Since we as the residents already spend a lot of money on the homelessness issue in SF via government(200MM+/year), I thought some of us would be willing to take a more active role in fixing this issue by donating to campaigns like this one(and to more sustainable ones). So, I am thinking of turning this campaign into a crowdfunding platform for activists and organizations that want to work on homelessness related issues in San Francisco.
I wanted to share the campaign here thinking you might like the idea & might want to share your thoughts on it: https://operationsflove.com
So far the supporters have been mostly my friends but I believe this could go viral with some improvement.
Would love hear what you all think, Thanks, Seckin
I have always held that it is one of the main purposes of government to maximize the quality of life for the governed. Whether they are rich, poor, sane, or insane. What I always find challenging is when someone chooses to define 'better' in a way that I cannot comprehend.
I strongly recommend that anyone who wants to help here start by looking at what we had, in terms of laws and institutions, which gave the state the ability to hold someone and treat their illness, and restrict their movements, and why those institutions were abolished and laws changed.
As a community we changed our position from it is 'better' to house these people and give them treatment, to it is 'better' that they live without constraints and someone trying to provide help they don't want.
When a person says they would rather sleep on a bench than be given drugs that make them feel "bad" and be forced to live with other people who are similarly afflicted, which is better? Homelessness or being institutionalized? Why?
I do, however, think that it is the right of the governed to make rules against sleeping on benches, that they paid for with their tax dollars. Same goes for sidewalks, doorways, etc. I suppose you could say such rules are "restricting of movements" (in the broadest sense), but they seem reasonable restrictions to me.
That said, I also think it is society's responsibility to provide another option.
> That said, I also think it is society's responsibility
> to provide another option.
At the time there was a discussion about how "we" (where we is the city of Sunnyvale) might use the Onizuka Air Force base facility (aka the 'Blue Cube') which was being decommissioned and turned over to the public sector for re-use. I was trying to figure out if there was a way we could convert part of that facility into what would essentially be caves, self heated concrete structures that were impervious to fire, contained internal pipes with a heat transfer fluid to maintain a livable temperature (cooling or warming), a dedicated latrine system that would periodically flush out all waste, and that were nominally "open" but could be enclosed with available materials. Something that people who were otherwise unwilling to live in a more traditional shelter/section 8 housing, might be able to survive in. This wasn't even a basic income kind of problem, these were people who are mentally non-functional adults. Was there any sort of place we could create that would make their lives better than it was today. They are an at risk group for whom it is very difficult these days to provide services for.
It was wildly derided as putting these people on a 'reservation' or 'in pens' or any number of things. Like I said earlier, socially inept. I don't know have any good solutions.
And it's ALL THEIR FAULT.
Not the economy, not the insane cost of higher education to gain job skills, not the outsourcing and automation of modern society.
It's the homeless who are failures.
That's why I propose Gladiator hobo fights to the death.
Only the strongest hobo's survive.
Make them earn their cheeseburgers like a good capitalist.
Same number of homeless but now they have blankets and books too?
I have always been of the opinion that I don't care why someone is homeless, I would like to help them. There is nobody that deserves to live on the street in a nation with as much wealth as America, even if they've made bad decisions (drugs, alcohol, crime, etc.). I think it's our job as a society to put a roof over everyone's head to the best of our abilities, it's inhuman to pick and dodge among homeless people and go about our lives like it is normal.
If I could solve any problem in my lifetime, it would be homelessness in America. I wish I had any idea where to start. I know it's not as noble of a cause as curing cancer or helping the needy who live in true poverty around the world, but it's something that's in my face every day and I think it's a failure of our modern society.
I'm not sure what you mean by, "even if," here. The Fundamental Attribution Error holds that it's a mistake to attribute someone's circumstances more to choices than to luck. There are tons of rich people who have chosen drugs, alcohol and crime, with extremely few, if any, turning up homeless as a result. There are also homeless who are not addicted nor incapacitatingly mentally ill (I'm sure we can agree that homelessness could predictably lead to depression at the very least).
Likewise, the way economic policy in many capitalist countries is oriented toward maintaining certain levels of unemployment (full employment being seen as bad, weakening the negotiating power of business owners, etc.) ensures that homelessness and poverty are actual government policy. Your Tax Dollars At Work.
Generally and socially, I contend that the problems of education and homelessness, in the US at least, are directly attributable to prioritizing commerce and the military over domestic care. Let's ask why a country with as much wealth as America deserves to engage in war, shall we?
I don't think the conclusion is drug addicts and the mentally ill don't deserve compassion. It is that trying to help the homeless while ignoring the drug and mental health issues is unlikely to be as productive as providing treatment options for the underlying causes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_carriers_by_co...
I have been iterating on this campaign for at least a month now according to feedback I have received from 50+ people in all walks of life, but I agree that there is still a huge room for improvement. And I would love to hear more about the campaigns that you think we could work on after this one.
One thing I love about Watsi is that I can actually see (and pick) who I'm donating to. There's something cool about being able to read their stories and see their pictures -- it almost makes me feel bad going to the site and not donating.
Good luck!
There's too much money to be made by the established people, so chances of fixing homelessness are negligible. It's a corrupt system.
Reading the comments here it seems that there is a massive gap in understanding, empathy and plain old data - are there no studies answering the questions being speculated on here?
If you could find a way to address that gap of understanding - provide the technologists with data, and fully describe the constraints - perhaps there can be a useful discussion in the technology community.
Why not build public bathrooms ? That could be used by homeless and others (like people renting a bedroom w/o shower, poor, students, etc.). Actually that could be a way to reach homeless people, to provide them medical and social help.
To integrate homeless to society you need to provide them the basics that they don't have (bathroom, shelter, laundry, food, medical and social help, and even bank account, internet, phone). Not all will grab the opportunity, but at least they will have a chance to.
That said, I think some of the best projects fighting homelessness are supportive housing projects that help people get an apartment and provide additional services for medical/psychiatric treatments, food stamps, etc. [1]
The harsh reality is that the more accommodating to the homeless the city is, the more homeless there will be.
I think there are solutions, and they can be compassionate, but simply making life easier for the homeless has long term drawbacks that are greater than the short term upsides.
Homelessness is the main concern for resident of San Francisco according to recent polls, and it would be a shame if this stayed like this for another 10 years.
With this campaign, we can start creating campaigns that are funded and lead by the citizens who are most passionate about solving this. Then, the idea that something like this could work would ideally propagate to other people that are more skeptic.
We need to also note that we are already paying around $20 per month each on fixing homelessness in San Francisco through the government. The main difference is that with a crowdfunding platform, we would be the ones that are choosing which campaigns make sense and which activists we would like to support.
Lol you think basic fundamental survival goods like food and blankets are making it easy?
Are you SERIOUS?
Because I completely agree! You guys are absolutely right on. If you encourage homelessness EVERYONE will become one.
That will attract more homeless in SF, sure! (actually, some cities pay to send their homeless to SF already http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/11/2602391/san-franc...). But that is not a sufficient reason to not make what is right.
If every city in the Bay would do the same, there would less incentive for homeless to congregate in SF.
So then any such program shouldn't be city specific. Why would residents of a city do things that result in more homeless in their own city? Basic game theory.
On the other hand, some of them would get laughed at in an interview without being "cleaned up" to look presentable, which a hand out could help with.
What you should do instead is turn your web site into a bumfights startup!!!
Make them fight to the death hunger games style for tons of swag.
The profit potential is huge, the homeless population will be decreased, AND the leftover hobos will have tons of good swag!
This is a great startup idea!!
Mischaracterizing dehumanization of entire swathes of people with a simplistic black and white view of the world.
It could be literally Hitler posting these comments.
There's no taste too low for people like that no matter what side of the aisle you're on.