No Stupid Questions

It's much harder to get large swaths of the public addicted to opioids due to pesky red tape from Brussels. And there are far fewer veterans you can abandon to their battle PTSD in tent camps.

I read about a Finnish initiative to just get everyone they could find on the streets of Helsinki without an abode into apartments, give them money, and help them sort out their lives and get them into jobs wherever possible. That's socialism bordering on communism to American ears. That's quite lefty even by European standards, sadly.

In America's defense it's easier to do in a country of 5 million people than in one of 340 million. That's not a reason not to try though.

Have you been to Finland?

6 months of the year, homeless people would freeze to death in short order if they were left outside.

Finland has homeless people, just not on the street.

What the fuck is this and where are the mods?

Agreed the US system is a joke but so is trying to pitch this post as a question. But it's possible the title just needs to be changed to something like "WTF is wrong with the US mindset for there to be so many homeless?". As it stands though why isn't this post deleted?

WTF is wrong with their mindset?

Unchecked capitalism and individualism. 

Basically: "why should I help the others with my taxes if I'm doing ok?" and "profits over anything else".

What's really your question here? This is all over the place. I feel like you're upset about this, which is totally valid and I feel you, but it's making it hard to understand exactly where you're coming from.

You can't talk about homelessness in America without talking about Ronald Reagan.

When Reagan was elected Governor of California, the state had a large number of mental hospitals in place. They weren't perfect, but treatment was available. reagan thought these places were a waste of tax payer money and had them closed. California now had a lot of homeless folks. They annoyed the locals, so the state had to hire more cops and build more jails.

This worked so well that Reagan did exactly the same when he became President.

My family lived in New York during that era. We went from a few homeless folks down on the Bowery to literally thousands. Every park was full.

The United States doesn't even consider food a human right, so why would they give a single flying fuck about housing?

Pedophilia is apparently, however, a right that is guaranteed by the US Constitution.

Finland has actually tried to do something about it, contrary to USA where homelessness is borderline illegal, and the main policy against it is harassment to make them go somewhere else. Finland is a civilized society, USA is a sociopathic society.

That said, homelessness is a challenge, but Finland has a program they call "housing first" to help prevent it, that has turned out to work better than what most countries do.

My guess is 'empathy' and 'honour'.

Because it's actually cheaper to just house homeless people than it is to take care of them on the street

Famously cold winters + not having a home to shelter in = not many homeless :(

It's cold and homeless people spend nights in public indoor places like airport lobbies and train stations.

while Finns pay A TON in taxes

Looks up Finnish tax brackets... Compares Dutch (my) tax brackets... O-kay.

Finland 2025 State Tax Brackets (Earned Income)

€0 – €21,200: 12.64%
€21,200 – €31,500: 19.00%
€31,500 – €52,100: 30.25%
€52,100 – €88,200: 34.00%
Over €88,200: 44.00%

Dutch tax brackets.

Bracket 1: 35,75% (0 - €38.883).
Bracket 2: 37,56% (€38.884 - €78.426).
Bracket 3: 49,50% (above €78.426).