Political Memes

But conservatism requires a lesser people to scapegoat and oppress. Could we perhaps criminalize homelessness, and instead of housing we imprison them, so I feel satisfied that they're being punished for their god given misfortune?

That, and in Finland someone falling through the cracks ends up as a littleral meat popsicle. The climate is pretty unforgiving outside summer.

Unfortunately the situation isn't solved in Scandinavia or Finland either. I've seen plenty of homeless looking people in Sweden sleeping around Stockholm. Many of them seemed like immigrants, not sure what the situation is there. I doubt they're all those pretend homeless beggars. And with Finland we have our own homeless. Even with housing and all kinds of programs to help people and whatnot, some don't take the housing, want to go into programs and so on. Usually it's addiction (often alcohol, drugs have become more common though) or mental health related. I'm not sure what could be done about that that isn't being done or tried already.

We're capitalist countries too, we just have extensive social safety nets. But there always seems to be people who fall through the cracks, for one reason or another.

I used to think this was a great idea and was confused why it wasn't implemented in the states until I realized the capitalist class doesn't want to convert more people into labor and that the goal is to split the profits of the company with the least amount of people as possible.

Homelessness and benches you can't rest on, it's by design.

Of course our country is the happiest when all the severely unhappy people kill themselves. Also our current government is garbage and has several Nazis among its ranks. There is a brilliant editorial about the subject in English, this is the first that came to my mind: https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/david-mac-dougall-about-press-freedom-is-finland-sleepwalking-into-orbanisation-crucial-moment-for-orpo/8733706

I've been to India, they know they can't hide it.

"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you."

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%205%3A1-6&version=NIV

Also Deuteronomy 15:

7 If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.

8 You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.

9 Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, “The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,” and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.

10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.

11 Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”

It's true. Even with the extensive social safety net, programs for mental health, addiction, income assistance, housing provided etc, there is always people who fall through the cracks. A lot of it seems to be addiction (alcohol, drugs) or mental health related, often a combination of the two. Some don't take up the programs, housing, assistance. I don't think the situation can be entirely solved ever, without of course literally forcing people to live in a house or something. That's actually something that used to be done up to fairly late in the 1900s. "Vagrants" could be locked up and made to do forced labour or forced to join the military. I suppose it'd be one way to make the statistics prettier, though even with our current right-wing government, it might be a bit extreme these days.

All I did was ask my parents for a loan, and next thing I knew, I was so successful! That's the definition of self-motivation and hard work. Too bad everyone else is lazy. /s

God the number of people I know who "just" inherit a house or a business from their family as a young adult, is sickening because they never understand the tremendous advantage and privilege this gives them in navigating the world.

Nobody will freeze to death waiting as temporary shelters are always available for everyone, exactly for that reason.

We do still have around 3500 homeless, around a thousand of who are categorized as "long term" and not just someone that's couch-surfing at their parents or friends while waiting for an a new apartment, but as everyone in Finland is eligible for enough social assistance that they could always pay rent and buy food, the majority of those 1000 are people who either refuse out of principle or have such bad drug addictions or mental health issues that they spend all that money on those or trash the places they are given and get kicked out.
And for those there isn't much anyone can do, as unless you commit enough crimes to get jail time you can't be forced to go to rehab, get treatment, or stop living on the streets either.

Here's an info page about it in English from the "No Fixed Abode NGO".

How much of their homeless population dies waiting for that housing?

None. Used to be that happened, back in the 60's and whatnot. Puliukkos dying under bridges. But not anymore.

https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2020/05/16/50-vuotta-sitten-helsingissa-kuoli-kymmenia-ihmisia-kadulle-pakkaseen-vasta-se (you'll need to translate but it often works pretty well)

Most people never even go homeless. Even if you're a schizophrenic drunk, you'll usually have your own apartment or if it's really bad, perhaps live in assisted housing.

While we do have a homeless population, we don't have people living on the street. Period. Yes, it's also to do with the fact that overwintering would be somewhat challenging. The small homeless population we have still have shelter, they just don't have an address to call their own.

The ones I knew were mostly basically hippies living in communes and some hc alcoholists who basically don't want to leave the shelters, because their social life is there.

I've perhaps once or twice seen a hobo sleeping on the street. And I've lived here over 30 years and driven a taxi at night for several of those years.

Our shelters are never full, so if you actually got thrown out onto the street willy nilly, you could just ring up the closest shelter and go there. Or if you're suffering from addiction, check yourself into rehab, where they might help with both issues.

Don't take me wrong, these systems have several significant issues, and often fuck up in practice, but mostly when it comes to the point of actually being under ghe threat of homelessness, the bureaucracy somehow magically does start working pretty well. (The bureaucrats realise how much more issues it causes.)

I've got loads of complaints about Finnish bureaucracy in practice, horrible shit, but the systems are good on paper, and others should definitely try them.