Okay, a few things. First, while my original question was partly rhetorical, I’m always willing to change my beliefs based on new information, so if you can pro

Okay, a few things. First, while my original question was partly rhetorical, I’m always willing to change my beliefs based on new information, so if you can provide a citation for the claim that a bunch of people died of exposure in Boston due to insufficient shelter space, I’ll stand fully corrected and admit that it does happen in the US. Second, if that’s indeed the case, I find it appalling. Finally, assuming it still happens, I’m still very inclined to believe that it’s both extremely rare—like one in a hundred thousand or even a million people per year—and much rarer than it was, say, 100 years ago. (I have no idea what the rate was in 1919, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was something crazy like one in a thousand or even higher. If we go back 200 years, a rate of 1-2% wouldn’t surprise me.)