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Comment by Finbarr | Hacker News Reader

Have you been outside of the US? Coming from Europe, SF is utterly shocking. I've never seen anywhere else like it. Government provides a lot of support for low-income and homeless people in EU.

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Part of the reason there are so many homeless in SF is because the SF government and local charities provide food and shelter. The tourists handing out money doesn't help with attracting them. Much of the panhandling money is used for drugs, as basic needs such as food and shelter are already covered by the government and nonprofits. If you really want to help them, volunteer at a homeless kitchen or directly donate to them.

I walk by the local drug dealers in the Tenderloin every day, and all the clientele I've seen are homeless people.

Wow that's some serious reactionnary stupid stuff. You are pretending that these people are homeless because the State provides for them? Man, you are such a model person for this new techno-aristocracy.

Have you been around in EU? Governments' ability to help varies from one extreme to the other. There is no guaranteed EU treatment.

Yes I've traveled quite extensively and nothing has ever come close to SF. I don't for a moment pretend to understand all the issues that contribute to this. I'm simply making an anecdotal observation based on my own experiences.

Yeah? Like where does it even approach neat the level of the US? Give a name...

The EU is too big to speak of a one entity. And things are changing too.

I lived in the third largest city in Sweden, and when I moved in there were the handful (like, probably less than 5) of homeless beggars that everyone knew. There were probably more homeless but they were sheltered by the state.

But by the time I moved out, in front of every supermarket there was a Romanian beggar with her head down.

I'll agree SF is definitely on a completely different level though. I've never seen anyone defecate in public outside of SF (and yeah I've been to China)

That's probably not what you think. The beggars you saw in front of supermarkets were likely part of a criminal gang and had a handler collecting their money.

Should be pretty easy to investigate, arrest, deport them and forbid them to come back.

Have you been to southern Italy? The homeless/squatter situation I saw there was very similar.

Not further than Sorrento.

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