[ciguy]

The headline as written should surprise no-one. Anyone receiving free money would probably have their life improved along some dimension, even if it just means they're not doing as many dangerous things to get money to buy more drugs. The implicit assumption seems to be that giving homeless people money to improve their lives is inherently a moral good.

Unlike many homeless advocates, I don't think it is a given that taking money by force from productive hardworking people and giving it to mentally ill drug addicts is inherently moral or good for long term societal stability.

[advael]

I think a lot of productive hardworking people's money has been spent on propaganda whose sole intention is to ensure that people equate homeless people to "mentally ill drug addicts" rather than, say, "private equity real estate buyup refugees"

[ciguy]

How many homeless people do you interact with daily? Because I'm forced to interact with many of them on a daily basis to simply go about my life in the Bay Area. And almost all of them, with very very few exceptions are both mentally ill and drug addicts. I used to think like you, but being forced to deal with them in real life on a daily basis has a way of killing preconceived convenient notions.

[hehhehaha]

the people who say this never live in areas with homeless people

[meowtimemania]

I think there’s a few different groups:

* homeless because of their severe drug addiction * homeless because they can’t afford rent

Each group needs different solutions.

[SV_BubbleTime]

What would the point of a propaganda campaign like that be?

What evil organization is paying on the backend to make sure homeless people do not receive money?

Argue in good faith. People are skeptical that their money should go to people that have not earned it. That is the reality of the argument. It isn’t a conspiracy that many people equate homeless to drug addiction, it’s fact. It is also fact that homelessness isn’t always the guy sleeping in the street, but the single mom sleeping on a friend’s couch for as long as possible.

This is just another “it’s really easy to spend other people’s money” issue.

[mbgerring]

Read the article, or read the recent UCSF study on homelessness[0]. The data suggest that mental illness and drug addiction are both symptoms of, or exacerbated by, homelessness, not causes of it.

Please don’t argue with me about this here without citing the available data.

0. https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/califor...

[rahimnathwani]

The article is not based on a random sample of homeless people. If you read the article, and ideally the article linked within, you'll notice that both the control and treatment groups are from a set of people who have been able to maintain ongoing relationships with 'buddies', in person or on the phone.

The linked study claims to be based on a representative sample of homeless people, but the sampling approaches detailed on page 14 don't give me confidence that this is true. This part is particularly problematic: "This process continued with participants referring us to members of their communities who then referred us to others."

The final weighted sample might be representative based on some demographic criteria (e.g. ethnicity, age) but weighting it to achieve that doesn't magically make it representative of the overall homeless population in other respects.

[cwillu]

“It may not be earth-shattering that providing money is going to help meet basic needs, but I do think it dispels this myth that people will use money for illicit purposes,” Henwood said. “We weren’t finding that in the study.”

[tgv]

> taking money by force from productive hardworking people and giving it to mentally ill drug addicts

Taxing is not immoral, and it's not just given to mentally ill drug addicts. That's a bad and wrong frame. You almost make it sound like you would cheer when it is given to the mentally ill non-users, or to mentally healthy addicts.

But that's not really your point, is it? Just say: "I don't want to pay taxes." The implication of course is: you don't care about the state, and the help it offers others. Usually that principle lasts until you get in trouble, or can do a profit from government funds.

[rahimnathwani]

You're attacking a straw man. GP didn't say they didn't want to pay taxes.

[thinkingtoilet]

The fact that you call all homeless people "mentally ill drug addicts" is very telling. Do some basic research. I hope you find some empathy in your heart.

[ciguy]

I don't need to research, I deal with them on a daily basis just to go about my day because in my town they are everywhere. The fact that you are ready to simply dismiss someones lived experience based on a few flawed studies tells me everything I need to know about your agenda.

[everfree]

Cash is sometimes the most efficient way to distribute aid to ill people.

Unless - do you believe we shouldn’t aid ill people at all?

[ryuhhnn]

Why would you even ask a question like this? It’s clear that our society has issues that stem from people’s inability to navigate our complicated modern world. Your “why not just let them suffer” provocation adds nothing productive to this discussion.

[ejb999]

cash is a great way to aid ill people, if you want to produce a steady stream of new 'ill' people to line up for it.