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I can also understand that. Now these people, not making a lot of money. They at least had a social support system, happy with friends families etc. They had a

I can also understand that. Now these people, not making a lot of money. They at least had a social support system, happy with friends families etc. They had a place they could call their own, and the pride that comes with it. You've taken their support system out. In short, it is cheaper to build them houses and put them there, than to put them in prisons. Whether people get happy in places they like, or they get pissed at the system and live in prison, it's your tax dollars either way.

bequanna 12y ago
> In short, it is cheaper to build them houses and put them there, than to put them in prisons. Whether people get happy in places they like, or they get pissed at the system and live in prison, it's your tax dollars either way. This solution makes me really uncomfortable. You're completely disregarding the individual and saying that we are responsible for creating an environment for them and ultimately, we are responsible for their behavior. These are independent, adult people who are perfectly capable of making their own decisions, good or bad, and living with the consequences of those decisions. It shouldn't be the public's responsibility to remove them from neighborhoods or 'build them houses and put them there' as you said. If low income people want to live in one of the most expensive areas in the world, they can. But they shouldn't expect to live well.
- logical42 12y ago
  You know, it's quite possible to treat adults as independent agents who are responsible for their own actions and yet acknowledge (and possibly even be sympathetic to) the fact that these same adults can be subject to external forces which put them in a really tough spot.
  - Domenic_S 12y ago
    Of course. But what about the people who are in a tough spot because of internal forces? Surely you don't think the woman in the first video fell pregnant a second time because of external forces? Yes, some people do have the story of "got laid off after 35 years, company stole my pension, now I'm homeless", or "had a long, expensive medical emergency, now am homeless". You can pinpoint the external force. But this piece showed one thing in particular that was striking: it seems it's rarely one major event that plunges someone into a bad situation like these (consider that none of these videos had one "this is what happened" sound bite). It seems like it's the snowball effect of bad decision after bad decision. What do we do with people who are in really tough spots because of the compounding behavior of bad decisions? "We invest in the educational system so kids learn how to avoid these spots" -- ok, great, but what do we do with THESE people, today? Accepting the "external forces" thing is a slippery slope, because now somebody is the arbiter of You Did It To Yourself vs. It's Not Your Fault. Who can we trust with that position? Is it even moral to make that judgement? Was this whole comment satire on being the arbiter of justice?

bequanna 12y ago

> In short, it is cheaper to build them houses and put them there, than to put them in prisons. Whether people get happy in places they like, or they get pissed at the system and live in prison, it's your tax dollars either way. This solution makes me really uncomfortable. You're completely disregarding the individual and saying that we are responsible for creating an environment for them and ultimately, we are responsible for their behavior. These are independent, adult people who are perfectly capable of making their own decisions, good or bad, and living with the consequences of those decisions. It shouldn't be the public's responsibility to remove them from neighborhoods or 'build them houses and put them there' as you said. If low income people want to live in one of the most expensive areas in the world, they can. But they shouldn't expect to live well.

logical42 12y ago
You know, it's quite possible to treat adults as independent agents who are responsible for their own actions and yet acknowledge (and possibly even be sympathetic to) the fact that these same adults can be subject to external forces which put them in a really tough spot.
- Domenic_S 12y ago
  Of course. But what about the people who are in a tough spot because of internal forces? Surely you don't think the woman in the first video fell pregnant a second time because of external forces? Yes, some people do have the story of "got laid off after 35 years, company stole my pension, now I'm homeless", or "had a long, expensive medical emergency, now am homeless". You can pinpoint the external force. But this piece showed one thing in particular that was striking: it seems it's rarely one major event that plunges someone into a bad situation like these (consider that none of these videos had one "this is what happened" sound bite). It seems like it's the snowball effect of bad decision after bad decision. What do we do with people who are in really tough spots because of the compounding behavior of bad decisions? "We invest in the educational system so kids learn how to avoid these spots" -- ok, great, but what do we do with THESE people, today? Accepting the "external forces" thing is a slippery slope, because now somebody is the arbiter of You Did It To Yourself vs. It's Not Your Fault. Who can we trust with that position? Is it even moral to make that judgement? Was this whole comment satire on being the arbiter of justice?