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> ...homeless people are not "trash", but there is a similarity in your thinking... Nope. No similiarity here. We can only solve the problem when we treat peop

> ...homeless people are not "trash", but there is a similarity in your thinking... Nope. No similiarity here. We can only solve the problem when we treat people with dignity. We shouldn't alienate them. They are people just like you and me. The idea is to lower the cost while improving living standard for them. > Why should countries like Indonesia, which has a per capita GDP of under $5,000 USD and no shortage of its own problems... GDP is irrelevant here. Indonesia, Thailand, etc have many cities popular with backpackers and westerners living a nomadic lifestyle. Fresh fruits and fish. Great outdoor. Nice beach. Cheap motorbike. Great landscape and nature. Low-stress. It can be a joint social venture set up by NGOs. We will need really smart founders to structure things in a way that will benefit the local economy there, while giving a decent life to those who were originally living on the street. A life with diginity e.g. where they do volunteer work in rehab (eg cooking), or as a craftman, an English teacher, a botanist, an entheogenesis research assistant, etc.

LurkingPenguin 5y ago
So all the homeless need is a tropical vacation? I'm an expat myself and while not a backpacker, I have traveled extensively in SE Asia. I can honestly think of few things worse than taking people who can't support themselves in their home country and shipping them off to SE Asia where they will be thousands of miles away from their family and friends living in a society whose culture they don't understand. If you send them to SE Asian nomad hubs, they will be surrounded in many cases by cheap booze, easy access to drugs, and hordes of prostitutes and shady locals and expats. > It can be a joint social venture set up by NGOs. We will need really smart founders to structure things in a way that will benefit the local economy there, while giving a decent life to those who were originally living on the street. A life with diginity e.g. where they do volunteer work in rehab, or as a craftman, an English teacher, a botanist, an entheogenesis research assistant, etc. Have you really spent time in SE Asia? If you have, you'd know that Indonesia and Thailand are very protective of their labor markets and are not going to be interested in sacrificing local jobs for the benefit of homeless Americans. In Thailand for instance, under the Alien Employment Act, foreigners are basically shut out from many of the kind of jobs you are hinting at. English teachers generally need a Bachelor's degree and clear criminal background check. TEFL certification is also sometimes needed. How many homeless Americans do you think will meet these criteria, and do you really think SE Asians want homeless Americans (some with mental illness and substance abuse issues) teaching their kids?
- archibaldJ 5y ago
  Thanks for the critiques. I think for it to be sensible it requires a different framing to the problem. > ...they will be surrounded in many cases by cheap booze... > ...If you have, you'd know that Indonesia and Thailand are very protective of their labor markets... > ....do you really think SE Asians want homeless Americans (some with mental illness and substance abuse issues) teaching their kids? Good points. Related questions are answered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28346353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28346353 > ...few things worse than taking people who can't support themselves in their home country and shipping them off to SE Asia... Also, we don't evict people and "ship them off". It's about giving them an oppournity with incentives to make a decision in their life, a new chapter that they can choose to embark on if they see it as a better alternative to being homeless in CA.

LurkingPenguin 5y ago

So all the homeless need is a tropical vacation? I'm an expat myself and while not a backpacker, I have traveled extensively in SE Asia. I can honestly think of few things worse than taking people who can't support themselves in their home country and shipping them off to SE Asia where they will be thousands of miles away from their family and friends living in a society whose culture they don't understand. If you send them to SE Asian nomad hubs, they will be surrounded in many cases by cheap booze, easy access to drugs, and hordes of prostitutes and shady locals and expats. > It can be a joint social venture set up by NGOs. We will need really smart founders to structure things in a way that will benefit the local economy there, while giving a decent life to those who were originally living on the street. A life with diginity e.g. where they do volunteer work in rehab, or as a craftman, an English teacher, a botanist, an entheogenesis research assistant, etc. Have you really spent time in SE Asia? If you have, you'd know that Indonesia and Thailand are very protective of their labor markets and are not going to be interested in sacrificing local jobs for the benefit of homeless Americans. In Thailand for instance, under the Alien Employment Act, foreigners are basically shut out from many of the kind of jobs you are hinting at. English teachers generally need a Bachelor's degree and clear criminal background check. TEFL certification is also sometimes needed. How many homeless Americans do you think will meet these criteria, and do you really think SE Asians want homeless Americans (some with mental illness and substance abuse issues) teaching their kids?

archibaldJ 5y ago
Thanks for the critiques. I think for it to be sensible it requires a different framing to the problem. > ...they will be surrounded in many cases by cheap booze... > ...If you have, you'd know that Indonesia and Thailand are very protective of their labor markets... > ....do you really think SE Asians want homeless Americans (some with mental illness and substance abuse issues) teaching their kids? Good points. Related questions are answered here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28346353 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28346353 > ...few things worse than taking people who can't support themselves in their home country and shipping them off to SE Asia... Also, we don't evict people and "ship them off". It's about giving them an oppournity with incentives to make a decision in their life, a new chapter that they can choose to embark on if they see it as a better alternative to being homeless in CA.