There are always going to be dirtbags that think they are too good to get a job but stand on the same corner at the same time every day.
There are always going to be far more dirtbags who let the rich convince them to betray their inherent solidarity with other struggling humans because of morality stories about who deserves empathy and who doesn’t that have ZERO percent to do with reality, actual effective policy or even common sense.
These dirtbags have used the incredible capacity of the human mind to mutilate their empathy and committed a colossal waste of time by using such a powerful organ of consciousness…… to rationalize not extending a basic mercy to those in need, which even children who know nothing of the world can easily identify as evil because ignorance is wiser than years of rotting the core of one’s soul out with hateful conservative rhetoric.
There are always going to be dirtbags that think they are too good to get a job but stand on the same corner at the same time every day.
You can’t seriously believe this right? You’re talking about fellow human beings who are down on their luck, not objects, could easily be you in a street corner some day.
Housing First’s early goal was to create 2,500 new homes. It has created 3,500. Since its launch in 2008, the number of long-term homeless people in Finland has fallen by more than 35%. Rough sleeping has been all but eradicated in Helsinki, where only one 50-bed night shelter remains, and where winter temperatures can plunge to -20C.
But Housing First is not just about housing. “Services have been crucial,” says Helsinki’s mayor, Jan Vapaavuori, who was housing minister when the original scheme was launched. “Many long-term homeless people have addictions, mental health issues, medical conditions that need ongoing care. The support has to be there.”
“We had to get rid of the night shelters and short-term hostels we still had back then. They had a very long history in Finland, and everyone could see they were not getting people out of homelessness. We decided to reverse the assumptions.”
I too would rather stand in the median of a busy highway interchange for 12 hours a day, in the rain or snow, with a bag of my stuff getting ruined, holding a sign and watching everyone turn their head away from me to not make eye contact, day in and day out, than get a job. I’m so glad you understand
Had coworkers who would insist the guys panhandling on the street were making more than we were. In fairness, we were being paid shit. But there were so many back-of-the-envelop assumptions and urban legends flying around - “Well, if he gets $1 on every light and there’s 20 light changes every hour…” / “I hear they all drive nice cars and just pretend to be poor…” / “I heard on the AM Radio that there’s a trick homeless people use to get rich quickly…” - that you couldn’t have any kind of serious response to the right-wing rumor mill.
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There are always going to be far more dirtbags who let the rich convince them to betray their inherent solidarity with other struggling humans because of morality stories about who deserves empathy and who doesn’t that have ZERO percent to do with reality, actual effective policy or even common sense.
These dirtbags have used the incredible capacity of the human mind to mutilate their empathy and committed a colossal waste of time by using such a powerful organ of consciousness…… to rationalize not extending a basic mercy to those in need, which even children who know nothing of the world can easily identify as evil because ignorance is wiser than years of rotting the core of one’s soul out with hateful conservative rhetoric.
You can’t seriously believe this right? You’re talking about fellow human beings who are down on their luck, not objects, could easily be you in a street corner some day.
Helsinki’s radical solution to homelessness
Rich failkids don’t live out on the street.
I too would rather stand in the median of a busy highway interchange for 12 hours a day, in the rain or snow, with a bag of my stuff getting ruined, holding a sign and watching everyone turn their head away from me to not make eye contact, day in and day out, than get a job. I’m so glad you understand
/s
Had coworkers who would insist the guys panhandling on the street were making more than we were. In fairness, we were being paid shit. But there were so many back-of-the-envelop assumptions and urban legends flying around - “Well, if he gets $1 on every light and there’s 20 light changes every hour…” / “I hear they all drive nice cars and just pretend to be poor…” / “I heard on the AM Radio that there’s a trick homeless people use to get rich quickly…” - that you couldn’t have any kind of serious response to the right-wing rumor mill.