large amounts of money sitting around they're using to buy property which is driving prices up isn't helping and certainly in the UK the amount of housing owned by private landlords compared to 20 years ago is pretty stark.

 

[wolfss]

You cannot fix the homeless issue until you fix the fentanyl problem

lol. Fent is a hoax. I have never seen anyone use it. I’m from the hood. If it’s a problem it comes from pharmacies.

 

[Codpiece]

That's one part of it. Another is affordable housing. It's just too expensive to live with shitty wages.

You’re both correct. More housing is essential.

Maybe more controversial but I think another part of the solution is mental institutions. A lot of the homeless people I have encountered are either drug-addled, or are not sane. Both of those components need to be addressed as well.

 

[Crazy Source]

We don't solve homelessness in America. We just hide them. We can try to solve the affordable housing issue.

Bullshit posturing from both sides. I guess we have to have poors, huh?

 

[Crazy Source]

You’re both correct. More housing is essential.

Maybe more controversial but I think another part of the solution is mental institutions. A lot of the homeless people I have encountered are either drug-addled, or are not sane. Both of those components need to be addressed as well.

Put them is houses...called..insane asylums?

 

[Crazy Source]

lol. Fent is a hoax. I have never seen anyone use it. I’m from the hood. If it’s a problem it comes from pharmacies.

I gotta rock a song on your dumb ass. "From the hood". All you Biblical mofos its time. Throw stones.

Always touch a day like you are owning it!

 

[Codpiece]

Put them is houses...called..insane asylums?

Well some, yes. The homeless you are crazed and posed a danger to themselves or others.
In centuries past such people would be cared for by their families, or be imprisoned or be left to die.

In the modern West we distance ourselves from our families and in some cases it may not be safe for a family to care for their loved ones who are not sane. So the best alternative for such individuals is a form of involuntary commitment to a facility equipped to provide care and treatment. This may be both safer for them and others, and if properly regulated this would be much more humane than the street or regular prison.

Obviously I don’t support leaves the insane homeless to die. They may not be in their right minds but still have fundamental human dignity.

 

[cincymma79]

Utah already fixed their problem so it can be done

At the end of the day democrats don’t care about it. They just use it to scam money out of people, see California. Republicans may not care but they don’t pretend to which is at least honest.

 

[jimbob27]

It's a situation I never understood. I traveled a bunch of different places and I was surprised at the variety of homelessness situations in different countries, including very poor countries.

In some places people are poor, but nobody is starving and everybody has a roof over their heads.
In some places I've seen literal infants in boxes on the street side.
I've seen tent towns like you see in LA.
I've seen cities where there are homeless people but very few and far between.

All these countries with various economic statuses, demographics, drug problems, etc. I couldn't figure out what the main factor is. Some countries have homelessness even though there is no drug epidemic. Some countries don't have homelessness even though they have a low GDP.

Lots of poor countries don't have much of a "homeless" problem because they also don't have much in the way of enforced building regulations, so their poor people end up living in large slum areas.

So you have a difference in reporting. Everyone living in a "camp" in LA is considered homeless, even if they've built a full shack out of corrugated metal, but people doing exactly the same thing in the third world are considered to have a house, just because the "camp" has existed for so long.

You've also got lots of poor countries that are bleeding population due to emigration, so there's plenty of homes to go around for those that remain.

 

[Crazy Source]

Utah already fixed their problem so it can be done

At the end of the day democrats don’t care about it. They just use it to scam money out of people, see California. Republicans may not care but they don’t pretend to which is at least honest.

Utah? It's a shooting range with some Mormons, right?

We know you don't care, but don't dare you think what WE do. HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, though, give to food banks and fuck homeless girls and give them shelter. I pay it forward.

 

[Crazy Source]

Maher’s my boy, but it’s always been impossible to end homelessness. I mean, unless we were to provide them some homes. That could work. Nothing cures homelessness like a home, I always say. And nothing cures poor like money! But we can’t do that socialism crap.

I just hope all the scientists and park rangers and cia agents and endangered species we’re kicking out on the streets can join the homeless now, maybe help them build a better society. Somewhere besides every traffic light near an overpass, I mean.

Have you tried fucking homeless women? We call it a "fresh start".

 

[HunterAcosta]

Trump surely goes to bed after sweet coitus with Melania and thinks “
What can I do to alleviate and help the poor homeless here ?!”