[maskedmelon]

Originally Posted by Wonkie [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

elaborate prose can be used to express horrible opinions

also: water is wet

/bonk ^^

Originally Posted by Cecily [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Your argument simplifies to fix entirely or don't bother. That's the "truth" I responded to.

yep, or more simply, if you can't fix it, doing nothing is prefereable to propagating it.

Unlike you, I don't view short term solutions as subsidizing long term problems.

why not? It doesn't conflict with your next conclusion, which I agree with. they're not mutually exclusive conclusions.

I see them as short term solutions to short term problems.

They are ^^ that doesn't mean they don't perpetuate the condition though.

A penniless, hungry person is in a state of urgent need. It doesn't matter how they got there. It doesn't matter if they have realistic plan to fix their life.

I don't expect someone living on the street to have a plan for fixing their life. it's an unreasonable expectation and one that society is equipped to help with. outside of severe cognitive defecit and choice, the one pre-requisite for living on the street is lack of discipline and that isn't the individual's fault. what is required of that person is a desire for change if given the right tools and direction. Its liek rehab. You can send people there, but unless they want it, the change will not be lasting.

It matters that they are hungry and that short term problem needs a solution before anything long term can be addressed.

it does, but attending the short term problem without a long term solution allows us to defer it indefinitely. if we didn't have so many people freely subsidizing this sort of misery, society, the state and affected individuals would be compelled to do more ^^

Originally Posted by Jimjam [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Collect food from local supermarkets that is past its shelf life. Make sandwiches. Hand them out. Have human conversations, but also distribute info on where they can get help with social issues, finances, housing, addiction, whatever.

It's an easy hole to fall into and can become hard to escape.

it is and for most people it is inescapable alone :c almost everyone who ends up there lacks the tools and direction needed for the climb out. Fortunately, both are found in abundance across productive society ^^. there's no reason why the tools, direction and further aid conditioned on their adoption cannot be made freely available. there are shelters that do this.