Supreme Court to Hear Case Re: the Homeless

[Debrah N.]

My point is that the US, Canada and most other countries are unlikely to follow what is perceived as a socialist template. The very word is enough to make most Americans start clutching their pearls.

A high tax rate that takes care of people's needs will surely reduce their citizens' anxiety. On the flip side that happiness index might drop a bit when folks want things like a new washing machine, automobile, luxury item or pricey vacation, but have very little in their checking accounts after taxes - plus have to pay 24% VAT.

You're right, the word 'socialism' has been turned into the boogey-man of accusations. Well, I'll bet if you went into any Finnish home you'd find that they had washing machines, cars, nice holidays....keep in mind, they aren't going bankrupt because one family member became ill or having to fork over thousands of dollars so the son or daughter or both, can go to university.

I came across an interesting article and several sentences stood out: 'The goal of the Nordic Model is to provide economic growth while ensuring a high standard of living and social equality for all citizens.

Finland also exceeds other countries in terms of a high standard of living, low poverty rates and a long life expectancy.

It consistently ranks very highly in global surveys of human development and well-being.'

Is Finland a socialist country? - Routes North

I think we could all learn a great deal from Finland, but I doubt that will happen. I think if I was a young unattached woman and had something to offer Finland so that they'd accept me for citizenship, I'd seriously consider moving there.

 

[VaughanJB]

I think your reply to Star Song had it right when you said you thought homes were the first priority. Again to Finland, that's their thinking too and they say that having a home gives even drug addicted or unwell people a sound base to improve from. That particular article that I'd read, mentioned that while those homeless who usually don't have jobs, can't pay their own rent in the beginning, there are a great many that do become capable of taking care of even that responsibility over time as they work through their issues, find jobs and begin to re-enter society. And how hard must it be, to get a job if your only address/phone number is some shelter? Nobody is going to hire someone in that predicament.

And here's the seemingly intractable problem. With some homeless, you have people who are often sick, with no home, and no means to support themselves. They're not fit for work, for obvious reasons. They turn to crime because....... well let's be completely honest now, most of us would turn to crime if the alternative was starvation on a street corner.

So where do you go first? If you give them jobs first, then they will get money in their pocket, but they're highly likely to use that money for nefarious means. If you give them a home first, then they can move their problems inside, and soon those homes are trashed. Besides, their sickness remains.

To solve it there needs to be a well constructed approach that is multi-disciplinary. They need help from the medical community to get well. Be it physical or mental. They need homes, but at least for a while they need to be supervised there. Someone needs to make sure the criminality isn't simply moved indoors. For jobs, you can't expect them to make the same salary as someone with a less complicated situation. That is - minimum wage. So they'd likely need less than minimum wage to get started, and I think that would soon become salve labor for profit.

In short, to solve it we need to make sacrifices. As it is, more than 2000 people die due to homeless per year in the US. Over 110,000 died due to drug overdoses last year. This isn't an insignificant number. With the growing number of working homeless, the warning signs are there for worse to come.