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I hope this works and is successful. Still I can’t help but be reminded of the saying that roughly goes “the people who are paid to solve a problem end up havin

I hope this works and is successful. Still I can’t help but be reminded of the saying that roughly goes “the people who are paid to solve a problem end up having a vested interest in the problem not being solved.” Specifically with regards to homelessness, the problem seems to be the critical shortage of housing for people in general, leading to a total crisis of affordable housing, rather than a specific problem of insufficient services exclusively for “the homeless.” Certainly there are people who need support above and beyond affordable housing, but isn’t the bedrock of this whole crisis the shortage of homes in the places where people are trying to live and work?

kakarot 8y ago
It's called the Cobra Effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect That said, one has to wonder how maintaining the homeless population would be beneficial to Amazon.
- burlesona 8y ago
  Not amazon but the organizations they fund and the people who work for them.
umvi 8y ago
> the people who are paid to solve a problem end up having a vested interest in the problem not being solved. AKA the Shirky Principle https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-shirky-prin/ https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-shirky-prin/
- burlesona 8y ago
  Thanks for the link! I couldn’t remember the attribution.
java_script 8y ago
At some point you have to blame the homeless people themselves. I've been walking up to them searching for a hot-spot and found that nearly none of them are choosing to make money by being walking routers anymore. Also interesting to find out that there aren't any vacant homes anymore.
Skrillex 8y ago
Every time I see Seattle mentioned on HN, there is someone who says something to the effect of "That is all very nice, but let's talk about the homeless problem in Seattle." Considering that that is where Amazon's SWE core is, it might be profitable for Bezos to see this problem reduced/resolved.
ithilglin909 8y ago
This is just a PR move and isn’t going to help Seattle’s homeless problem at all.
jellicle 8y ago
> vested interest in the problem not being solved That's why surgeons always leave a little cancerous tissue, to maximize their chances of getting paid to do another operation. (Since HN probably won't get that: it's a satirical joke meant to point out some flaws in the commenter's argument. There's no evidence at all that the people involved in, say, providing services for the public have any desire to see the public suffer more so that they can roll in that awesome $30K/year social worker salary for a little longer. Pretty sure that the folks that run soup kitchens would be very happy to close up shop if the need disappeared. Etc. The idea that this is some initiative of Big Homelessness to rake in the gravy is..... sad.)

kakarot 8y ago

It's called the Cobra Effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect That said, one has to wonder how maintaining the homeless population would be beneficial to Amazon.

burlesona 8y ago
Not amazon but the organizations they fund and the people who work for them.

umvi 8y ago

> the people who are paid to solve a problem end up having a vested interest in the problem not being solved. AKA the Shirky Principle https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-shirky-prin/ https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-shirky-prin/

burlesona 8y ago
Thanks for the link! I couldn’t remember the attribution.

java_script 8y ago

At some point you have to blame the homeless people themselves. I've been walking up to them searching for a hot-spot and found that nearly none of them are choosing to make money by being walking routers anymore. Also interesting to find out that there aren't any vacant homes anymore.

Skrillex 8y ago

Every time I see Seattle mentioned on HN, there is someone who says something to the effect of "That is all very nice, but let's talk about the homeless problem in Seattle." Considering that that is where Amazon's SWE core is, it might be profitable for Bezos to see this problem reduced/resolved.

ithilglin909 8y ago

This is just a PR move and isn’t going to help Seattle’s homeless problem at all.

jellicle 8y ago

> vested interest in the problem not being solved That's why surgeons always leave a little cancerous tissue, to maximize their chances of getting paid to do another operation. (Since HN probably won't get that: it's a satirical joke meant to point out some flaws in the commenter's argument. There's no evidence at all that the people involved in, say, providing services for the public have any desire to see the public suffer more so that they can roll in that awesome $30K/year social worker salary for a little longer. Pretty sure that the folks that run soup kitchens would be very happy to close up shop if the need disappeared. Etc. The idea that this is some initiative of Big Homelessness to rake in the gravy is..... sad.)