<story><title>The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-20/the-homeless-crisis-is-getting-worse-in-america-s-richest-cities</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>commandlinefan</author><text>&amp;gt; I&amp;#x27;m perfectly happy to give back more&lt;p&gt;If you really feel that way, charitable organizations can effectively distribute donations far more efficiently and effectively than any government organization has ever been able to.  I suspect that if all of the people who say they feel the same way did just voluntarily donate what they considered their own fair share to charity, the homeless crisis would be mostly solved.</text></item><item><author>exogeny</author><text>Sure, makes sense. Thank you for the reply.&lt;p&gt;Where it&amp;#x27;s personally frustrating for me: I&amp;#x27;ve sold two companies in my life, and saw my tax rate jump from the lowest to the highest. I&amp;#x27;m fine with that. I did well and despite all the work I put in, I recognize the amount of good fortune that was involved - and I&amp;#x27;m perfectly happy to give back more because it affects me less, and because it&amp;#x27;s my fair share.&lt;p&gt;I recognize that a lot of others don&amp;#x27;t feel that way, and certainly recognize the influence that money has on politics. That&amp;#x27;s sad and frustrating to me.</text></item><item><author>DanHulton</author><text>I mean, I think you&amp;#x27;re missing a key factor here: politicians require money to be elected.  The poor (the folks most affected by these issues) don&amp;#x27;t have the money to donate.  The rich (the ones you propose taxing) do.  Thus, the only ones who can get elected are catering to an audience that does not want this problems solved in this way (and indeed, one could argue, does not care to have it solved at all).&lt;p&gt;Until the problem of money in politics gets fixed, your &amp;quot;simple&amp;quot; problem is largely unfixable.</text></item><item><author>exogeny</author><text>I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix.&lt;p&gt;Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they&amp;#x27;re growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots.&lt;p&gt;Either reduce inequality through taxes and social re-distribution programs, or build more housing supply. Preferably both.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>__jal</author><text>That&amp;#x27;s lovely sounding, but false for a couple of reasons.&lt;p&gt;1) There&amp;#x27;s a capability gap. Charities can&amp;#x27;t do a number of things that are needed that local government can. Simple things like permission to operate portable toilets, or working alongside cops for redirection away from jail it possible, are somewhere between multi-month activities outside their core-competencies to impossible for private actors.&lt;p&gt;2) The vast bulk of private charities segment their &amp;#x27;market&amp;#x27; in various ways that leaves gaps. That&amp;#x27;s fine, but it isn&amp;#x27;t going to &amp;quot;mostly solve&amp;quot; the issues caused by society-wide economic failures.&lt;p&gt;3) Because the problems are so varied, coordination reaps substantial benefits. Social workers talking to cleanup crews talking to mental health talking to cops is a dynamic that your local churches are not equipped to take part in.&lt;p&gt;Kneejerk antigovernment bias is a national pastime, I know. I&amp;#x27;ll even play along when it is valid. But the idea that the Salvation Army is going to spring to the rescue is fantasy.</text></comment>
<story><title>The Homeless Crisis Is Getting Worse in America’s Richest Cities</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-11-20/the-homeless-crisis-is-getting-worse-in-america-s-richest-cities</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>commandlinefan</author><text>&amp;gt; I&amp;#x27;m perfectly happy to give back more&lt;p&gt;If you really feel that way, charitable organizations can effectively distribute donations far more efficiently and effectively than any government organization has ever been able to.  I suspect that if all of the people who say they feel the same way did just voluntarily donate what they considered their own fair share to charity, the homeless crisis would be mostly solved.</text></item><item><author>exogeny</author><text>Sure, makes sense. Thank you for the reply.&lt;p&gt;Where it&amp;#x27;s personally frustrating for me: I&amp;#x27;ve sold two companies in my life, and saw my tax rate jump from the lowest to the highest. I&amp;#x27;m fine with that. I did well and despite all the work I put in, I recognize the amount of good fortune that was involved - and I&amp;#x27;m perfectly happy to give back more because it affects me less, and because it&amp;#x27;s my fair share.&lt;p&gt;I recognize that a lot of others don&amp;#x27;t feel that way, and certainly recognize the influence that money has on politics. That&amp;#x27;s sad and frustrating to me.</text></item><item><author>DanHulton</author><text>I mean, I think you&amp;#x27;re missing a key factor here: politicians require money to be elected.  The poor (the folks most affected by these issues) don&amp;#x27;t have the money to donate.  The rich (the ones you propose taxing) do.  Thus, the only ones who can get elected are catering to an audience that does not want this problems solved in this way (and indeed, one could argue, does not care to have it solved at all).&lt;p&gt;Until the problem of money in politics gets fixed, your &amp;quot;simple&amp;quot; problem is largely unfixable.</text></item><item><author>exogeny</author><text>I will go to my grave not understanding why this is so complex and difficult for people to understand and politicians to fix.&lt;p&gt;Wages are stagnant, save for a handful of sectors, in which they&amp;#x27;re growing quickly. Housing prices are rising due to limited supply and backward policies towards new construction. Inequality therefore expands exponentially, creating a city of haves-and-have nots.&lt;p&gt;Either reduce inequality through taxes and social re-distribution programs, or build more housing supply. Preferably both.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>javagram</author><text>When it comes to stuff like housing, government regulations like zoning can stand in the way.&lt;p&gt;If we had an unfettered market perhaps cheap apartments could be built and given to the homeless by charity. In practice new housing that complies with all zoning codes, labor regulations, etc ends up costing quite a lot.&lt;p&gt;Government certainly has a role to play here even if it is just changing policies to stop driving up costs. Of course governments also have eminent domain power and other powers that private organizations can’t access.</text></comment>