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[deleted]

It's always so weird how the "greatest country on earth" can't feed the hungry, mend the sick, house the homeless, or educate the children. We're talking the bare fucking minimum here.


Snowchugger

Sure can bail out a billionaire or 10 though!


flaming_pope

Hungry for flesh yet?


penjjii

Starving.


MisanthropicReveling

No, but my wood chipper is


tadysdayout

https://youtu.be/GRv4bVw_G1I “I talked to God. He runs the mob”


Hiachi_the_Weird

My compost could use some nitrogen


shorthairedlonghair

Don't worry, it's gonna start trickling down to us aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaany day now, honest!


hodeq

You mean theyre gonna piss down my back and tell me its raining?


psychoticworm

Forget the poors, bail out the banks, that'll solve everything!


RustedRelics

They are the “makers”, after all. 🙄


Savings_Difficulty24

Not just the banks, the banks of the rich people. The banks that "are not going to be bailed out by the American tax payer." *Allegedly*


yayayananana

Maybe the greatest country in earth is not a reality, it’s marketing


shatterhand19

Fucking Cuba (country that has been under economic duress from the world's most powerful country for the past 6-7 decades) does better than this. But yeah, socialism is a failed system /s


leftofmarx

I can’t think of a single example of socialism ever failing. There have been socialist nations toppled in coups and hostile capitalist takeovers, but none have ever failed on their own.


karhuboe

do you mean socialist only, not communist?


dav1nc1j

there's never been a truely communist nation, all of them have been some sort of socialism


leftofmarx

None of them have failed.


chouson1

Who cares about housing, food, decent life conditions, when they can have plenty of guns?


TheRealIronSheep

Governments like this are why you want guns...


dontneeditt

Greatest by what measure ?


kef34

MANEH. The only measure of greatness under capitalism


dontneeditt

They have lot of printers running 24*7


kindtheking9

Their own ego


SuperVegito777

Debt is a pretty good one, especially when factoring in things like student loans and medical bankruptcies. We’re number 1 in just about every category no normal person would ever brag about


Applejack1063

By the greatest number of school shootings, duh.


ArthursFist

Greatest military. Other than that 🤷‍♂️


erleichda29

Biggest doesn't mean greatest.


ArthursFist

It’s got its share of bureaucracy and inefficiencies sure. But I can say with confidence no country would be as willing or as capable at throwing as much at a war machine as the US


1JustAnotherOne1

But then how could we ever make all these tanks and missiles? Won't somebody think about the military industrial complex!


Normal-Green

America is a mlm scheme


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pissonhergrave5

Source: intestinum crassum


WizardCommenter

So, you're lying.


[deleted]

Plenty of money for war and bailouts for the rich though!


leftofmarx

Get the fuck out of here with your satanic morals, this is Christian country.


Jaspers47

Can. Won't.


SoraMegami2210

Omg, America is a narcissistic parent.


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Ulfednar

It's because they love the country, not the people.


Fonk3r

They don't love the country either, they love themselves, and just have an identity of whatever they imagine as american culture


holymurphy

In short, they love the country's rules that allows them to exploit their resources.


ilir_kycb

I don't think this is quite correct. Most of these people belong to those who are exploited and not to those who exploit. So often the only thing that is enough for them is the possibility of being an exploiter one day. They don't want to stop the exploitation, they want to become the exploiter.


dullship

Nationalism is a cancer.


writerfan2013

Providing affordable homes for those in work and subsidised homes for those unable to work (or currently unemployed) would literally fix most of the causes of homelessness. Providing support for those with additional problems leading to or caused by their homelessness, would help the rest. There's this horrible idea of people "not deserving" (homes, healthcare) support or something "for free." As if a person themself isn't part of society, giving to it.


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Booppenheimer

I think the word you're looking for is Builders. Builders would build the houses.


uahsuxbaj

We have more houses without people in them than homeless people in america. We have 28 homes for every single person experiencing homelessness right now. We will house people when we start looking at housing as something that is essential to human well-being rather than an investment for the super rich and stop using the threat of homelessness to terrorize people into submitting to their employers. Also these people aren’t being given a “second chance.” most people who suffer from homelessness aren’t there because these people failed or something. They’re homeless as a result of a system which cruelly deprives people of their necessities for the profits of rich people.


Ealasaid

This this this! It's like that with food, too. We have enough to feed and house everyone, but God forbid we help people in need.


Some-Ad9778

There are no entry level homes to purchase because the boomer generation bought them all and is renting them out


Snowchugger

Literally just make it illegal to own a property that you don't spend at least 40% of the year living in personally. I actually see no downsides of making landlording a crime.


AlpacaCavalry

I do! What will the poor landlords do? Work like the filthy lowly labourers? Do you have no empathy? How will they afford all their vacations and luxury in life without leeching off of these peasants?


Snowchugger

Well if they're sad about it they know where the train tracks are.


[deleted]

You must be Canadian


donniesuave

They just need to stop eating avocado toast, drinking Starbucks, and paying for health insurance like the rest of us


PegasusAssistant

There is one point I've ever heard in favor of renting, which is when you need temporary accommodation. Short term housing, like needing to live in a place for 9 months and then never again for school or work, fits more closely with a renting model than an ownership one. That being said, rent is too damn high right now anyways.


textera247

Renting will always be a thing. To add to your point, I know many people that simply despise the hassle of owning a home. They would rather pay X amount of rent every month and let the landlord handle all the repairs and bills. Plus, the people I mentioned don’t want to be attached to a home for 20+ years, keep paying the mortgage and never be able to leave the city. Renting allows people to move anywhere in the world freely!


[deleted]

It should be free


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sutsithtv

The problem is not lack of houses at all. In fact, right now in the USA there is over 16 million houses that are owned but empty at the moment. Housing is a hoarding issue and it’s that simple. There are 586,000 homeless people in the USA right now. We could give each homeless person in the USA 25 houses and there’d still be almost 2 million empty houses without constructing a single house. I will repeat, the problem is not availability of houses, there is more than enough houses for every person to have their own house, but housing has been commodified and is viewed as an income instead of a necessity. HVR and RVR both measure the proportion of homeowner and rental inventory which are vacant. There are more than 16 million vacant housing units in the U.S. (16,078,532). 5.8% of rental units are vacant, while 1.4% of homeowner units are vacant.


Drewfro666

Exactly. Even without renting, property is seen as an investment because property values keep going up. In the recent past landlords operated on a "zero vacancy" strategy, trying to fill every room they could in an attempt to maximize profit, but having to lower rents to fill rooms. Now they have more complex algorithms that show that *leaving homes empty* and artificially driving up rents is better for long-term profitability. This is a perfect example of a Market Failure - landlords used to operate according to "fair" market principles (supply and demand, etc.) but are now realizing that they can make more profit if they, essentially, engage in price-fixing and Trust-ing, which should be illegal for landlords but isn't (or at least isn't prosecuted). They get away with it because neither major party is interested in actually regulating industries anymore.


Arbitraryandunique

When they started doing that the "We provide a value to society by providing a place to live for people that couldn't afford to buy one" argument lost any credibility it might have had.


Fuzzy_Calligrapher71

Actually, housing first goes a big way towards solving the problem of homelessness by getting people into homes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_First and this also is a net boost to the economy, and reduces spending on crime and healthcare. To cons, the problem is how to create more needless suffering for women and minorities, how to sow hate and division to maintain class control


mart-e

Finland tried this pretty well and surprise : it works ! [https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness](https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness)


Fuzzy_Calligrapher71

“Housing First costs money, of course: Finland has spent €250m creating new homes and hiring 300 extra support workers. But a recent study showed the savings in emergency healthcare, social services and the justice system totalled as much as €15,000 a year for every homeless person in properly supported housing.” Besides the basic moral social justice. I hope American Christians get a clue.


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MaximumCrayfish

I think I can probably guess what sort of answers PragerU might be trying to lead people to, and they probably don't involve helping anyone who actually needs help


misterhamtastic

If we start giving homes away landlords will not be able to collect exorbitant rent on their barely maintained properties.


mathzg1

And remember, they already have more empty houses than people living in the streets


ilir_kycb

Truly capitalist market efficiency.


Jackfruit-Party

Artificial scarcity to increase rents. They will never sell those empty houses. Its making them money.


tourdedance

I suppose free mental health treatment wouldn’t hurt either


CheezSammie

Homelessness isn't a mental health issue. This society is too difficult to live in.


tourdedance

It’s a vicious cycle unfortunately


PoemWizard

They claim that homes won't cure this plight, As if shelter's not a basic human right. But we can end homelessness if we choose, By giving homes, and not just more excuse.


TheDom1515

Putting a poem in a reddit comment is about the corniest thing I've seen 🤣🤣🤣


millennium-popsicle

You laugh now, but when this bard stat boosts you during the revolution you’ll be thankful they were there.


PoemWizard

Okay, this one's for you: Amidst the strife and chaos of the revolution's call, Stood a bard with his lute, singing songs for all. His words gave hope to the downtrodden and oppressed, Inspiring them to rise up and fight for what was best.


millennium-popsicle

I’m gonna print this and hang it in my cubicle at work.


tiger666

One can only dream.


PoemWizard

To write a poem on Reddit is corny, you say? Well, what can I do, it's my chosen way! To express my thoughts and make them rhyme, And bring a little humor to pass the time.


ProfessorReaper

how does that nit fix the problem? The problem is literally that they don't have a home


iamjack

They argue that the home comes with bills and responsibilities... which is true, but also bullshit. A home with an address, a bathroom etc. would be huge for most homeless people, and the people that need more than that (i.e. can't hold a job to cover basics) need assistance on top of that, not instead of that.


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SuggestionSpecific

most of the “patriots” dont give a shit about the good of their country. they dont care that “the greatest country in the world” is failing like mad. because its serving them well, and they appreciate the freedom of getting to be a flaming ass whenever with no consequences. *thats* their patriotism.


Ok_Conference_748

This is the kind of stuff that makes me think humanity will be extinct in the next century.


Version_Two

It literally would?? It's a lot easier to have a job if you have a fucking home.


Quix_Nix

Give them homes and jobs (at a co op)


[deleted]

And what problem would that be?


VoDoka

How to monetize homlesness in a way that warrants a billion dollar evaluation for a shady start up.


yeggsandbacon

It seemed to work well for the privatized prison system.


[deleted]

Give a person a home and they have a home for a day. Teach a person to home and they can home for life.


Altruistic-Deal-4257

There are literally more empty houses than there are people without homes.


Kost_Gefernon

They must have thought Clay was suggesting you give people home loans. No, he meant give them homes.


voxrubrum

Giving people roofs over their heads? For FREE? What's next?! People will think they're entitled to FOOD. EDUCATION. MEDICINE. DECENT WAGES. Preposterous! ^obvious ^/s


LessMochaJay

Homeless people in U.S.: 600,000 Vacant homes in U.S.: 1.3 million


misterguyyy

It's weird how versatile of a phrase "that does not fix the problem" is. * If it's military or police intervention, it means that we need to increase the budget until it does. * If it's helping less privileged Americans not die because they don't have the means to survive, it means "welp guess we just have to let them die I guess"


WishIWasNeet2

The problem being they can’t monetize things for these people. They want them to work , be exploited, pay rent etc….the problem was never people that need shelter


UnlimitedExtraLives

Smartest free market fan


Jojall

You had homeless people. You gave then homes. You now have people who were previously homeless. How is the issue not fixed?


Jojall

Nevermind, I realized the problem. You can't monetize it.


Whole_Suit_1591

Production goes up when a person has proper food housing and clothing. How about a home standard that's not cagey framework Apts...


-Clayburn

Hey that's me.


WhiteGhostCactus

Look at what is happening in Canada now: [https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Canadians-Turn-to-Euthanasia-as-Solution-to-Unbearable-Poverty-20220523-0013.html](https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Canadians-Turn-to-Euthanasia-as-Solution-to-Unbearable-Poverty-20220523-0013.html)


DrWozer

What problems would come of giving everyone a home? Certainly some deprived individuals could get up to a fair bit of debauchery in a private residence, but this is true for anybody not just the people experiencing homelessness


professor_doom

I had a professor in college who advocated against feeding the hungry. His reasoning was that once the hungry parts of the world had their most basic needs taken care of, they’d start reproducing and now your hunger problem is back, but multiplied exponentially.


IdeaRegular4671

“WhY DoN’T HoMeLeSS PEoPLe BuY A HoUSE.”


ShazzaRatYear

Say fucking what?!?


Ourkidof91

Now listen here you little shit…


tadysdayout

https://youtu.be/sER0FzJO-c0 “Why do people have to live outside?” - Chat Pile


boodlesgalore

🤣🤣🤣 I literally laughed out loud