Away From Homeless
A friend of mine is just back from the US, after visiting his family there for a few weeks. I haven't caught up with him yet, but I will be interested to hear how his perceptions were, and if things have changed much since his last visit. He is from West Virginia, so not "too far" from Washington DC, but I suspect they won't be kicking out the homeless in his area.
I remember when I was living in Cairns, Australia back in the day, there was a bit of an uproar when the council rounded up all the Aboriginal people in the parks, and drove them up north about a thousand kilometres to a community up there, whether they were from that region or not. If I remember correctly, they did it a few times, and over the space of a month or two, the removed would eventually filter back into the city. As a tourist destination, extremely drunk people in the parks and bothering people on the streets wasn't ideal. For the locals, it wasn't ideal either - and at times, quite scary.
But, "moving them on" isn't an answer to the problem, is it? And it is a worsening problem with homelessness all over the developed world increasing, as more and more people drop out of society. And while there are many reasons for it, in a place like Finland, at least to begin with, it is pretty much a choice, as help is available to keep people with a roof over their head and food, if they want it. But it seems that for many, they don't actually want the help, other than the money to get their next hit of whatever they are into. They have resigned themselves to that life.
Does anyone ever really come back from it?
I was reading another article today from an education expert that happened to align with many of my posts about how schools are failing children, because the majority of resources are spent on the bottom twenty percent of kids that even if they improve, might not improve very far. The expert was saying how the top ten percent are being left alone to fend for themselves - my sentiments exactly.
And I think that it is a bit the same in society in general, where there is so much resource spent on people who don't actually appreciate the help at all. They don't care about community, or others, and they don't even care about themselves apparently. All they care about is getting a better feeling now, or avoiding a worse one now.
And again, I am not blaming the homeless here either, as if it is all their fault and their decisions. It is more that we have created a society that this is possible, that dropping out of the society is a standard option, that is "viable" in the sense that it is possible to survive. I don't believe it is a good life for any of them, and they would probably agree - but more and more are ending up living that life.
There are many reasons for it, but the increase in social disconnection is likely one of the core parts of it today, where people end up looking for community in the wrong places. It is a lowering of the bar to be part of a group in some respects, where people who are struggling for whatever reason, end up in a spiral that just leads them into a hopeless situation that even if they wanted to, they couldn't climb out of. And many don't want to.
Especially since the "average life" these days is getting pretty shit anyway, with more people suffering from emotional and mental problems, more financial issues, and the opportunities are shrinking away. This means that more people are on the edge and can fall over, but it also means that there isn't a great deal of incentive to step back from the edge, as it only amounts to a slightly better life anyway.
When I first came to Finland, I was "shocked" by the number of homeless old men in the summer, that would be drunk in the city centre. However, that average age rapidly fallen and they aren't just old men, they are young men and women too. People who should otherwise be enjoying the prime of their lives, dirty, sick and wasting away on park benches.
Moving them doesn't help?
Getting housing for them doesn't help either. Because they aren't in the state of mind or attitude to live in a house, so it would just be a wasted investment. Money down the drain, rather than helping people who want to be helped.
I don't know what the whole solution is, but I believe that these problems are just going to escalate in the coming years, as more people are unable to be productive members of society. Many will be pushed out of work as automation takes its toll, and many more will just disconnect socially, as they climb further into digital beds and pull the blankets up over their heads.
Society is collapsing.
But if you close your eyes and turn your head at the right time, it is possible to pretend that everything is okay, and that the biggest problems the world faces is which reality program to watch, or which selfie angle is the best to post on Instagram.
There are enough resources, but the distribution model doesn't cater for many to have enough.
Taraz
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Yeah, I get it in in Washington. I am more concerned about the rest of the world. I have seen Finland degrade quickly over the last 20 years, and it is probably still better than most places. Is anywhere getting better than 20 years ago?
No one wants to do the most obvious thing - root cause analysis - and admit that the current system is broken.
Society isn't collapsing, it is excluding people from participating in it if they don't meant the "performance metrics", don't get the support they need, and can't find solutions to their problems.
In many cases, people on the streets are not there by their own choice (there are some who claim it to be so) - but there's one thing that legislators never really ask themselves - what caused this person to find themselves in this position, and what can I do about it?
I see society collapsing as the root cause. It is happening in many ways but we have created a society that is increasingly incapable of raising strong, resilient, healthy, well-rounded people.
This includes the economic incentives for business and the metrics they use, but also many other aspects too. It is all related.
We are an ill species. We used to be improving, but we got a little too smart for ourselves and now we are headed backward.
The cause of each individual might seem different and personal, but I think that for the most part, it is more interpersonal.
Society collapsing isn't the root cause.
What is causing society to collapse, and why? If society is incapable of producing people strong enough to resist the rigours and suffering that it manifests - why?
What decisions and incisions have been made on people's rights, their ability to be independent, to have agency, and to thrive? There's always another layer below the cause.
There's always something. To use a poor example - the proliferation of green cars after the World Wars - because green paint was in supply following the World Wars.
People probably still like green cars today, but that's a choice that for the most part, is removed from people. It won't make them homeless - (or maybe it would, because the green paint factory has no more jobs) - but it is one of the many, layered variables that makes society what it is now.
If we an ill species, what medication do we need to become well again? Or are we about to witness the fall of Rome / Babylon / Other Great City / Era again?
I know what you are getting at, but you are missing the point. Society collapsing doesn't have a root cause, it has multiple causes. I talk about many of the ones that I see, but there is no point in listing out a million causes that add to the whole in this case.
We can address those million root causes, as a society. We have billions of people. :)
They can each solve a problem, or contribute to the solutions that would benefit many others.
We have to start with the ones that disadvantage people the most, and work our way down, until there's a shorter list.
Perhaps I am being too utopian and optimistic.
It is easy. Stop buying shit from them.
If course there's enough resources to cater for everyone on Earth, but the resources are not used equitably which leaves a few of the general population full and many others empty. It seems people in power like it to stay that way, that's the reason the problem of homelessness or any other problems for that matter won't ever be solved 100%. There's a necessity for a restructuring of the systems by which our society is run.
I think the only way restructuring will happen is through large scale war and fighting. And even after that, we would rebuild the same again.
We have a guy in the next town over that stands in the same spot and begs for money every day. He always seems clothed and fed, so I am sure he is making a decent amount from it. He wouldn't stay there if he wasn't. I'd like to think if I had to start over with nothing I would try to find some kind of commune or community where I could actually be doing something.
I remember a story about a guy begging in Adelaide in Australia at the train station - playing a broken keyboard. Apparently, he was making over 100K a year (25 years ago). There are gangs of Romani (gypsy) beggars here, and there are images of them changing clothes at the end of their shift and getting into Mercedes. For some, it is a business model.
Me too. I think this is a big part of dropping out of society - people not making meaning and purpose in their life.
The problem is, if you are joining a community of individuals is that really dropping out of society or just trading one society for another? I've read about people who busk in Times Square New York that make tons of money. It's pretty crazy.
And certainly not ideal for the Aboriginal people who were from that area to begin with, and had been historically dispossessed and disenfrancised so that there was very little support for them to change their lives in a positive way, or even, preferably the autonomy to do so, given 'they' weren't given the same start in life as the people chasing them out in the first place.
I am uncomfortable with generalisations like this - they tar a lot of people with the same brush, and they're very sweeping and anecdotal rather than well founded in reality. Research shows the causes of homelessness are complex, and many do want help and assistance, and accept it when it's accessible and of course well targeted. I watched a fantastic documentary on the ABC on homeless women in Australia, by far the largest group of homeless people here - domestic violence, job loss, death of family members, etc. Root causes. And they unequivocally would accept help if it was available and appropriate.
When you say that people reject housing, and housing isn't the answer, where is this coming from? Again it seems like a gross generalisation when there's research that suggests housing and support does help the majority of people who are in that situation. It's never money down the drain to improve people's access to social support. To be able to 'otherwise be enjoying the prime of their lives' instead of being 'dirty, sick and wasting away on park benches.' isn't as easy as just 'okay, might go get a job and a house and a wife now, it's my choice'. There's a whole heap of external circumstances that must be addressed first, and certainly we have to be looking at treating people with dignity and respect and helping them with their choices. For some, getting out of that quagmire is almost insurmountable without support.
We can argue that society collapsing 'is' the root cause of issues like homelessness, but we have to ask why society is collapsing. I can't help but return to your illustration of Aborginal people being chased out of Cairns - an example where the collapse of first nation society in this country had a direct and documented root cause - dispossession, genocide, removed access from based human rights, intergeneration trauma that is in the very living memories of families today - not the past, but the now. 'These' people are not looking for community 'in the wrong places' but finding community in the only places they have left or have the means to find. And we're still judging them for it rather than helping Aboriginal people find autonomy over their own lives through improved systems, funding, social equity.
I had a quick google of Finland First's housing program and was quite impressed - it's actually seen 80 percent decrease in homelessness since the '80's, and long term homelessness too has descreased. What really impressed me is they don't expect you to sort your shit out in order to get housing - because it's a human right, I guess, and maybe if you're treated like a human, you can sort your shit out. Plus, they have on site support for people to do just that. Seems pretty successful.
There's plenty of people who, given the right social support, can improve their lives and find meaning for themselves and in turn assist others.
Drug use - next 'hit' or whatever you say - well, that's a whole other topic I think. Not all homeless are drug addicts, and certainly not all people became homeless because of drugs, or would choose to be addicted if they could help it. Again, root causes - gah, I don't want to write another essay here, sorry! I'll stop now :P
Oh but one more thing:
Yes. My husband did.
I understand it well. I am not blind to this, but at some point, history has to be overcome, right? A friend of mine got drunk at a party and became violent when we were 15. The next day he realised he was on the same path as his parents. Hasn't been drunk since afaik and has built a strong family and community alongside him. But as someone who had (when in Cairns) many Aboriginal friends, this is an anomaly.
You missed the other sentence attached to that. It mentions Finland. Finland is not the US, nor is it Australia. There is plenty of appropriate support here. And, it is founded in reality.
You are applying the generalisation to your narrow view. But I suspect that similar to Finland, a lot of people have ended up homeless and in bad situations by the choices they have made that stepped them in that direction. Once there, they are unable to step back perhaps, but the intervention has to happen on the pathway prior to homelessness and socially destructive behaviours.
There are so many factors, that the list is near endless. I talk about some of them often.
I am not so sure about that. Like the case with my friend above - he has a very diverse social base, from many sides of life. A healthy community isn't based on race or skin colour.
This is mostly due to changes in drinking culture here. Funnily enough, the changes have happened due to more Finns travelling further abroad and an increase in foreigners in the country. Even twenty years ago, going into the alko (hard alcohol sales are a government monopoly), most of the store was cheap gins and vodkas. Now they are mostly wines. I would like to think that I have something to do with that, because people used to think it strange when I turned up to a party with a bottle of red :) There weren't many wine options then - now it is fantastic.
Again, this is from the Finnish perspective. Almost no homeless people are not addicted to alcohol or drugs. It really is a choice here.
This is good. What percentage do you think make it out?
Ah, the 'they should get over it' argument - you can't compare one guy you knew (kudos to him) to an entire people who have suffered centuries of dispossession, stolen generations, and systemic inequality that persists to this day 🤣 but yes, ideally I'm sure they'd love for it to be that easy.
Thanks for clarifying you meant Finland — easy to miss as the post jumped between Cairns, society collapsing, and other general and universal claims.
I did read the drop since the’80s is credited to Finland housing and support program — so your suggestion that it's because of changes in drinking culture is interesting. In these results, most who get housing stay housed long term, even if addicted, which suggests it’s still worth continuing social housing anyway, don't you think?
I think this relates to other conversations I've had with you about 'choice' but it's probably worth saying again .. Even in Finland, addiction is not simply a “choice.” - like everywhere, research on homelessness in Finland shows strong links between addiction and trauma, mental illness, unemployment, relationship breakdown, etc etc etc. I imagine people in Finland have the same reason for addiction as the rest of the world as it is a universal disease - it's a coping mechanism, not a deliberate 'choice'. To think of it as a choice again ignores root causes - real problems that limit choice in the first place.
As for percentages, no idea. Lucky for him, he has good support systems to help him through. Plus, of course, me 💕💕
Not quite what I said, but at some point, the systemic problem is in personal systems too. Sorting the shit out as an individual goes a long way. Expecting other people to sort your own shit out, isn't a good strategy.
They do have a housing and support program, similar to Australia. But Finland was pretty closed off up until that point. In Finland, they also required a bonus to come back from work after a holiday - because many would just stay drinking. It still exists in some sectors, but is just considered a holiday bonus now.
Addiction is a whole series of choices. It isn't an overnight thing, but it is something an individual can effect in the way they live their life, and interact with their experience.
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Such people need booze and communication. A boarding house with moderate and very cheap alcohol and easy work would suit them. Many sort garbage and hand in paper, metal and glass. Some live near the dump and work there.
I believe that city parks are places for family recreation, not for drinking by such people.
I agree. They can do as they please, but they shouldn't be doing that kind of shit where children play.
I think the problem of homelessness is closely linked to the way society is structured and the values we hold. It is not only about giving people a place to live, but also it is about making sure they feel appreciated and backed by their communities.
Which is why they dropped out in the first place, for many of them. However, whose job is it to build a strong social network?
Our
I was shocked by what you told us. I didn't think this phenomenon of homelessness existed in Finland, much less among young people. I thought the social system in this country would have overcome the social problems that unfortunately proliferate around the world.
It isn't at the scale it is in other countries, but it is getting worse. "Getting worse" ends up very bad in the near future.
It's unfortunate...
Homeless people likely have psychological problems. Many of them are alcoholics. They chose alcohol over saving money and owning a home in their youth.
I believe that municipalities in every community should provide community accommodations for homeless people. No one deserves to be left out. What exactly are governments for?
I agree, no one deserves to be left out. But, no everyone should be part of helping - and that includes the people who need help. If they aren't willing, it is a lost cause.
Homelessness is such a complicated issue. It’s not just about shelter but about connection, support and for me dignity is so necessary. Until society addresses those deeper problems, simply giving housing won’t solve much for many people
Society is made up of individuals. That includes the homeless individuals who also didn't help build the healthy relationships they need, right? I could be homeless in another life - but it would take me many steps to break away and get there. Why take all those steps?
You've got a point 🤔
We have a lot of homeless in Seattle area. Mild climate and very friendly police who do nothing about the drugs they use right on the street is a big draw. There has been a lot of talk about building housing for the homeless, King County even bought a hotel to house them, but it doesn't seem to do much.
The current thought is to solve the security problem that homeless created downtown Seattle is to bring more workers back to the offices...
The housing isn't enough, as in - it doesn't fix the issues in the people. There needs to be a fundamental change in the way we live as a society so that the potential homeless never become homeless in the first place. Throwing money at the problem doesn't help.
"Corporate workers, keeping your streets safe"
I guess they will then be accused of stealing police jobs :D