Prediction: A Solution for the Homeless Problem

[joe1776]

1. The pandemic has forced offices to have its personnel work remotely.

2. Most firms will find this process both more efficient and healthier. They will make it permanent and stop leasing office space.

3. This will cause a glut of empty office buildings with wide open spaces and high ceilings.

4. The companies now manufacturing cheap office cubicles with sound proofing will convert to making cheap privacy compartments for the homeless.

5. Federal, state and local funding would pay the rent on the buildings equivalent to the mortgage payment when the building was vacated.

6. This isn't a long-term solution for the homeless problem but that is probably several years away.

 

[Spirit of Light]

1. The pandemic has forced offices to have its personnel work remotely.

2. Most firms will find this process both more efficient and healthier. They will make it permanent and stop leasing office space.

3. This will cause a glut of empty office buildings with wide open spaces and high ceilings.

4. The companies now manufacturing cheap office cubicles with sound proofing will convert to making cheap privacy compartments for the homeless.

5. Federal, state and local funding would pay the rent on the buildings equivalent to the mortgage payment when the building was vacated.

6. This isn't a long-term solution for the homeless problem but that is probably several years away.

I wish they could do the same here in Norway, and i speak out of the experience as a homeless person today. I am now illegally staying in a home where only disable people are allowed because I do not have a home since local government kicked me out of my EX-GF apartment (she is disabled)
So even a tiny cubical would help me stay warm when i can not be in her apartment at night

 

[Twilight Hue]

1. The pandemic has forced offices to have its personnel work remotely.

2. Most firms will find this process both more efficient and healthier. They will make it permanent and stop leasing office space.

3. This will cause a glut of empty office buildings with wide open spaces and high ceilings.

4. The companies now manufacturing cheap office cubicles with sound proofing will convert to making cheap privacy compartments for the homeless.

5. Federal, state and local funding would pay the rent on the buildings equivalent to the mortgage payment when the building was vacated.

6. This isn't a long-term solution for the homeless problem but that is probably several years away.

Conditions would likely become deplorable and unsanitary. There would be a need for proper oversight to ensure that disease and animal infestation would not manifest
Basically what you are proposing is an expansion of project housing and people know what thats like.

 

[PureX]

Homelessness is a complicated problem. Many homeless people don't want to be homeless, and all they need are jobs that pay a living wage, and safe, affordable housing. Other are homeless because they are unemployable due to addiction, mental health issues, etc.,. These need to be handled according to their conditions. Addicts can be at least sheltered and fed, and rehab offered. Some mental health issues can be redressed and the victims made employable, while others can only be monitored and the victims protected. Some homeless people want to be free and homeless. But even they could be offered food and a bed as needed.

The problem of course is that in a capitalist society, nothing can be done unless there's a profit to be gained from it. And helping the poor and the sick is not immediately profitable to anyone. So few are interested in doing it.

 

[BSM1]

Homelessness is a complicated problem. Many homeless people don't want to be homeless, and all they need are jobs that pay a living wage, and safe, affordable housing. Other are homeless because they are unemployable due to addiction, mental health issues, etc.,. These need to be handled according to their conditions. Addicts can be at least sheltered and fed, and rehab offered. Some mental health issues can be redressed and the victims made employable, while others can only be monitored and the victims protected. Some homeless people want to be free and homeless. But even they could be offered food and a bed as needed.

The problem of course is that in a capitalist society, nothing can be done unless there's a profit to be gained from it. And helping the poor and the sick is not immediately profitable to anyone. So few are interested in doing it.

Know a lot of homeless people, do ya?

 

[joe1776]

...The problem of course is that in a capitalist society, nothing can be done unless there's a profit to be gained from it. And helping the poor and the sick is not immediately profitable to anyone. So few are interested in doing it.

The companies making the privacy compartments would profit. The owners of the buildings would profit, some income is better than none. The banks holding the mortgages in the buildings would profit since foreclosures would be avoided.

 

[Twilight Hue]

https://www.theguardian.com/housing...d-solved-homelessness-eu-crisis-housing-first

Mind you its its Finland. Im not sure how something like this would fare in other countries.

 

[PureX]

The companies making the privacy compartments would profit. The owners of the buildings would profit, some income is better than none. The banks holding the mortgages in the buildings would profit since foreclosures would be avoided.

How does anyone gain a profit from people who have no money?

 

[joe1776]

How does anyone gain a profit from people who have no money?

They earn a profit by contracting with the government just like defense contractors. In fact, the money might well come from cuts in the defense budget which should be on the table soon.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I wish they could do the same here in Norway, and i speak out of the experience as a homeless person today. I am now illegally staying in a home where only disable people are allowed because I do not have a home since local government kicked me out of my EX-GF apartment (she is disabled)
So even a tiny cubical would help me stay warm when i can not be in her apartment at night

I'm so sorry you're going through that, especially during this time when shelters are likely very full. I hope it's not too cold and you are able to keep warm. I hope things get better for you as soon as possible.

 

[PureX]

They earn a profit by contracting with the government just like defense contractors. In fact, the money might well come from cuts in the defense budget which should be on the table soon.

That's cheating. It's not capitalism, it's socialism.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Conditions would likely become deplorable and unsanitary. There would be a need for proper oversight to ensure that disease and animal infestation would not manifest
Basically what you are proposing is an expansion of project housing and people know what thats like.

Public housing projects fell apart because the government didn't care to maintain the buildings and they became overrun with filth, drugs and crime. The residents were abandoned by their government, who were supposed to help them.

 

[joe1776]

That's cheating. It's not capitalism, it's socialism.

The privacy compartment manufacturers, who would be the most likely to come up with this idea, are entrepreneurs who see a chance to save their businesses by switching to a somewhat different product after the sales of office cubicles hits the skids. That's capitalism.

 

[PureX]

The privacy compartment manufacturers, who would be the most likely to come up with this idea, are entrepreneurs who see a chance to save their businesses by switching to a somewhat different product after the sales of office cubicles hits the skids. That's capitalism.

No it's not. It's parasitism. They are gaining their profit from a socialist government program. Such enterprises should be non-profit.

 

[joe1776]

No it's not. It's parasitism. They are gaining their profit from a socialist government program. Such enterprises should be non-profit.

Booooo!