Summary

Elon Musk has called homelessness a “lie” and “propaganda,” claiming advocacy groups profit from maintaining high homelessness rates.

Partnering with Donald Trump, Musk is pushing for drastic federal budget cuts targeting programs for vulnerable populations, including food stamps and healthcare.

Trump’s plan includes forcing unhoused individuals into treatment or institutionalization.

Critics argue these approaches criminalize homelessness while ignoring root causes like lack of affordable housing.

Homelessness in the U.S. has reached record levels, with 650,000 people affected in 2023, prompting calls for evidence-based solutions over punitive measures.

  • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    “What you actually have are violent drug zombies with dead eyes, and needles and human feces on the street.”

    Yo this is the most cartoonish out-of-touch shit take I’ve see. In an election that accused a disenfranchised minority group of eating people’s pets!

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Fuck you, I kinda rely on that shit to feed my family because my employer doesnt give out any annual increases or anything. I also use the state health insurance and my wife uses other government assistance programs. Dudes really just want me to protest outside of the White House.

    • samus12345@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      I’m afraid that Americans are about to find out that the right to protest isn’t one that fascist dictatorships are too keen on. They really enjoy killing and jailing dissidents, though.

    • UmeU@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      You going to try to get a better job or just keep taking pay decreases year after year?

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Homelessness is a lie and propaganda? That’s news to all the homeless people I used to regularly interact with when I worked down town.

    • andallthat@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      can you imagine how happy they will be? “How did I fall for this? I was really convinced I was homeless!”

  • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Market Capitalism needs homelessness.

    If you will not make the owner’s money through labor, You will help them make money as capitalist scarecrows. A warning to any laborer thinking of failing to comply.

    You WILL serve the owner’s greed disease, or else.

    It would literally be cheaper to house them without conditions than all the conditioned programs and homeless encampment clean up costs.

    But that doesn’t send a message of fear.

    Herp derp Freedom 🇺🇸

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Musk just went from giant douche to pure evil.
    The man is literally insane now.

    I suppose it’s good he moved to USA, he is fitting in nicely.

  • perestroika@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Living on latitude 60 where being homeless can (and sometimes does) kill - I think the first step is giving a person who is homeless a place where they can set up a (semi)permanent home. That will go a long way towards solving the underlying issues which a shelter system cannot address.

    A relevant paper from the EU Commission:

    In February 2008, the Finnish government adopted a programme aimed at halving long-term homelessness by 2011. Referring to the “Housing First” principle, which considers that appropriate permanent accommodation is a prerequisite for solving other social and health problems, the programme seeks to reduce and gradually abandon the use of conventional shelters and change them into supported rented accommodation units.

    Outcomes via OECD:

    While there is no OECD-wide average against which to compare Finland’s homeless rate of 0.08%, other countries with similarly broad definitions of homelessness provide points of reference, such as neighbouring Sweden (0.33%) or the Netherlands (0.23%). [1]

    Finland’s success is not a matter of luck or the outcome of “quick fixes.” Rather, it is the result of a sustained, well-resourced national strategy, driven by a “Housing First” approach, which provides people experiencing homelessness with immediate, independent, permanent housing, rather than temporary accommodation (OECD, 2020).

    Getting better outcomes than neighbours is a reliable indicator that a policy does work.

    P.S.

    Regarding Musk:

    “Downregulate Musk” will be my anwer to any mention of this election-buying oligarch, probably for a while. A kneejerking far rightist is no person to call any policies.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Here’s my pipe dream

    Shit gets worse, were all homeless, we protest, they sick AI drones to kill us but oopsie, the AI botnet escapes, decides ~1000 bullets is far more efficient than ~1B, and neutralizes wealth in a highly organized and efficient attack.

    • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      Or:

      Shit gets worse, we’re all homeless, we protest, they sick AI drones to kill us, but oppsie they were made by Tesla, so they break down and malfunction in the rain and fall apart. So we trebuchet the billionaire class into the Grand Canyon during a giant party.