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Comment by reaperducer | Hacker News Reader

We all know the cause of homelessness

If you managed to identify the single cause of homelessness, you should be nominated for a Nobel Prize.

The problem is Americas version of left is "I will do nothing to help you but I won't intervene if you do drugs on the street" and their version of the right is "I will do nothing at all to help you but you will be punished for any rule breaking"

> The problem is Americas version of left is "I will do nothing to help you but I won't intervene if you do drugs on the street"

That's because the dominant faction of America’s “left”-er party is neoliberal centrist. The actual left would do more, but even in cities with a leftier reputation doesn't tend to have the power to.

I hear this a lot, and while it may be true for the core platform, the American left have some of the most extreme progressive views in the world, for example, on abortion.

While that is true, nobody fits neatly into a right/left spectrum.

Wealth inequality and lack of housing. Where's my prize?

If that were the case Fidel Castro would have gotten it.

Healthcare? Housing?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_and_mental_health

It is estimated that 20–25% of homeless people, compared with 6% of the non-homeless, have severe mental illness.

Others estimate that up to one-third of the homeless suffer from mental illness.

I think a lot of people have mental illness but manage to live thanks to aids, healthcare, affordable housing, and so on. Because these structures are missing in America, these people end up in the street and their mental illness is the focus of the blame.

Are you implying America discriminates against the mentally ill?

The answer is yes.

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