
A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America - nkoren
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/15/america-extreme-poverty-un-special-rapporteur
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alexanderstears
Good for them highlighting the issue of poverty, but the ideology is palpable
and too adversarial for what could solved collaboratively.

Too much social welfare is driven by 'good intentions' rather than emphasis on
changing people's lives. I'd be more inclined to support larger budgets if I
knew they were spent better.

Bezos, Gates, and Buffets aren't the reason that healthcare and housing can be
cripplingly expensive. My neighborhood has houses that cost about 20-40x the
city's median earnings, I can't throw a stone without hitting an "all are
welcome here" / "we're glad you're our neighbor" sign - it's a nice sentiment.
But these same people would freak out if a developer tried to build a 400 unit
apartment down the block. IF we don't allow housing stock to grow, spending
our way out of homelessness won't be feasible.

When it gets cold here, indigents show up at the hospital complaining of
"chest pain". they get monitored for a while, some respite from the cold, and
meals but in the most expensive way imaginable. If we could just exchange a
right to emergency healthcare for a living stipend and a place to live, both
parties would be better off. That deal should be on the table.

