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The threat must be legible and have a credible threat of authoritative judgment so steps can be taken to predictably avoid the consequence. It's not at all clea

The threat must be legible and have a credible threat of authoritative judgment so steps can be taken to predictably avoid the consequence. It's not at all clear to a homeless person what steps they should take to reduce suffering in their life. (I'm aware I'm replying to a homeless or formerly homeless person. And it needn't be said, but I'm not saying that an effective threat is moral.)

DoreenMichele 5y ago
Or the steps to reduce suffering are clear to them. You just don't like the conclusion they drew and don't approve. There is insufficient affordable housing in the US. We build apartments designed for a nuclear family and expect young single people to get roommates and split the rent and then you see questions on the internet about "How do I deal with this roommate from hell?" and we make horror movies about it like Single White Female and continue to not offer housing options suitable for living alone on a budget. Since WW2, we've torn down about a million SROs. We now think of SROs as housing for homeless people when it used to be normal market rate housing for single people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy Some people are homeless because they left abusive situations. They decided "I would rather sleep outside than continue to put up with this." But the narrative most people accept is that homeless people are all addicts and crazies and this somehow means it's a personal problem, they aren't trying hard enough, they would rather be high than in shelter. Addiction is a hard problem to solve no matter your social class. We don't act like "Wealthy rock stars with a drug habit must be wealthy because they take so many drugs." but we conclude that there is a cause and effect relationship between drug use and homelessness. It's basically prejudice talking. People on the street tend to be square pegs who have trouble finding a slot that fits them. We've actively eliminated a lot of those oddly shaped slots and then act like "You just don't want to make your life work." Homeless people aren't necessarily any more or less virtuous or hard working or whatever than anyone else. The fabric of their life came unraveled and they don't know how to readily weave it back together and then the world tells them "The beatings shall continue until morale improves."
- 1123581321 5y ago
  Yes, I agree with all that. Not sure where your second sentence is coming from. I was only responding to the idea that there is only one kind of way to threaten someone, that is ineffective.
  - DoreenMichele 5y ago
    Chalk that second sentence up to baggage (and exhaustion). I wasn't trying to be argumentative. Just happy to expound on a topic I know something about.
    - 1123581321 5y ago
      I did appreciate reading it! :)

DoreenMichele 5y ago

Or the steps to reduce suffering are clear to them. You just don't like the conclusion they drew and don't approve. There is insufficient affordable housing in the US. We build apartments designed for a nuclear family and expect young single people to get roommates and split the rent and then you see questions on the internet about "How do I deal with this roommate from hell?" and we make horror movies about it like Single White Female and continue to not offer housing options suitable for living alone on a budget. Since WW2, we've torn down about a million SROs. We now think of SROs as housing for homeless people when it used to be normal market rate housing for single people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_room_occupancy Some people are homeless because they left abusive situations. They decided "I would rather sleep outside than continue to put up with this." But the narrative most people accept is that homeless people are all addicts and crazies and this somehow means it's a personal problem, they aren't trying hard enough, they would rather be high than in shelter. Addiction is a hard problem to solve no matter your social class. We don't act like "Wealthy rock stars with a drug habit must be wealthy because they take so many drugs." but we conclude that there is a cause and effect relationship between drug use and homelessness. It's basically prejudice talking. People on the street tend to be square pegs who have trouble finding a slot that fits them. We've actively eliminated a lot of those oddly shaped slots and then act like "You just don't want to make your life work." Homeless people aren't necessarily any more or less virtuous or hard working or whatever than anyone else. The fabric of their life came unraveled and they don't know how to readily weave it back together and then the world tells them "The beatings shall continue until morale improves."

1123581321 5y ago
Yes, I agree with all that. Not sure where your second sentence is coming from. I was only responding to the idea that there is only one kind of way to threaten someone, that is ineffective.
- DoreenMichele 5y ago
  Chalk that second sentence up to baggage (and exhaustion). I wasn't trying to be argumentative. Just happy to expound on a topic I know something about.
  - 1123581321 5y ago
    I did appreciate reading it! :)