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> For shelter, a Walmart-grade sleeping bag and tent, issued to you at the border. Ok, so we're not talking about "ending homelessness", we're talking about sh
by abeppu 3y ago
> For shelter, a Walmart-grade sleeping bag and tent, issued to you at the border.
Ok, so we're not talking about "ending homelessness", we're talking about shifting it into a segregated area. Note also this mentions nothing about healthcare. It sounds like he's building a place for people to die in the next heat wave, cold snap or serious storm.
But also, fundamentally the Citizen vs Subject thing is sweeping a large and important case under the rug. At multiple points, he emphasize that people will "choose" to be subjects. But he also says that to be a citizen "you must pay more to the government than you take." So what if you don't choose to be a subject but you also don't pay more in taxes than e.g. you get from merely being in a city with paved roads and street lights? Are you _forced_ into this tent city?
The current situation can feel dystopian, but this sounds worse.
- abeppu 3y agoAlso: I think he's right to say that democracy is at risk when people realize they can treat the government as a way to enrich themselves -- but the homeless population isn't the risk here. No representative is being elected by the homeless vote to propose bills to give away extravagant benefits. The _worrying_ people that are "taking" more than they pay in taxes are firms in subsidized industries, government contractors, and companies with elaborate tax avoidance strategies. How about all those companies that got PPP loans that were forgiven, even if they didn't have meaningful covid-related business disruption?
- 303uru 3y agoEXACTLY. Elon Musk is the biggest welfare queen on the planet for crying out loud. You have to be absolutely clueless to think the homeless or incarcerated have any democratic power in the US.
- aredox 3y agoHis "idea" would be wonderful as a setup for a dystopian sci-fi novel, or a Cyberpunk 2077 DLC, or a movie with Kurt Russell. Not as a "serious suggestion".
- ThrowawayR2 3y agoStar Trek's version of Earth's history had dystopian "Sanctuary Districts" being created in US cities in the 2020s that were IIRC based on similar principles. Life imitates art.