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Unfortunately, at least around here, in one of the most "welfare" of welfare states, a major cause of homelessness is substance abuse (traditionally alcoholism)

Unfortunately, at least around here, in one of the most "welfare" of welfare states, a major cause of homelessness is substance abuse (traditionally alcoholism) caused by insufficient social safety nets (almost always males who have undergone a major crisis in life such as a divorce or a loss of job, exacerbated by various toxic norms associated with masculinity such as the expectation of self-sufficiency). People who "live self-destructive lives" have not always done so; at some point something has gone wrong in their lives. It is not an identity or (usually) an inborn personality trait, and "othering" people with addictions like that is simply an example of the correspondence bias and a part of the meme complex that maintains the status quo of homelessness. In a representative democracy, we elect representatives in the hopes that they have a decisionmaking and problem-solving ability more holistic and less short-sighted than just "out of sight, out of mind". At least, that's what the ideal is. The process can be abused by populists good at appealing to people's intuitions and emotions while having few real solutions, but that doesn't mean we should just give up!

badpun 4y ago
> toxic norms associated with masculinity such as the expectation of self-sufficiency What? It's toxic to expect someone to be self-sufficient? I guess all our civilization was built on toxic grounds - it's amazing what all that toxicity accomplished though. > People who "live self-destructive lives" have not always done so; at some point something has gone wrong in their lives. It is not an identity or (usually) an inborn personality trait, and "othering" people with addictions like that is simply an example of the correspondence bias and a part of the meme complex that maintains the status quo of homelessness. I don't think I'm "othering" them (I'm not sure though, because I'm not sure what it means). I'm just describing their current situation. I'm not claiming there were born as petty thieves or alcoholics or will remain petty thieves or alcoholics for the rest of their lives. The homeless alcoholics I personally know usually took a decade or more of gradually increasing selfish and antisocial behaviour to eventually end up on streets (as they've eventually used up the good will of everyone in their lives and no one was there to support them any more). What made them go down that path while people, who have as shitty lives as them or worse, stood on their feet - who knows? We don't understand human psychology to the degree to be able to answer that question. BTW, I've recently re-read some Bukowski, and I think he's giving a good description of an inner life of a person with some self-destructive personality traits. In his case they were fairly mild, so he still managed to hold a job and be off the street most of the time. The real homeless I know have even more anger, self-pity, narcissism and/or straight up psychopathy. At least one of them is a straight-up predator, who's homeless because he finally ran out of people to prey upon.
- Sharlin 4y ago
  Perhaps self-sufficiency was a word with too positive connotations; what I meant, of course, was destructive learned mental models such as being too proud to ask for help or go to a doctor before it’s too late, and not having formed a safety net of close friends because men are not supposed to need them. Additionally, what is often devastating to men in particular is that in nasty divorces, the custody of children is almost always given to the mother.

badpun 4y ago

> toxic norms associated with masculinity such as the expectation of self-sufficiency What? It's toxic to expect someone to be self-sufficient? I guess all our civilization was built on toxic grounds - it's amazing what all that toxicity accomplished though. > People who "live self-destructive lives" have not always done so; at some point something has gone wrong in their lives. It is not an identity or (usually) an inborn personality trait, and "othering" people with addictions like that is simply an example of the correspondence bias and a part of the meme complex that maintains the status quo of homelessness. I don't think I'm "othering" them (I'm not sure though, because I'm not sure what it means). I'm just describing their current situation. I'm not claiming there were born as petty thieves or alcoholics or will remain petty thieves or alcoholics for the rest of their lives. The homeless alcoholics I personally know usually took a decade or more of gradually increasing selfish and antisocial behaviour to eventually end up on streets (as they've eventually used up the good will of everyone in their lives and no one was there to support them any more). What made them go down that path while people, who have as shitty lives as them or worse, stood on their feet - who knows? We don't understand human psychology to the degree to be able to answer that question. BTW, I've recently re-read some Bukowski, and I think he's giving a good description of an inner life of a person with some self-destructive personality traits. In his case they were fairly mild, so he still managed to hold a job and be off the street most of the time. The real homeless I know have even more anger, self-pity, narcissism and/or straight up psychopathy. At least one of them is a straight-up predator, who's homeless because he finally ran out of people to prey upon.

Sharlin 4y ago
Perhaps self-sufficiency was a word with too positive connotations; what I meant, of course, was destructive learned mental models such as being too proud to ask for help or go to a doctor before it’s too late, and not having formed a safety net of close friends because men are not supposed to need them. Additionally, what is often devastating to men in particular is that in nasty divorces, the custody of children is almost always given to the mother.