Homelessness Myths BUSTED with Dr. Margot Kushel - 260
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- čas přidán 7. 05. 2024
- Homelessness has reached a record high, with over 650,000 people experiencing it in the USA today. Despite this staggering number, many remain unaware of the true underlying causes of this crisis. Myths surrounding issues like drug use and immigration often serve as convenient scapegoats, deflecting attention from meaningful efforts to address the problem. This not only represents a moral failure towards those experiencing homelessness but also towards the communities affected by it. This week, Adam shares an illuminating conversation with Dr. Margot Kushel, Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and a leading authority on the causes and solutions to the homelessness crisis. Dr. Kushel and the BHHI recently conducted the largest study of the homeless population in decades, and speaks with Adam about her findings, including surprising information about who comprises the homeless population, what it is actually like to be unhoused, and possible solutions to the crisis that may be closer to hand than we realize.
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Now I know why they call you ADam. Jesus man.
This is amazing... This is what I am experiencing with my Elderly mother right now... for the past 14 years I've been taking care of my 75 year old mother and my elderly uncle... We have been staying at my elderly uncle's home for 14 years, and he has decided to sell his house (at least that is what he and my cousins are saying,) and have asked us to move... Which would be fine, but over the past 6 months I caught covid and have had my credit score demolished... I have been able to get ahold of DHS to find my mother some housing cause she has form of Alzheimer's, but have accepted my fate to be homeless for at least a few months. My plan is to use an annual pass to live/ camp in a national forest, and look for work at the nearest city. Again, this is fine for me... but for this to be happening to my 75 year old mother who has Alzheimers, has been an eye opening experience to how even family can be heartless and selfish. Hearing Dr. Kushel describe how this happens, was like hearing what I am currently experiencing and it is/ was surreal to hear someone describing it so well, who has no connection to myself... I am in Washington State... May your guys work be fruitful for all those in need.
Isn't The Washington Post owned by Jeff Bezos?
Sorry, man. I'm just going to stick to the free/store brand alternatives for now.
Wrong again homelessness isn't a problem it's a feature of the system. Like slavery and so like so many quote problems unquote
I suspect most people don't realize that if you are priced out of the rental market and are forced to move, you need 3 times the rent just to get into a new rental, first months rent, last months rent and a security deposit that can be equal to or more than the monthly rent. You rarely get the deposit returned no matter how good you leave the place you are vacating. Then you need $$ to move all your belongings.
Yeah I hate when people chock it down to laziness. Our area the rent prices have been jacked up from dc commuters, and even our county calculated that we’d need some 1300 new low wage rental units or more to accommodate locals that were priced out.
I'm dreading moving out for this reason, the cost of moving my furniture and the triple rent (and possibly a commission on top of that) is just too much for me even though I don't own much and I have a very good income for my country, I can't imagine how much worse it must be for lots of people out there
And renters often require a certain amount of money that you are making just to qualify for a place
This is why people need to stop living paycheck to paycheck and have savings. If you have to live paycheck to paycheck in your area and with your job, something needs to change. There's nothing that says you have to stay where you are living or can't find a better job. People need to be proactive. Of course there are emergencies which can cause homelessness, but if you do what is necessary to get a better job (get a certificate, etc) and / or move to a cheaper location with better public transportation or whatever, you can save money for that rainy day.
@@Djynniyeah everyone just stop being poor jeez 🙄
"What kind of government thinks I should get a break but the poor shouldn't " a government put in place and built by wealthy land owners who didn't want to pay taxes.
That’s how the whole country started. That’s who it was built for. This was always the plan. We’ve been working towards this for a couple centuries. Brick by brick we were blocked in.
The kind of government that also put democracy into the mix so WE CAN VOTE and RUN FOR LOCAL OFFICE and CHANGE THINGS! 💙
Exactly.The system was designed by the wealthy and privileged to maintain their wealth and privilege
California and Los Angeles is one of the most liberal places in the world, maybe their policies just suck.
@@RickDidaz Please. Try coming up with something more original (and factual) than blaming Los Angeles and California. My hometown of 18,000 in Colorado has issues with homelessness and addiction... The number of folks without homes likely has to do with cost of living and cost of homes/rent constantly being raised without ALSO raising wages. And, people go to warmer places when they don't have a home... Greater chance of survival. Yet, there are thousands of people all over our country who become homeless and suffer with addiction.
I was homeless with my mother from age 9-15. The public perception of you is amazing. I'm 28 now and just finished my first year of college because it's so hard to bounce back from. But we're getting there
I was homeless back in 2019, and it was extreamly traumatic. I didn't grow up poor. my parents made sure that we had what we needed and we went to school and got degrees.
I was educated and ready to start a life, and then everything fucked me.
I did everything I could to maintain and it was impossible. It just takes one thing to force you out, and once that happens you're not going to easily find somewhere else to live. Welcome to the streets.🤷🏾♀️
@@thegodplace7887 Yeah, it's such a slippery slope out there. I'm concerned about my brother similarly, right now. Dude was in a car accident and can't work for the time being. Don't know if he'll be able to return to work before the Disability Assistance runs out or something.
I'm glad it sounds like you're doing better no!!!
It only takes one accident at work or a slippery road or something grew inside you and you had no idea until you fainted one day. Nobody ever thinks I might have cancer right now.
None of us expect to get into an accident today. It happens all the time but we all feel exempt from it for some reason. If your partner is working you can hold out a little while but the fear is phenomenal. A couple months and you’re behind. Another month and you’re getting notices that you have to leave. It’s that easy.
With how our insurance is tied to employment it’s untenable. You lose your job because you’re sick and you can’t be sick without your job. That’s why having a support system is so important.
I don’t have one and most of us don’t. It really doesn’t take anything at all. Cherish what you have because it could be the last day you have it.
@@DaileyDoseOfJoseph why can't your brother stay with you?
Your a Hero.
Hello, former homeless person here. I lost my job due to a corrupt police officer assaulting me and charging me with a felony. It is so ridiculous to think that homelessness is a moral failing of the person experiencing it, it is a systemic one.
I'm in Missouri and people claim the homeless choose to move here too. Why the hell would anyone choose to live here?
I mean it’s only kind of true. Most homeless people can’t afford to move. What they mean is people who can’t afford their lives in New York Texas and California
Or maybe Missourians a just dumb enough to believe that sort of propaganda
@@Turdfergusen382no people think homeless people specifically come to their little one horse town to ruin it.
im in NYC and some migrants have been bussed here, but they didnt have a choice in the matter. I wish our mayor was supportive
Hilarious
I keep saying it, If you lift from the bottom, we all rise.
When I was homeless, I had a full-time job the entire time. My life revolved around keeping that and keeping my junky car running. I was lucky to have those things and knew how screwed I was if I lost either.
I don’t know how people survive with nothing. I wouldn't have.
I knew of job opportunities on bus lines that wouldn't hire s'one who didn't have a car.
@@phylliselizahb1041 Great
@AlexDrums482 I hope you’ve found affordable housing! 🙏🏽
@@Dream-bebe There were always places I could technically afford but didn't qualify for. It was someone subleasing a room to me that got me out of that situation, and I've been housing stable ever since. It's been about a decade.
Fun fact though, my car broke down permanently just a couple weeks after I secured housing. I still think about how close I came to truly losing everything and don't know where I'd be today, if alive at all, had someone not taken a chance on renting to me.
“You were so lazy! You should have worked harder!!!”
……meanwhile you WERE working hard when you had almost NOTHING! Yet somehow you’re “whiny” for saying “this is BS”
Welcome to why rentals should be run by the city not for entitled landlords
At least the city should be significant part of housing market and we should not allow funds buy and rent property
I suspect Republican politicians _don't_ want the homeless gone. As long as people are scared of them and their presence can somehow be blamed on liberalism, lots of homeless people is a vote-getter. (Was it in an early episode of your show that one woman said "each time I find homeless person poop near my house, I become less liberal?")
If they make sure the system can't work, they can blame the system and the people trying to make it work.
That’s the plan. Only it’s both sides. They’re both made rich by corporations. I think if enough of us got together we could hire our own lobbyists. That’s the only way we’d get any policy in. I saw this study that showed public interest in a policy has zero effect on whether it’s implemented. That’s zero as in no effect at all. That means this isn’t a democracy. It never was. They say our votes matter, yet we’ve never effected a policy change.
Exactly, we know that economic hardship and wealth disparity causes the types of conflict & instability that causes people to feel desperate enough seek a 'strong man' leader and give him all the power... oldest trick in the book.
I actually just watched John Oliver's episode from last week Tonight on homelessness and that is a quote from that show for sure. It was a news clip that was taken from I believe a local news station somewhere in California.
I don't say this about everything, but this is one of those issues where there's relatively little to choose between the parties.
This was a great episode! Every American should see this. I've been homeless twice myself. The first time I was 15, so you know not legally allowed to have a job. Second time I was working full time while going to nursing school.
I still want to point out when Kevin O'Leary defended Trump by saying all land devolpers and real estate lie and over value property as being the thing we should first address. His exact words were, "Everyone does it, you can't punish everyone." Maybe we should? Homes definitely cost way more than they should. Everything else depreciates the moment its sold, its not like houses magically become more structurally sound over time.
Yea that's always struck me as weird. Even though houses last a long time, the older the house the more it may need fixed and renovations to a house aren't cheap. That's like cars appreciating in value even though maintenance gets more costly the older it is. Sure the house has the fact that it's a shelter going for it and that should prevent devaluation a bit but houses skyrocket in value.
Greed, that's all it is.
@@nfzeta128the land increasing in value makes sense. The home increasing in value is because inflation is a tax on the poor. Poor people don’t have real assets typically like land or homes. It’s by design that inflation helps the already wealthy. In reality it’s almost a weapon.
I just find it funny how people like to think others deserve to be poor due to moral failings, when in this society moral failings are what make you rich. 😒
The lack of empathy for people is astonishing. Even for people who are struggling and are saying living with their parents. The idea that a person isn't doing well on their own just causes the most heinous vitriol thrown their way. I can't imagine how bad it is for the homeless
The worst part is most of us are in a situation like that. We’re hating each other for living lives that are parallel to ours. It’s like a memetic that spreads. I don’t know where it came from but I have an idea. Propaganda and misinformation will be marked in history as a scourge upon this time.
Another issue is that it's easier to create a false scenario that justifies why homeless people shouldn't be treated like people.
"How do you know they weren't lying?" I can lie my way into a mansion?
"They'll just use the money for drugs" The people who cant afford a house, can somehow afford drugs all the time?
" I heard this one story" So 1 person even if they're real, is the complete collection of people with this problem?
" They just wanna mooch off the system!" You mean The system that won't even give the average worker fairly priced housing and medical insurance?
Yup the people with no money or resources are creating all the problems, they aren't human according to that "flawless" logic -.-
Bigotry is dumb
@@MaryamMaqdisi and it also makes people dumb tbh.
LoL, there's zero chance of mooching off the system in Texas..
If you want food stamps you need a job.. if you want obamacare health insurance you need to make at least 12,000 a yr.. if you want to stay in a homeless shelter you need to help clean or you can only stay for a little while (like not even a month and you can get kicked out of a homeless shelter here)
I only got out being homeless in L.A. because I am a veteran and had access to accelerated HUD/VASH waitlist. I lived in a van for 3 years. Was the hardest thing Ive ever dealt with.
I remember renting a storage unit for all my stuff when I lived out of my car. Eventually the storage manager caught me using my unit with the door closed so I could change clothes in privacy. He saw how my unit was arranged like a closet with hanging clothes and everything. My storage contract was terminated because he claimed it was "living out of a storage unit" even though i was there during open operating hours and only for a moment.
It's okay because he went to church on Sunday and sang real pretty.
@@bkucenski oh, I have a special kind of hatred for those types of people.
It sounds like you just had it arranged in an orderly fashion. There shouldn't be rules against that. You could have probably fought that in court and won, but it's such a hassle.
@@glenjennettwhomst among us has the time and money to fight that court case, I ask you
@@LexYeen Exactly. Probably be easier and cost less just to find a new storage facility.
I love getting the opportunity to tell people that I used to be houseless. I'm a professional who is successful, and I'm so glad that I have stable housing now. But any time I can help crack the preconceived notions of what a homeless person looks like, I feel like I'm helping out a little bit. Thank you for this episode.
Thank you for your courage, I hope to be in a position to do the same.
You aren't. They just assume you do meth.
Your a Hero by doing that. Thank you!
It's insane out here. Where I live the average starting job is $12 an hour and a 1 bedroom apartment is $900 and up a month. Everything is so expensive. I'm facing homelessness myself. It's so insane how expensive everything is
$12 × 40hr × 48wks= 23,040 annual
After taxes/401k it leaves $16,128
(16,128÷12) - 900 and you're left with $444. Not actually a lot when there's still phone bills, car insurance, gas, electric, sewage, groceries.
You cant legally have insurance or a po box without a physical residential address. Many jobs require a similar thing.
I was told at the post office you can get your mail there for free as a homeless person. I don't know if all post offices have this policy but my local one does
I have heard this as well. @@amberjeanne9308
My Dad is living in his car because he was priced out of rent and I'm really scared of how much worse it will be as he ages partly because I'm his only support and I'm an elder millennial who has never made a living wage, even after getting a degree. This country sucks.
Most people our age will do something to get revenge.
The depth of the Homeless problem is a scar on America, but hey we have more Billionaires than every county in the world so we must be a moral society. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Yeah
Can’t have the super wealthy without someone else being screwed over
As Leonard Cohen said: I have seen the future, it is murder
"Working poor" cannot find a'place affordable to live.
This is true rental property pricing is out of control
There's several cities in California that have among the highest percentage of employed homeless people in the US, and yeah, the biggest cause is the insane housing/rental market. A lot of these are families. There's also significant numbers of working homeless people who face massive wage theft, undocumented people being especially highly targeted.
This was one of the best pod casts I have ever watched! What an exceptional woman your guest is❤! So intelligent, informative and well spoken. Every one in America should have to listen to this video. Thank you for this!
And it's absolutely **not** a lack of houses. By some estimates, the US has ~28 vacant houses PER homeless person.
Blackrock especially and other investment firms need to be broken up at best, or at least have all houses they bought forcibly taken from them. Hell, most of the time, they don't even care if people use their over-priced rentals, they can use the empty homes as a tax write-off due to a lack of profit.
There's a reason why Blackrock has been called the fourth branch of the US government.
100%
Who are they going to sell the houses to if nobody has any fucking money??😮
@@thegodplace7887 Oh they absolutely don't want to sell them back. Name of the game is hoard everything and rent it all.
America started by giving them the houses from the Great recession fallout.
Let's just force them to sell them back.
I agree with you, the homes should be redistributed back to the population who would be using them as primary homes... I think people get worried about the idea of "taking" the assets from a corporation.
I would advocate for heavier taxes when a person or company owns more than five properties, regulations as to how high rents can increase year to year city-wide, but I'd like to hear more ideas, anyone??
This is great, Adam. I think more people need to hear this stuff. Your arsonist comment reminded me of a report about that out near a business local to me. They suspected the business owner did it but couldn't prove it, but there was a camp out there and then suddenly one day someone had lit it on fire. I've also seen people posting on social media locally of harassing people. Going to camps at night and turning their brights on, honking their horns, etc.
How people can be so cruel to others, especially people who are already on the street, is beyond me.
Exactly, I don't drink and I see a world obsessed with getting buzzed or wasted. A million bars, everybody buying alcohol and their worlds revolving around getting drunk every spare second. I don't even want to start with smoking, vaping, whatever else. I don't have a use for any of those things but they effect me indirectly constantly.
Yet, there are homeless veterans. Much of the housing available assumes they're addicts.
I've been living in my van since August, when I lost my job as a live in caregiver. I am not on drugs, and despite some understandable depression, my mental health is under control. I work full time, making $18/ hour. A 1bedroom apartment in Toronto Canada is $2700 a month. My medication is $500 a month. Do the math. I have been priced out of the rental market.
Get out of canada and move to a little town in georgia or alabama. I'm there. My house payment is less than $1,000.00 per month.
But there no jobs except for construction or Walmart type stuff. That’s why it’s cheap
@@icesport2107 So... quit my job, leave my social support network, leave my awesome doctor, abandon public health care to move where I'd be an illegal immigrant to a red state? I'd get SHOT! I'll stay in Canada, thanks.
Or maybe it's because rent in most places is currently higher than a mortgage payment... and wages are lagging so far behind it would be impossible to fix.
Exactly this, and companies like blackrock buying up business and selling it for parts, or housing where their hands don’t belong. Companies are playing monopoly.
The average amount of time at one employer nowadays is around 2 years (if you're lucky). I bust my ass for my jobs; but if the willful employment system gets abused by management (and I get fired) there is no moving up or getting off the ground, and I'm stuck trying to constantly find a new place to work.
@@BloodyAngel88 which is less time you have to focus on other things or finding a more stable situation or improving your life in any way you could choose to.
Even if you get a place you work so much you’re never there. At least that’s my case
Sad thing seeing more seniors being priced out of their homes even after downsizing.
yeah, I’ve worked with so many older folk at places like grocery stores that can’t afford to retire now. It’s not even a boomer vs the young generation anymore. It’s have vs have nots.
Adam, thank you so much for this episode. I was homeless in the Seattle area for a few months and had the chance to ask the other homeless how they got there, and their stories were identical to what has been said here. One was there on rehab, most were there because they were priced out. Half were working, half relied on social security or unemployment. A third were on a waiting list for low income housing for up to 3 years before I spoke to them. There was one couple who were physically disabled and couldn't work. They were in their mid 50s and on a waiting list for low income housing for 2 years before I spoke to them. There simply isn't enough housing at a low enough price for everyone to afford.
I live on the opposite side of the country (Bangor, Maine). The sights I've personally seen of people sleeping, essentially, in a mess of blankets and trash bags in temperatures below 0 in the dead of winter shook me in a way I will never forget, and my community still struggles with a serious homelessness problem. There is some small progress being made (measures to add public restrooms, a comprehensive rental unit registry, and a vacancy tax on all rental properties that are not currently being rented out that increases over time), but it's still slow going.
The USA needs to have more social services to help homeless people.
I didn't even learn about the European social housing programs until recently, if we had something like that it'd help so many people 🤞
one way to support our homeless neighbors in the immediate is through mutual aid, like Food Not Bombs.
In Detroit, an old woman in a wheelchair was put on a treelawn (like trash) by a local sheriff because her relative hadn't paid property taxes as required. Trucks in her driveway. Possessions thrown into 'em. Neighbors called local media about it! Luckiky, a TV crew stopped the activity.
Part of the problem is that society has most of us feeling like we pay taxes to take care of this problem and that no one is paying me to sacrifice my time to help these folks out. And once we do make it out of that worry, we become snotty aristocrats that we work a lot for our success and that everyone else has to do the same and that the government is wasting our dollars. Or that these other houses we bank on as rental income is our right to make that passive income.
I think you're right about greed, entitlement and an obsession with wealth driving this situation of houses being hoarded by the few.
I think its a misconception to think paying less tax means the tax burden goes down though...I think more worker's rights so that working people can take home more of the wealth they create would be helpful as well as having emergency housing assistance (like umm Europe) would make the greatest impact. Just my two cents.
I'm technically homeless right now, since I couldn't afford to live in my apartment (from hell) last year. It's just a blessing that I was able to live in my car and invest in power station, car fridge, etc. We can have full time jobs, sure; but STILL never have enough to get into lodgings more substantial than a hotel room.
Also, every time I check the housing assistance waiting list, it's consistently CLOSED. No hope of even being able to apply.
I've been there. I'd hit up Section 8 and they'd have a decade long waitlist. I was like I won't survive a decade of this. I hope things get better for you and I really like your art.
@@nickjohansen9038 Aww thank you! And I hope so too; but I'm always going to find a way to adapt if things don't get better any time soon. :)
My suggestion is safe every penny you have for few years and leave the US 🇺🇸 yes I know !!it’s sounds crazy . These countries are good to check out! Greece 🇬🇷, Portugal, Morocco 🇲🇦, Philippines 🇵🇭 and Thailand 🇹🇭! The plus side is these countries provide healthcare even if your not a resident. Another plus the US dollar stretch’s a lot further out side USA !!
Sometimes we have to do what we’ve never done before! To change our lives for the better!
Do your research and weigh in your options. This is just a suggestion. I pray everyone will have a home or a place to call home 🏡 😊!
@@nickjohansen9038And even if you are lucky enough to get a Section 8 voucher, good luck finding an apartment complex that accepts them.
My landlord raised the rent for the forth year in a row (without adding anything of value to the building or never mind the 1 bedroom apartment my gf & I live in) & informed me in an e-mail with the additional text that should the rent be even a day late, my locks would be changed and my belongings seized.
I did the math & learned my paycheck(s) will barely cover my living expenses & I would have to get a 3rd job in hopes of keeping my head above financial water.
I haven't told my gf, but I keep my cool because I've all ready decided if the landlord ever decides to show his face around me, I'm going to unalive him.
This decision was made easier once I found out he owns multiple properties. These greedy fools need to be stopped & what sucks is knowing I'm not right for thinking this needs to be the outcome.
I’m not sure they’re allowed to do that. Still it’s hard to enforce the law when the police see the public as criminals. They were implemented to protect capital and they’ve done an amazing job. You can’t take them to court since you don’t have enough money to cover rent. We have no recourse. Good luck I hope everything works out for you. Don’t go to prison. It’ll be so much worse
Thank you for this talk. I’m 73 years old. When i was younger there were not as many homeless people. I was grateful my country took care of its poor people, not like some countries that had people begging on the streets. The last 50 years has brought political immortality-more billionaires and hate for minorities.
I still one of the funniest thing I saw in regards to cognitive dissonance with boomers was when I was overhearing a phone call about them going to a country with zero homelessness. They were spending so much time praising the country for achieving this, but then capping it with complaining about their so called "horrible socialized healthcare system". Almost like there's a connection here...
Although I'm only at the start of this episode, I sure hope she discusses that the genesis of homelessness was Ronald Reagan as governor shutting down so many mental health hospitals at the time when Vietnam war vets were not considered vets because the war was not considered an official war. California had a homeless situation overnight. Fastforward to the 80s when Reagan and the neoliberal twats struck again, and this time armed with all kinds of policies to shred social services and unionization, etc. and the pursuit of the almighty dollar through tax breaks for the rich. The US is the poster child of what happens when oligarchs and their uni-party political puppets are in charge.
I couldn't agree more. I hate when people glorify him. He was a horrible president.
YES!!! Agree 100%!!!!
Reagan was awful, but it's not entirely accurate to call him "the genesis of homelessness". There was a wave of homelessness in the late 19th century, and of course huge homelessness during the great depression. The shutting down of mental health facilities was initiated by Kennedy in 1963. Homelessness definitely existed as a significant problem in the US before Reagan.
But it is true that homelessness massively increased during Reagan's governorship and again during his presidency due to his policies - during his 2nd term it roughly doubled.
@@camipco I should have said during my lifetime. Of course in the grand scheme of history there have been times before, but over the past 65 years, it wasn't to this degree. Not by a long shot.
More affordable and accessible housing is primordial but also, eleminating some of the reasons that throw people on the street in the first place would be necessary to really solve the problem. So that means no more astronomical medical or education debt, no more exploitation of the poor like the check cashing and pay day loan crap or predatory landlords, less income inequality, more help for single parents and children in general, more help and care for seniors, an actual serious and solid retirement scheme, treatment for mental illness and addictions, respect, care and support for military personel who want to reintegrate the civilian world, laws that protect employees instead of making business-owners into little emperors, etc, etc, etc. Society has failed every single homeless person on so many aspects, it's not surprising that they may not always trust society in return.
That last bit is the extra that usually pushes people over the edge or makes them give up the gruelling chase to get their life back on track. When society keeps smacking down the efforts they've made then eventually they just decide to get as comfortable as possible instead and maybe just hope for a miracle.
so, what is killing me, driving me crazy asformer homeless is hostile architecture. when is a group of disabled going to finnaly sue these cities for ada compliance violation? making benches hostile to the homeless also makes it hostile to my mother. to the many vets walking these cities, every measure does more harm to them than the homeless they target.
I think about taking a metal grinder to the benches every time I pass one but then I'd get caught, fined, and be homeless too. They make me so damn angry.
@@CyFed_Republic_of_Kaltovar people need to remember that federal and state property is required to be ada compliant like everyone else. they need to get sued by little old ladies with walkers and everything else. when is a lawyer going to step up and put together a class action suit against these companies?
@@sorejack Agreed!
It sorta has been.
So going after a particular business doesn't work, the legal problem is that business can argue that they aren't ADA required to provide whatever space the hostile architecture is in. Businesses in general can't get sued under the ADA for something they don't provide for able-bodied people either.
The more fruitful challenges have been aimed at government policies as being 8th Amendment violations, on the grounds that it is cruel and unusual to deprive people the ability to sleep, and the existence of hostile architecture has been argued as an element of this bigger issue.
There's a pretty good discussion of the legal history here titled "Hostile Architecture meets COVID-19: Why Anti-Homelessness Laws Must be Re-evaluated" in the Columbia Undergrad Law Review by Suleiman.
@@camipco im talking about the hostile arcitecture built by the government. business isnt usually stupid enough to take it to far. they have recourse in the form of tresspassing people to remove them. im talking on the streets and subways, busstops and else wise.
We build storage units & "McMansions" but not affordable housing.
People tell themselves "those lies" because they are very very afraid it will happen to them. Trying to tell themselves the social lies to prevent homelessness.
It's true. I was born here in California worked here, became disabled here and now live homeless here.
"Do they want to increase people's harm?"
.
Yes. Yes they do. Because they DO view substance use, mental health, and homelessness as moral failings, and want to see those people punished for their transgressions, not helped out of it.
Right, it's crazy that it's 'morally righteous' to make punitive laws based on personal judgments than helping fellow Americans with simple decency and compassion.
I think the other half of this is they see their success as requiring people to look down on to be meaningful. If everyone lives a decent life, how will they know they are superior?
Shelter is a human right. Second homes and landlords who don't share equity should be illegal or at least taxed out of existence anywhere anyone is homeless -- basically everywhere.
We should bring back "the rent is too damn high" party!
I'm so thankful everyday my husband and I have parents as our safety net. We would have been without a place many times despite both having jobs .
There are war torn nations with fewer homeless people(both total and per capita) than the Anglosphere nations like the U.S, U.K, Canada have.
Homeless people exist because the world's richest society leaves access to basic shelter artificially and perniciously paywalled behind private actors whose only goal is personal profit maximizing.
I call those people profit chasers. They're like storm chasers, they don't care about anything but getting to that storm, and profit chasers don't care about anything but increasing those profits. The difference is storm chasers have a beneficial role: they collect data on severe storms to improve warning times and shelter integrity against those storms. Profit chasers are detrimental to society because they hike the prices of everything, put literally everything they can behind a price, and actively attempt to drive out the population earning less than a certain amount per month/year.
Exactly this unfortunately, and our politicians let them run rampant. A company shouldn’t be able to buy a whole neighborhood and flip it for higher.
@@Naknaveat this point they’re not even flipping. They priced themselves out of customers. There’s whole neighborhoods of new construction sitting empty. They’re just holding and holding because it’s a real asset. It will never depreciate and they have infinite money to keep buying. We’ve lived through the largest wealth transfer in human history.
@@ISureDont yeah that’s what im hoping for, that they finally hit the ceiling of what they can bleed out of people
I watched a family friend with 3 kids lose his job this year because black rock bought it up and liquidated the internet security or smthing company for parts this year, and these guys had worked with the fbi before
Black rock I think being one of the same companies buying up properties and letting them sit empty
But even renting is impossible rn
Oh, a friend made a casual remark about homelessness ("drunks, on drugs, lazy") & I did my "not true" speech. Carefully.
My country used to be great about sorting housing for the poor. To the point where it was only older people who're either mentally unwell, or who have addresses but just pan handle for alcohol. I used to even say to anyone visiting from overseas that it's a waste of time giving them money, because all they needed to do to start the process of accessing a benefit/housing is to walk into a social welfare office.
Anyway the economy and a decades long housing crisis later, and I've seen all sorts of people living on the streets. Hell I probably would be living on the streets if I didn't have family around who don't charge rent. As my benefits now just aren't enough to cover everything.
My area of Florida we have only really 2 please where the Homeless can go. One is nice and you can either get a tent or a small tiny house but you only get a few months there, unless they agree to long term if you have a very strong reason but it's rare. The other treats you like less then human and treat you like your in jail and do nothing to help you even if they say your do. Oh and that place also makes people sleep outside until they have space for your inside, which can be brief or never.
Oh man, I felt that, my area’s similar, but one will just hand you a tent, and the other will only let you stay 1 week total out of a month, even dead of winter. Ever since a ton of dc commuters moved in the locals were priced out of even shtty rentals.
@@Naknave They have a few other places but getting to them is awful and it's basically a lottery system. I don't ever talk about them. Its sick what a lot of hard working people actually have to go through.
@@Eszrayeah and whenever people talk about it so many people are quick to assume these people are just lazy, or druggies, but nowadays it’s increasingly families, or older folk
@@Naknave The 2nd shelter I mentioned. There was a lady I new there who was older. She had issue with her leg and had something put in it that would later come out. She was meant to rest but the place wouldn't let her so she was always out and about. A few months later I heard from another lady that was staying there that the same older woman died in the shelter in her bed. It hurts me to this day.
Thank You, Adam and Dr. Kushel... Appreciate you BOTH and your tireless work, Dr. Kushel! "This is SOLVABLE!"
I’ve been homeless for over a year after rape and abuse. I have been living out of my car. The only reason I will finally have a home at the end of this week is because of a queer organization helping me. That was after a year on their waiting list, the state is five years. We treat immediate problems like we have no way of making things go faster than a snail’s pace.
Wow I’m early, but it’s been becoming a problem in my area because of dc commuters moving in, and renters jacking up prices. We don’t even have the infrastructure for this problem. The max you could stay at a homeless shelter is 1 week, even in the dead of winter. Another shelter will only hand out tents.
They’re building luxury apartments inside of an old sock factory right across from a homeless mission it’s sad. Martinsburg wv is where a lot of people moved to at first because it was cheap, but it’s gotten more expensive than Fredrick, which is closer to dc.
Our cousin also spent sometime homeless, not on drugs, before we let him live with us for a time so he get get through the winter.
Same thing started happening in the town I grew up in, obviously not near DC, I grew up in Iowa, but with remote work becoming more mainstream, they've been building these luxury apartments and nice new houses and renting them for a lot cheaper than you can get around the cities, and not making any new low/mid income roommate/family rentals, and I'm worried it's really gonna price the poor people out and everyone in my town has been broke since Maytag outsourced manufacturing to Mexico 20 years ago
Chesapeake VA is being filled with mini mansions and luxury apartments for the wealthier families to move in...while the homeless watch and wait for the constantly closed housing assistance list to open.
@@darkshadowrule2952, there are already far more homeless people in Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas. Cedar Rapids used to be a decent place to live until Covid hit. Now almost all the landlords are jacking up prices way beyond people's incomes and gentrification is happening too.
@@youtubesucks898 yeah, it's happening over where I live now in Des Moines too. We need controls on landlords jumping the rent 20% in one go, it's mad. My complex got bought up by a new investment company, they renoed like two rooms with a cheap contractor that didn't install half the stuff correctly, and they wanna raise me from 865 to over a G when my lease runs out, and that's one of the most dirt cheap one bedroom apartments around. C19 emboldening all of these people to gouge residents and there being no crackdown on it has really been the nail in the coffin on cost of living
This is criminally under-viewed! More people need to see this and unlearn their prejudices..
Just on mental health and homelessness, being socially ostracized, something most homeless folks experience almost constantly, is brutal on your mental health. Like the majority of people will literally look right at you and pretend you do not exist. On top of that, many homeless folks are in a situation where it's almost impossible to get good uninterrupted sleep, very difficult to get good nutrition, difficult to bathe regularly / have clean clothes, near impossible to get access to mental health care, difficult to maintain a daily routine: all things any mental health professional will tell you are an essential basis for maintaining / improving mental health.
Same as working in a bullying & vicious environment. S'times it's suicide or leave. Especially if 40+ years old. I was told tgat "yer too old for any other employment" @ the vortex to hell workplace where I was overloaded worse than a coal mine donkey.
I'm reminded of a conversation that I had ad nauseum when working in industrial maintenance: when trying to introduce new methods or approaches, the most common response why it shouldn't change was "because that's the way we've always done it." My response would be, well, if you can show me that the way it's always been done is the way that gets the best results or there is a good reason not to try this new way, then sure, we don't need to change things simply for the sake of change. But we can all see that the way it's being done is not getting results we need - so shouldn't that tell us that the way we're doing it may not be the best way?
Apply to almost any social issues currently being used as political dividing points - and I think it becomes clearer which paths are better to try going forward!
A requirement to become any kind of politician should be that they have to be homeless with zero possessions or safety nets for a full year. Then they can qualify to "run" for a political position
I had never even heard of Housing First until just a couple of years ago and I was fairly involved in Social Justice effort in my undergrad over a decade ago.
I just checked the prices of storage units in my area and for a 10ft x 20ft storage unit is $600-$700 per month. I live in CA.
The company I looked at is called "Extra Space".
I got one for like 100 in nc damn
I have a 9x5 in San Francisco it 220. It's more than enough room for my stuff but mostly have clothing. Got rid of all furniture.
I had like 5k in a 401k before Covid and had just bought a truck with 80k miles on it for 14k, then Covid happened and the truck threw a rod so I went into a lot of debt.
This January after paying off a bunch of that debt. My relationship ended and I had to find a new place to live, and just due to the timing of everything I’m currently homeless.
I’ve been employed for over two years, I just got a raise to 24$ an hour and I have healthcare through my job, I also don’t drink or smoke, yet I’m still looking at a few months to be financially comfortable enough to find a place I can afford where I live.
I know a family that runs a small business that employs 6 people are currently sleeping in the warehouse because they can't find housing at the moment.
I was homeless for some time after I got out of the service. I started out with a family, a home, job and a car. Then it was job and car. Then it was a job. Then nothing. Sleeping outside or in abandoned places. You get robbed, assaulted and harassed. Harassed by police, teens, other homeless people, store managers and "Karens" are the worst. I've had people throw things at me or call the cops and accuse me of being a thief. You're always tired, hungry and thirsty. There is no where to sleep that's safe. Shelters are full and are run like prisons. Some you shelters you have to pay for. There are some public places you can kinda wait around in. But those places dont want you there, so they shut off all outside water and electricity outlets. And God help you if you dont have I.D.. It was one of the lowest points in my life and never did i hate humanity more. I was treated like i was less than human. I have a home now thanks to a vet service. I am so grateful. But i'm still recovering. The issues that i had getting out of the service were compounded by being homeless. The fear doesnt just go away. The rage i feel when strangers randomly say "Thank you for your service" is still hard to deal with.
my great uncle was a veteran and he never ever talked about it, and always told me to never say thank you for your service, to say welcome home... so welcome home, sir.
As someone that has struggled with chronic homelessness due purely to sensitive and complex mental health reasons and will likely face homelessness soon again I can attest to just how incredibly fucking accurate this is. If those very same mental health issues didn't make conversation such a minefield I probably would've fallen into the same drug habits as those around me.
Late to the party but what she says really tracks with what i saw before I lost my apartment in San Francisco. The developers and the techies really did a number on that town.
Not sure why everyone is complaining about lack of housing. I see luxury apartments under construction constantly. I mean, thank goodness all those wealthy folks don't have to rough it in a rental with no washer dryer in unit. When I think about them having to schlepp to a laundromat I question our nation's values [cue Sarah McLaughlin's "Angel"].
@59:00 Preach, Adam! 100%
This is just what I needed to hear today. I’ve been struggling to attain any money for fear of becoming homeless myself. I’m an autistic person who’s struggling to get disability income just because I’m too young to receive it. The age minimum needs to change so everyone who needs it can receive it without the unfair easy denials and having to prove that we have a disability. That’s total BS to me.
I am 70 years old and disabled living in California. I have been homeless living in my car for over a year after rent doubled January 1st 2023. Currently my social security disability equals about 1/3 of minimum wage in California for a fast food worker. This is not treating the old folks in our society with dignity.
not even allowed to sleep in your own car
For the past three years I lived in a small over the cab trailer on pallets that didn't lock. Just moved from there. I wouldn't consider it homelessness, but didn't have access to plumbing or a shower at my home and it definitely was some rough living.
I did see one problem with this, suggesting people pay higher taxes thing to house the homeless. Right now we have a huge housing and renting crisis that more and more people can’t even make their own needs mess. You’re having more and more people house broke. My family’s own home would be seen as expensive but we could never sell it, because the last owner lied about a septic issue that we’d need to vomit 25-30 k to fix that we just don’t have
I will say I’m from one of the poorest states too, West Virginia, so I don’t know how much of that factors in, I’m glad you guys mentioned the problem we have toward the end, dc commuters/ other folks that can’t handle their own states rental or housing costs moving in. It’s gotten so bad, and our county doesn’t have zoning laws, so we’re seeing ugly cookie cutter developments pop up everywhere and charging a premium for dc commuters to move into.
Higher taxes on the rich not on average people. Tax people who make 500k a year way more. Even Cali pays less tax than Canadians which is insane.
What Dgnmuse said, and also the less homeless people there are the more that affects the housing market. Look at all the NIMBYs who fear housing homeless near them would affect house prices. Then there is the simple matter of some homeless people are still not beaten down enough to not be aiming at the rental market so that additional demand also drives up prices.
Even from a more selfish point of view, housing the homeless helps.
Let's not forgot that ERs have to provided care, so we are providing healthcare the most expensive way. Much cheaper to give them insurance. This cruel and wasteful system is paid by all of us in our outrageously expensive health care.
And the trick is no one gets healthcare. But they get paid.
You both do such great work. Thank you.
U.S.A. should learn from Finland in battling with homelessness.
It's true, although I will also say that any homeless person can also tell you how to effectively reduce homelessness. Like you have to actively create entire ideologies and justifications to miss the most effective way to fix the homelessness problem.
For anyone reading this who is unfamiliar, Finland since 1987 has cut homelessness down to about 20% today (as 0.37% of the population was homeless in 1987, today it is 0.07%). They did this with two policies: 1) they built housing and then gave it to homeless people (including converting shelters to apartments). So then the homeless people had a house and they weren't homeless any more. 2) they required 25% of all new housing built by private developers to be affordable, social housing, so then there are houses people can afford and so they don't become homeless. They additionally subsidize this housing to meet need.
So more, cheaper housing, give that housing to homeless people. That's it. As I said, walk up to any random homeless person and ask them how to fix homelessness and 9/10 will tell you this solution.
If we don't commit to a UBI, or job training, AI will increase homelessness within a few years. How many unhoused people have lacked job training and can't keep up with the job market. The same group of people always lose. PoC and women.
that list is old news. It's expanded now. Things are past that point.
We can solve or at least severely mitigate these issues. We choose not to. Our society is pathologically dysfunctional.
As someone who was homeless for a year in my early 20s - I have worked since I was 13 years old, full time since I was 16. I held two or three jobs until I was well into my 30s. It cost me every relationship I had up to that point. I also did stuff I wasn't proud of that still traumatizes me to this day to get off the street. Homelessness isn't a personal failure, it's a societal one. I'm too old and tired and physically broken to work that hard again - I decided years ago that if I end up homeless again that it's been a bad run and it's game over for me. I'd rather not be here than be here on the street again because if that happens, I don't have a pathway back anymore because it's way worse now and I already traded my mental and physical health for a way out. The only things that make me want to inflict violence on someone is when people blame women for being ****ed and when people homeless people for everything.
I was homeless for a Time my stepfather kicked me out of my mother's house I was living in my car disabled unable to be employed no income barely any hope. And I was presented with a miracle a woman from Louisiana named Maria who had just moved here for her daughter knocked on my door one day and asked me if I was okay and if I had anywhere to go. This woman took me into her home and treated me just like she treated her daughter like I was just another one of her kids. Help me stabilize myself got me into a apartment with section 8 she literally saved my life. And I can never thank her enough.
In high school I would volunteer with my mom's rotary club. The most common homeless people we would deal with in our area were people kicked out for getting pregnant as a teen.
oh cool i was homeless during the pandemic early part... and this episode is gonna be exciting with your spin! here for it
1:12:12 "We are a country that can do hard things." When's the last time our country did a hard thing? What was it?
We maintain the most powerful military in human history, that's a pretty serious feat.
I mean, the US government does loads of hard things. How many of them are also good are more of a question.
@@camipco
Not a bad point. I would say that attaining the huge military was a hard thing, but that was a long time ago. Since then all we've done is gradually make it bigger, which isn't nearly as hard. It is hard enough to keep us from being able to do other hard things instead, though. The things we've done with it are relatively easy for such a huge military. It has failed at the hard things we've tried to do with it.
@@thethegreenmachine Sure, it's ongoing, not a single go-to-the-moon type hard thing.
I disagree it keeps us from being able to other things, mostly. The US doesn't fail to provide basic human rights because we spend too many resources on the military and don't have enough left over, we have plenty of resources to do both. We don't provide basic human rights because our government doesn't want to because those rights are in ideological conflict with the ruling ideology. The resource cost of fixing homelessness is trivial, compared to the size of the economy.
It's also true the military keeps failing to do things. That's because it is a very very efficient tool for killing a lot of people quickly alongside massive destruction of infrastructure we keep throwing that tool at problems which cannot solved by killing a lot of people and destroying infrastructure.
@@camipco
When I said, "It is hard enough to keep us from being able to do other hard things instead," I meant "some other hard things" not "any other hard things."
Why homeless people exist well when a person decides to build tiny houses that are able to be moved around if needed and the government decides that they need to be destroyed because instead of those houses they prefer them to use tents, boxes and whatever else. Even when a person was willing to let them place those houses on their empty lot instead they denied it and sent the police to impound and destroy them. Because homeless is big business you don't understand how much millions of dollars is spent a year to solve homeless problem. A person actually calculated it a few years ago and the amount would have been able to cover rent and utilities for the estimated amount of homeless people for a year.
As a former homeless person it is amazing that i am still alive and ended up getting out of my situation. Again look at how places especially California you have more incentive to be homeless as in you can get food stamps and even cash that is more than you be able to afford if you weren't homeless. Why because big business in homeless shelter, charities, even business deals to build or provide services for homeless people.
This is such an excellent interview, and so informative. Thank you!!
This is capitalism working as intended and we need to say this louder!!!
24 chairs (houses) per 100 kids (people who need a place to live, esp elderly & disabled). This is more than outrageous. I'm here in Las Vegas. We have nearly 3 million people here, and we only have 44 homes for people who need assistance. 44 homes vs 6,000 homeless (give or take).
Took a friend in that would have been living in their car had we not opened our home to them. They now have two jobs that pay well and they are thriving.
If they need to have two jobs, “thriving” is probably a stretch
@@matthewcaldwell8100 The guy wanted to make extra money. He would be sleeping in his car. Going from that to having his own place he doesn't struglle to apy rent on is pretty great to the alternative
This was a great listen.
I've had several conversations with numerous homeless people and people can talk about bootstraps or personal responsibility but based on their stories, these people were set up to fail. It's astounding what some people have to go through.
This is where the whole thing collapses. If the wage slaves can't find shelter how can they produce money.
I went homeless on purpose because all the money I was making was going towards survival and being stuck in a box aka my apartment. A roof is a roof, what I wanted was time. I worked the same amount, but had more freedom and still paid my bills and cooked my own food. But then inflation hit and everything became hard rent or no rent. Now I pay rent again, but can't afford gas, to fix my car, to buy food, or to do anything. I don't even have any streaming subscriptions and I'm back stuck in a box that 2 ac units can't cool and a heater runs my electric bill up the wall during winter
Too much money involved in keeping people homeless just like all charities.
Thank you Adam!
I'm about to add to the street population (again) because I was fired 2 months ago, and can't find work despite efforts.
It's easier to become homeless, than it is for the homeless to become housed.
Edit: my only problem with housing first is that it's essentially a subsidy for landlords. Why not house people and eliminate the middle man? People deserve to be SECURE in their housing. Not pay for landlords to continue to drive up housing costs and go on vacations.
If a wonderful woman hadn't offered me and my former partner a place to live, i don't know how bad our situation could have gotten. Every step if the way, the system offered us nothing and all the help had to come from individuals who were kind enough and had the resources to offer us. We're failing as a society and capitalism has nothing left to offer us.
"Housing First" is some kind of.... charitywashing. you know how everyone cites SLC for having performed a "miracle" with housing? I was homeless in SLC during the period all the articles talk about. it was all PR bullshit.
the "housing first" initiative in SLC only had a single complex, a converted motel called Palmer Court. it was about a hundred rooms with no kitchen and barely a bathroom. I had an interview to apply for a room there, and I was denied because I'd had an eviction. with so little available space, it didn't make a dent in the city's homeless population that ranged from 3,000-10,000.
that was around 2008, 2009. and then..... in 2014, the city tried building 4 new shelters spread around the city. they were *much* smaller, and were designed to "blend in" with the residential neighborhoods in attempt to avoid backlash from housed residents. there was backlash anyway, and fuck all the people who complained. but the plan was really bad for homeless people, too, because it would require a lot more transportation - ie walking - to get downtown to access services and then back out to where the shelters were.
so that plan fell through. but the city really did need more shelter. and instead of trying something else.... in 2017, the city fenced off a couple blocks around the homeless services, issued new IDs that would be required to access the services, and to get and keep the ID, a person would have to submit a background check and regular breath and blood tests. meanwhile, there was 24/7 armed and armored police presence. that was the actual point of it all. they called it Operation Rio Grande. over 1000 arrests, less than a handful of which stuck, but 1/3 of the people arrested weren't released until months or even years later.
1000 arrests.... $67 million, 80% of which was spent on policing and jailing... 6 months of a concentration camp being operated in the center of a state capital.... 6 months of lies about this being for "the safety of the housed residents and the homeless community"....
a lot of homeless people fled the city after that, and during the first couple years of COVID. they started going back into the city in '22, and were met with continued enforcement crackdowns, as tents would be thrown out without warning, and encampments are regularly raided by police. and frankly, by "concerned citizens" trying to just hassle the homeless people out.
CZcams's automods delete comments with links, so I can't share resources directly. so I'd recommend searching for "Operation Rio Grande Utah" to see its impact during and after. see through the smokescreen about SLC's "housing miracle".
while the goal does need to be to house people, the initiative *called* "housing first" are.... lies, top to bottom.