[mrharrison]

The reason there are many homeless in SF, is because there are many shelters in the Tenderloin that provide these things you are talking about. Think you should first ask why are they homeless, not just give them random things. They are homeless either because, they have drug problems, psychological issues, or the least likely -- they have a problem getting employment.

[nickthemagicman]

It's kind of amazing how you can stereotype huge amounts of people in two sentences.

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.

[yid]

Oh get off that pedestal. OP was talking about the Tenderloin. Have you ever walked through the Tenderloin? A large fraction of the homeless people there clearly have severe psychological or drug issues. They're not there because of the economy.

[kohanz]

For some those issues (mental health, substance abuse) are the causes of their homelessness (e.g. financial struggles), but for others, they are a symptom. Reduce the amount of people falling through the cracks, reduce mental health and substance abuse issues.

[pron]

Maybe, but do you feel proud to live in a city where those unfortunates who have drug or "psychological" issues lie in the streets? It's shameful that you feel that those stricken by bad fortune should be left to rot out there.

[yid]

> It's shameful that you feel that those stricken by bad fortune should be left to rot out there.

Where are you getting this from? I didn't imply it at all.

[nickthemagicman]

I AGREE!

I'm sure every single person in the Tenderloin is there because they're just losers!

That's why I'm proposing Bumfights.

It could be an awesome startup.

Pit them against each other Hunger Games style.

Fuck those loser homeless.

[yid]

You seem to be the only one in this thread calling them losers. I'm not sure where you're getting that from my comment.

[nickthemagicman]

No You're right! I know you weren't implying that the homeless should LOSE out on OP's offer due to detrimental qualities like "psychological or drug issues".

Indeed, these are WINNING qualities!

That's why I think we should name our bum fighters after their winning qualities.

Find out which winning quality is the best!!

(But you know you would bet on 'Junkie' Bob over 'Lazy Hammock' Steve any day.)

[serf]

what don't you get? He's making fun of the assumption you seem to make that none of the residents of the area are there due to economic reasons, and then you cite anecdotal evidence (a walk through) as evidence as such.

[rprospero]

I wrote an incredibly angry reply to you, but I've calmed down enough that I can try to explain my point without attacking you.

mrharrison stated that the root cause of much of our poor handling of homelessness comes from our poor handling of the disabled. To avoid going with anecdotes, I'll simply point out that 13% of the homeless population are veterans. Physical and mental disabilities are quite common and our society has decided to just dump these people on the streets as opposed to helping them.

However, then nickthemagicman comes along and makes the implication that stating that a homeless person is disabled is equivalent to stating that the person deserves to be homeless. That's the most offensive thing that I've ever seen on the Internet, and I've been to 4chan. Just because a person has a disability doesn't mean that they don't deserve basic human dignity.

Though I am descending into anecdote here, my wife was homeless when I met her. She also has a physical disability which cost her her job and her home. There was a wonderful government program to help her out of poverty by letting her haul 40lb bags of sand around, but it's not much use to a woman who walks with a cane and can't carry more than 20lb without needing a week of bed rest. If we were willing to talk about the root cause, then she'd be getting the treatment she needs to be healthy again and be happy to carry those 40lb bags. Unfortunately, the system was designed by bigots like nickthemagicman. When she applied for disability, she was told that they would only pay for her medical treatment if she agreed to never work again under punishment of jail time. After all, basic dignities like the joy of contributing to society aren't allowed for the disabled. Just the able bodied homeless, I guess.

[scotty79]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_Baby_Athletic_Association

[nickthemagicman]

First "Faith + 1" then this.

The South Park guys always one step ahead with capitalism.

[scotty79]

I don't think it's somebodies fault that he has psychological issues or that it turned out that he is prone to addiction to drugs.

[mwfunk]

You're not making a good case for your point of view here.

[nickthemagicman]

I'm really committed to startup culture.

[SeckinJohn]

I agree that there are multiple complex causes of homelessness and that we need to address those issues. I have been thinking about this for a while and I have talked with a lot of social workers and activists to learn the details of the issue, yet, I am not the best person to work on actively solving those main causes. So, with this first campaign, I am trying to reach the people who are passionate about fixing this problem by directly designing/executing campaigns or by donating. I believe that the people who have been working on this for years will be the ones that will come up with the most sustainable solutions. I will try my best to help them reach potential donators through this website.

[grumps]

Amen. My fiance is a social worker and has been working with homeless for the past 5 years.

[koevet]

Never been to SF but I remember reading this article recently on HN: http://priceonomics.com/what-its-like-to-fail/?src=longreads