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> I'd genuinely be interested to hear why. Many Americans are sadists who think the poor deserve what's coming to them, and are actually willing to spend extra

• mikeash 13y ago
  See also: just-world hypothesis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis
• Udo 13y ago
  The word "perverse" has been used on this thread and on other occasions to describe social improvement measures. I'm not sure all these people here are sadists, there must be something else at work. As far as I can tell the standard argument seems to be that these homeless aren't productive members of society so it somehow makes sense to put resources into actively punishing them for it and making sure the conditions are reinforced that allowed them to become antisocials in the first place. Yet, at the same time, there are a lot of true parasites in society who actually get paid a lot, and who we kind of worship. In the end, you might be right. But it's not a satisfying explanation.
  • Dylan16807 13y ago
    >The word "perverse" has been used on this thread Only in the phrase 'perverse incentive'. Which simply means a system has a high potential for unintended consequences / being gamed. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether the basic idea is noble.