Do you really think it is convenient being homeless? The majority of people who are homeless have experienced levels of abuse, often beginning at a very young age, that are unimaginable to your average “well-adjusted” person. How high functioning do you think you would be if you were constantly beaten and raped as a child; if you were raised in an unstable environment full of constant violence; if you were exposed to addiction at a very young age? These things lead to severe mental illness – many homeless people, for instance, have been in states of constant psychosis for so long that it is nearly impossible for them to organize their thoughts enough to complete even basic tasks. Some people are so far gone that no amount of mental health support would help them.
You argue that the policies are ignorant of incentives; I’d argue that you are ignorant of how truly differently a vast portion of the homeless population experience their existence on this planet. Your mental model of the incentives doesn’t apply to a population who don’t function the same way you do. It is not convenient being homeless, and making it even more difficult will not solve anything.
Your mental model of the incentives doesn’t apply to a population who don’t function the same way you do
We all function the same, we're all human. It comes down to how much do we want to prevent people from spiraling down in the first place. If the laws were enforced and it was socially unacceptable to tolerate homelessness, then I think many people would look for alternatives at any cost. This would then expose those who truly have no other options. Instead what we have now is enablement of that lifestyle, at least implicitly by allowing it, but also explicitly in many cities by subsidizing it. This makes it into a viable option for many who would rather take the risk than seek for help as soon as possible.
If homelessness is so bad, why do we leave people to their own demise? Even with free housing it's not enough for many who struggle mentally, as you are pointing out. If someone is drowning they need to be forced out of the water instead of doing nothing because dragging them would hurt their arm.
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Do you really think it is convenient being homeless? The majority of people who are homeless have experienced levels of abuse, often beginning at a very young age, that are unimaginable to your average “well-adjusted” person. How high functioning do you think you would be if you were constantly beaten and raped as a child; if you were raised in an unstable environment full of constant violence; if you were exposed to addiction at a very young age? These things lead to severe mental illness – many homeless people, for instance, have been in states of constant psychosis for so long that it is nearly impossible for them to organize their thoughts enough to complete even basic tasks. Some people are so far gone that no amount of mental health support would help them.
You argue that the policies are ignorant of incentives; I’d argue that you are ignorant of how truly differently a vast portion of the homeless population experience their existence on this planet. Your mental model of the incentives doesn’t apply to a population who don’t function the same way you do. It is not convenient being homeless, and making it even more difficult will not solve anything.
We all function the same, we're all human. It comes down to how much do we want to prevent people from spiraling down in the first place. If the laws were enforced and it was socially unacceptable to tolerate homelessness, then I think many people would look for alternatives at any cost. This would then expose those who truly have no other options. Instead what we have now is enablement of that lifestyle, at least implicitly by allowing it, but also explicitly in many cities by subsidizing it. This makes it into a viable option for many who would rather take the risk than seek for help as soon as possible.
If homelessness is so bad, why do we leave people to their own demise? Even with free housing it's not enough for many who struggle mentally, as you are pointing out. If someone is drowning they need to be forced out of the water instead of doing nothing because dragging them would hurt their arm.