4 ms·

This is a problem I want to see solved very much. If there are practical ways, throw some bullet-points down, and I'll be happy to consider them. It there are

This is a problem I want to see solved very much. If there are practical ways, throw some bullet-points down, and I'll be happy to consider them. It there are easy solutions, I am as interested in anyone to see them.

smaryjerry 6y ago
The general principle is that incentives work. Make one option better than another and people will flock to it. Current implementation is that you will get fed, housed, medical care, and even paid with no participation on your part. You are incentivized to continue what got you homeless, usually drug use or not attempting to work. The simple solution is require recovery to receive benefits - require drug tests, require attendance to lectures, require applying for jobs or that you get one. The point is to make good behavior better than the alternative. Another way to incentivize good behavior is to make programs benefit both parties. Can collecting was one such program, litter is collected and people without other options make at least some money. When you give people the money there is little benefit to a city in return. A lot of the complaints can be rectified by cleaning jobs in particular.
- phobosanomaly 6y ago
  That is a great approach for people without mental illness.
  - olivermarks 6y ago
    If you're in California get involved! I have http://www.sonomacountyhomeless.com http://www.sonomacountyhomeless.com It's no good asking to have ideas presented to you for critique and evaluation. Go and talk to street people and get their perspective. Challenge out of touch politicians and root out corruption or it will get worse.
    - phobosanomaly 6y ago
      The irony is, the point of my comments in this thread were to move from Zhenya's bagging on both politicians and homeless people without offering any constructive solutions, to having a productive discussion about how to make things better. It worked to some extent. It generated a lot of ideas, and I learned a lot. I hope it helped others too. I'm happy with my contribution involving keeping my own severely mentally-ill relatives off the streets. If our family hadn't gotten lucky with some county programs, a couple of people close to me would now be living on the street due to no fault of their own. They're sick, and it's a full-time job split between various family members to keep them above water. Thanks for your input. I apologize if I come across as overly argumentative. I'm just bored and interested in the subject. If we were in person, I'd buy you a beer.
      - olivermarks 6y ago
        All over the western world we urgently need political leadership who are interested in investing in holistic prevention of expensive worst case scenarios. We don't have viable safety nets and support systems but we do have a burgeoning 'homeless industrial complex' that is intimately linked to the prison industrial complex. This is profoundly wrong IMO and I am very vocal about that. This lack of a safety net coupled with labor and cost intensive care for the mentally ill and addicted is corrosive to society on so many levels and fundamental to everyone's quality of life. The only way to change this is to be extremely noisy and aggressive about what our 'leadership' is doing IMO. I am partially motivated from a young bay area relative dying from opioid o/d this February after his family had burned through a huge sum on rehabs, chasing after him + the emotional burn out toll. We are headed in the wrong direction...

smaryjerry 6y ago

The general principle is that incentives work. Make one option better than another and people will flock to it. Current implementation is that you will get fed, housed, medical care, and even paid with no participation on your part. You are incentivized to continue what got you homeless, usually drug use or not attempting to work. The simple solution is require recovery to receive benefits - require drug tests, require attendance to lectures, require applying for jobs or that you get one. The point is to make good behavior better than the alternative. Another way to incentivize good behavior is to make programs benefit both parties. Can collecting was one such program, litter is collected and people without other options make at least some money. When you give people the money there is little benefit to a city in return. A lot of the complaints can be rectified by cleaning jobs in particular.

phobosanomaly 6y ago
That is a great approach for people without mental illness.
- olivermarks 6y ago
  If you're in California get involved! I have http://www.sonomacountyhomeless.com http://www.sonomacountyhomeless.com It's no good asking to have ideas presented to you for critique and evaluation. Go and talk to street people and get their perspective. Challenge out of touch politicians and root out corruption or it will get worse.
  - phobosanomaly 6y ago
    The irony is, the point of my comments in this thread were to move from Zhenya's bagging on both politicians and homeless people without offering any constructive solutions, to having a productive discussion about how to make things better. It worked to some extent. It generated a lot of ideas, and I learned a lot. I hope it helped others too. I'm happy with my contribution involving keeping my own severely mentally-ill relatives off the streets. If our family hadn't gotten lucky with some county programs, a couple of people close to me would now be living on the street due to no fault of their own. They're sick, and it's a full-time job split between various family members to keep them above water. Thanks for your input. I apologize if I come across as overly argumentative. I'm just bored and interested in the subject. If we were in person, I'd buy you a beer.
    - olivermarks 6y ago
      All over the western world we urgently need political leadership who are interested in investing in holistic prevention of expensive worst case scenarios. We don't have viable safety nets and support systems but we do have a burgeoning 'homeless industrial complex' that is intimately linked to the prison industrial complex. This is profoundly wrong IMO and I am very vocal about that. This lack of a safety net coupled with labor and cost intensive care for the mentally ill and addicted is corrosive to society on so many levels and fundamental to everyone's quality of life. The only way to change this is to be extremely noisy and aggressive about what our 'leadership' is doing IMO. I am partially motivated from a young bay area relative dying from opioid o/d this February after his family had burned through a huge sum on rehabs, chasing after him + the emotional burn out toll. We are headed in the wrong direction...