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609 sats \ 12 replies \ @freetx 22 Feb \ parent \ on: The Homelessness Crisis mostly_harmless
YES. For years my mom helped administer her church's food bank program. Over the decades they eventually dropped it because (a) the state floods the market with food stamps, govt food handouts, and (b) the church used to provide its food with some strings attached....meaning you couldn't come in if you were obviously drunk/high and they would help you (ie. push you) to find work if you were obviously able....the state does no such "tough love".
So we've wound up in a situation were those who are best positioned to help (those inside the community who know the people they are helping) are crowded out by the state who simply continually rewards bad behavior.
Your position is that the state giving homeless people food is part of the problem? Because there aren't enough strings attached?
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Sure, it sounds bad when you put it like that.
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I'm not trying to straw man here. But we've got threads in this conversation saying the evil state isn't doing enough, and then comments where feeding people is the evil state causing the problem.
It's a complex issue -- I think we all agree on that. But the goalposts are moving a bit too much for my taste.
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Due to the state's theft from the population and squandering of these funds we have a population that is resentful towards the homeless instead of the true enemy the thief. That said, if you killer all state aid to the needy at once you would have a disaster on your hands. It would need to be transitional and charities would need time to scale up to meet demand. I have no doubt that this could be done and in a few years more people would be helped far more efficiently. Today most people have no connection with how their stolen money is used. If it were voluntary that would be drastically different.
We will always have needy people. We will also have lazy people. The current system lumps them all together and creates divisions that we should reject.
My 2 sats
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Part of unravelling complex problems is running up against "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations.
There's a clear incentive problem with subsidizing homelessness that is directly at odds with helping those who are currently homeless.
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