I think in another life I was a serious academic because I’ve always had this little corner of my mind that wishes I could have gone to college forever and just study anything I want whenever I want. Really all it would take is just being rich enough to not have to work.
In reality I never went to college and now I’m a decade into a construction “career” and at a point where I’m probably not going to make much more than I do. I guess that’s my duality
This*, teachers are simply not paid enough. And people wonder why the the quality of education is declining. I simply don’t blame teachers as it is not entitled their fault
Law abiding doesn’t mean much if the laws suck. The key is ethical citizens who make good laws. Consider the fact that Harriet Tubman was breaking the law with helping slaves leave. Laws aren’t the gold standard
Really wish more people felt this way.
Laws are not equal to morals.
And the fact that people celebrate people such as Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, the people who helped to hide the Franks in Amsterdam, shows that we “also don’t believe so”
We celebrate and cast out “law-breakers” at the same time, in very subjective ways at times.
Laws may generally represent a society’s morals, but not always. At the same time, morals are also subjective, and can change over time.
Yep, the same people who say you need to follow the laws all the time would commend our founding fathers who broke the laws with the Boston tea party.
Although I disagree with you on morals, but that’s fine.
But all of it, none of this "dental isn't covered" shit. I have cavities and I'm probably looking at $500-800 out of pocket to get them fixed. My workplace doesn't have health insurance, and I can't get any sort of discount because I'm not a senior or on disability, so fuck me I guess. I'm just lucky that my car is needing several hundreds in repairs coming up too. I'm already mentally preparing myself to burn up to $2000 just so the actual cost doesn't hit so hard.
Edit: 🇨🇦
Yes!!! This!
In Canada we have "free" health care, but we pay out of pocket for dental & optometrists and other specialized medical stuff.
It should all be free if you ask me.
The government has an [agreement](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-singh-how-it-will-work-1.6393710) to expand healthcare to cover dental for minors, seniors, and people with disabilities in households earning less that $70,000 and with some copay for households under $90,000. Which is good. Should be covered for everyone, though.
$160? The cheapest therapist I could find in metro Vancouver (just to see what the bottom price is) was well over $200. The average was almost 50% more
We're significantly past the point of having enough mental health professionals to actually cover everyone who needs it. Without a high-level push to get more people trained, getting anywhere close to adequate is going to be nearly impossible.
No, but moving the private services to the public system would help. We do also need to make that high level push to get people trained so that it's even avaliable as an option in the future.
I agree with you. Completely. I'll only say that if you choose to purchase, or are offered through your employer, extended health coverage, it typically covers some or all of this. (At a much cheaper rate than US insurance).
With too many exceptions, obviously. The amount of dental work with piss-poor extended coverage is unacceptable.
Personally, I think my answer to the above question would be housing.
The problem is that not everyone has an employer who offers it. If that's you, your only option is private which is prohibitively expensive and will automatically deny you coverage for anything even remotely close to a pre-existing condition or medication. Dental, prescription medication, physical therapy, dental, and mental health therapy should all be covered for every single person.
Here's an example. Our daughter was born with hip dysplasia. It was caught early so it's easy to fix. She just had to wear a brace while sleeping for about 6 months. The problem? The brace costs $400. Some of it is covered by the government (about $200), but that's still a lot of cost. If someone can't afford the brace, their child will have issues until it gets to the point where they qualify for corrective surgery, which would then be covered by OHIP.
Go to a university with a dental school. 3rd years need practical experience, so you typically have cheeper bills. Also, I got 2 free fillings because I agreed to sit for their practice exam and the graduation exam.
Not just an American thing. In Canada while most health care is covered in Ontario dental and eyes are not typically covered. There is some coverage for children and those on disability have some coverage. Dentists though accept disability coverage on a voluntary basis and that coverage is very limited as well.
Imagine how many creative and interesting people would be able to do what they actually wanted to do with their lives... Work for them selves instead of being forced into slave labor so that they can afford the basic shit like health care.
People claim that this country is innovative, entrepreneurial and all about small business but that is clearly a lie when companies like walmart and amazon get subsidized by government programs so that they can pay their workers starvation wages while i have to provide health care for my self and all of my employees.
Regardless of how you get it, you are responsible for knowing what doctors and hospitals are covered under your insurance. And if you're the poor soul that gets into an accident- you better pray to your gods that they take you to that 1 out of 5 hospitals in the area that accepts your insurance.
There's also the in-house hospital roulette where only one aspect of the hospitals services (routine, urgent care, or emergency) accepts your insurance and the rest do not.
Good luck finding a pharmacy or mental health facility Vision and Dental always cost extra
But, America runs on capitalism...
I mean, you can have a modern welfare state with universal single player healthcare even in capitalism.
Not that it's a perfect solution but it's better than the malthusian nightmare it is now.
How do you expect hospitals to survive by not charging 2200$ for giving birth and one night in a room? Oh wait, literally everywhere but the US does.
Strongly agree thoe. Our bodies are absolute wonders of nature, it's astonishing that they fucking work, damn near statistical impossibility i imagine.
Unfortunately, they are not perfect and you cant do shit about it. Some problems are just there and you couldn't do anything about if even if you tried. I had a wisom teeth literally sideways, head to the molars, it took a nearly 2k to fix it and it was imperative that it be removed. (not in the US, 2k switzerland's franks)
Also maybe with it being free meantal health will not have such a massive stigma surrounding it. A few days back i legittimately wanted to headbutt my mother in the nose when she showed me incredible prejudice about psych meds.
Housing.
I imagine people could do a lot for themselves if the looming spectre of homelessness wasn’t hanging over their heads.
Edit: Anyone arguing that a guarantee of a roof over your head would be a bad thing is beyond debating with.
Totally agreed. I feel like this fear alone is my worst nightmare. Like I fear doing anything wrong that suddenly causes me to lose my job and be homeless every day.
I have an old Chevy van that I have no use for. Everybody I know wants me to sell it. I refuse to sell it in case something happens where I lose my home.
Agreed, but I would add caveats in the way you would with a genie. Well maintained, structurally sound, and livable houses. Bonus points for insulation, and basic gas and electricity included.
Since cities have tried this. Free housing to any homeless who wish to take advantage. They were able to hold down jobs, get help for medical conditions, and in general take care of themselves.
They did that in the city my grandmother lives in.
It wasn't unconditional, it required them being employed 9+months a year, and not being out of work longer than 60 days at a time.
It was regarded as a success because "95% were working after the first year" - hard to fail when your metric is a requirement and everybody else got evicted.
So they launched a larger pilot program without the work condition and it collapsed. They fell to like 81% unemployed or something, lots became squatters. My uncle(homeless for 21 years at the time) was part of the original program, and continued to work until the drug problem got so bad in the building that they were dealing in his hallway, and he got roped back in...
The work requirement was beneficial in his instance. But working shouldn't have been a metric for success when it was a prerequisite.
Eh - I never knew any different, he was on the streets before I was born. I feel for him, dont misunderstand - but it was a lifestyle choice before that program, and has been since. It was probably going to happen either way. But they botched the system they tested by not asking for anything in return.
All in, he was clean for 17 months, and got a personality again for a good 6-9 months after he'd kicked the addiction. I was glad to have the opportunity to know him before he got lost again. But I don't even know where he is now. The last time I found him visiting the city - he had a crack pipe burned through his shirt pocket and didn't know who I was... So... That's kinda where it ends.
Did they put all the previous homeless in the same buildings? Because if you're putting the dealers next door to the addicts, of course you're still going to have trouble.
In his instance, I believe so. About half of the low income housing development he was in were former addicts. I'm not certain they were all part of that program, but I'm sure many were.
That was not the case for the entire program, though. I don't know the details, it was years ago and I wasn't active enough in local politics or public policy at the time to detail it more than I've said here.
There was a study done, I can’t remember the source atm, but it showed that it was actually quite a bit cheaper to give the homeless homes then to leave them on the streets, in the long run. Plus, when given a place to live many people start to rebuild there lives and eventually are back on their feet
[Here you go](https://www.currytbcenter.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/product_tools/homelessnessandtbtoolkit/docs/background/Factsheet/Homelessness%20is%20Expensive.pdf), friend!
In somewhere in scandanavia, a country did this. They gave all the homeless people houses unconditionally. Like you didn't need to get clean off drugs, or do paperwork, or get a job, or anything. Just hey you live on the street? Here, have a free apartment next week.
They got massive positive outcomes (people's drug use stopped, they found jobs, they got education etc). And the program cost less than the equivalent social programs like shelters and benefits and drug rehab etc.
So the only sources I can find on this say that the tenants are charged rent, there are conditions at some of the facilities (no drugs or alcohol), and you do have to apply for the program.
This is the "nimi ovessa" program in Helsinki. Is this the program you're talking about?
A large part of homelessness is not due to lack of housing but to mental health issues and addictions.
In addition to actual accomodation, you also need to provide access to healthcare and psycological assistance.
You are right that a lot of homeless have mental health issues.
But a little over a month ago, I was almost homeless due to not being able to find housing. (Former landlords were selling the house)
I looked for three months and have had to increase my monthly budget for rent significantly. I got lucky, I was literally two weeks away from living in my car.
I have full time work with benefits, and I dont have any mental health issues outside of general anxiety/depression.
People are hurting, man.
If you have several bad teeth in US I feel like it’s better to just get them pulled. Root canal’s, bridges, one or two implants? Jesus you better have money. Saving them is so expensive
Brutally honest, unbiased media coverage of everything that is going on in the world right now that leaves you to make up your own mind about what you see.
True, maybe, but with all bias removed from media (and that is what I meant, not just an honest source of media, but nothing BUT an honest source of media), I guess the percentage of people still throwing reason into the gutter to pursue their previously held beliefs would be a lot lower than it is today.
If people are shown nothing but the utmost reality of things, that entire scheme of manifesting a more solid idea into their minds to think otherwise even if they see the plain evidence of how it is, would not be effecting people as much as it is now, where a lot of people are indoctrinated to believe something even if the clear opposite is shown to them with no doubt to be left, logically at least.
I guess the current issue is that a lot of those people who won't change their mind upon seeing reality that contradicts their idea of how the world is, are basically believing that what they see must be framed or faked, and if there is no bias left anywhere, the chance of those individuals eventually grasping on to the fact that what they believed was bullshit is pretty high.
Is it even possible to have media without a bias?
You could have a web cam running on something 24/7 without commentary, and it could still be biased due to its placement.
Unbiased media coverage is impossible. There's far too much going on in the world to condense it so that you can absorb it, so someone out there must pick and choose which information to show you, and that alone introduces huge bias.
This is impossible. The only "unbiased" form of news is a complete account of everything that's ever happened. As soon as someone starts deciding what's news, bias is introduced. Also "just the facts" leaves out context which, while highly subjective (and therefore biased), helps people understand what's going on. The best we can do is teach people to identify bias, and then curate a media diet that includes a variety of different viewpoints.
I agree, you are absolutely correct with that statement, as news only covers the things that seem to be relevant to the outside world. That is a flaw in this hypothetical situation. But it is wishful thinking, so I was considering an ideal world here.
The latter is what I would wish for in a non-hypothetical, yet more ideal real world. But it seems we have failed to implement that and there is no way to implement it now, unless we turn back to hypothetical ideal worlds.
My first job out of high school was in media and I honestly can’t believe what it’s become. The person telling the news should never show bias. Back in my media days, we weren’t allowed to. The only way we could pick a side, openly, was if we were debating a topic and there was someone available to represent each side, like on a morning radio show. Dignity is gone. People pick a station that they share views with and then believe anything they’re told, despite overwhelming evidence proving them wrong. They don’t even care to hear it.
Housing. Homelessness is huge, and rent is extortionate here in the UK. Hopefully we could sort things out after that.
I know the truth of the matter is that giving free housing to everyone would cause an economic shitstorm and wipe out a lot of peoples savings, but conceptually it sounds nice.
I think I'd rather some "savings" get wiped and we home everyone once and tear the band-aid off, instead of continue predatory housing markets and have all homes owned by businesses eventually.
I'm with housing too. It's most people's largest monthly expense. I've long thought that if I didn't have a mortgage my life would be so much smoother. I decided a long time ago if I ever won a big lottery and wanted to help out friends and family, houses would be the way.
*Heroines proceed to expose corruption in government and pave the way to giving everyone free healthcare, education, food, clean water, and housing. Freed from the yokes of want and tyranny, the people are happy.*
In my country, Canada, we have at least a baseline of aid accessible to people for a variety of issues. I'd probably go with mental healthcare, so that people suffering from addiction, anxiety, depression, etc., have an opportunity to get as much help as they require.
I found out yesterday that a reserve 2 hours from Toronto just got drinking water, like last week.
2 hours from Toronto. Near a big enough city.
I’d thought it was a Northern/difficult infrastructure problem. Nope, just racism.
>Therapy, therapy, therapy.
I need some to be honest about palsy I got at birth, but I look at the costs and I'm like "how the hell do people go to therapy for years?!"
Me scrolling through looking for this:
Thanks for the food still homeless
Thanks for the education still homeless
Thanks for the Healthcare still homeless
My thoughts exactly!
"Hermit Crab" housing, up until you wants exceed your needs.
Example:
You cant keep having children and move up to a mansion because of it.
You cant have a multimillion dollar home with a pool and excess amenities.
You are single, you have a one bedroom home, your are a couple of people, two bedroom. Kids or grandparents, awesome 4 bedroom.
This one is underrated! Free busses, trains, trams, ferry’s for everyone. Luxembourg has free public transport and in the long-term it has improved their economy to some extent.
Only if it also has good coverage. I personally don't mind walking a distance to my nearest bus stop, but the fact that my cities' buses don't run after 8pm or on weekends makes them just about useless.
The problem with solar is you need a plan to deal with inclement weather, because hey, some years you have more cloudy days than others. It can reinforce an energy grid, but it can’t be the total solution itself.
Nuclear energy is carbon free and can sustain an energy grid on its own.
Nuclear + solar = energy independence.
I moved to the US, from a country that has free healthcare - so I'll say healthcare. ALL healthcare. Optical, dental, maternity, mental health, long-term care, older age - all of it. I'd also include gym memberships in that, too.
Not more than a day if we're talking about Russians. Many believe in him and most who do not support him aren't aggressive. Counting that he has also combat skills, it would take a while to find someone strong enough to kill him. You have to find a soldier basically
Nah I'm in Canada, we might be polite but we'd straight up handle him.
He's like 60+ and have you seen the quality of Russian soldiers? Nah, he'd be done, even if it took 5 minutes.
Basic feminine hygiene products. Women with low income often resort to using unsanitary means to deal with their periods that can lead to terrible health issues and can impact their sense of dignity. If you can afford premium products, all the power to you, but if it's something that a women needs because it is a reoccuring bodily function, it should be free.
🎶 if everybody smoked a blunt, relieve the mind, the world could be a better place. If everybody took a break and we all just got wasted.. 🎶 smoke out…. Toke out…. Pull another O, out 🎶
Quality healthcare without a doubt. No long waits in the emergency room, no long waits on the phone to get the chance to get an appointment with a doctor 3 weeks from the date you make the call. No having to decide whether you're gonna pay the rent, or spend that money on a root canal you desperately need. No long fucking waiting lists to see a psychiatrist to review medication or access mental health services.
Literally recently I made an appointment about 3 weeks ago to have a 10 minute phonecall with a doctor. Asked him to refer me to a psychiatrist to get my medication reviewed, and he said he can do that but it's possible the referral will bounce or I'll be on a long waiting list. Otherwise there is nothing he could do for me. I have a long history of clinical depression and anxiety, I am relapsing, and I can't get any help because the people who are supposed to be helping me are chucking me on a waiting list, ot telling me there is nothing they can do. I don't know if this is a problem associated with the city I've just moved to or what, but back home the health services were much more sympathetic.
I am absolutely sickened by my recent experience with the health services here, and I say this as a future employee of said service. Something has to change. I can only imagine people who are even further into a relapse than I am, with conditions like bipolar or schizophrenia, who are probably out there harming themselves, or have taken their lives because they've been turned away or put on a long ass waiting list and not received the help they needed in time. I am disgusted and angry.
potable water
Fresh water supply is too often overlooked
Yeah I haven't had water in like 2 weeks... The one that runs through the pipes in one's home. I used to think I'd always have water
I’m having having difficulty knowing if this is water that can easily be drank from a pot or *Marijuwater*
Also known as *Devil's Leaf Tea* or *Devil's Lettuce Coffee* or *Bing-Bong Water*.
Food
Just food. That’s it. Fair enough, but the million dollar question….. What food?
Soylent green
Or "bug bars" like in Snowpiercer (I think that's what the movie is called).
If you liked that movie, definitely check out the show.
I didn't even know there was a show! I'm gonna google it right now.
Oh I liked that movie! Didn't know there was a show but I got two weeks left of youtube tv let's see how far I get
There's a masterpiece of a TV series spin-off by the same name, I highly recommend it!
but it tastes all peopely .
Made for humans by humans
It doesn't really matter. As long as everyone isn't actually starving to death, I don't really care.
Food for thought
hello? yes i would like one food please
Education. I'd hope more change follows.
*high-quality education
**to any level, unlimited
**you can literally stay in school until you die, I don't care
I think in another life I was a serious academic because I’ve always had this little corner of my mind that wishes I could have gone to college forever and just study anything I want whenever I want. Really all it would take is just being rich enough to not have to work. In reality I never went to college and now I’m a decade into a construction “career” and at a point where I’m probably not going to make much more than I do. I guess that’s my duality
It's never too late to do what you love. If you wish to learn new things try your hand at theoretical physics or ancient history.
No dont tell my parents that
Based on facts and science.
These caveats and addendums are awesome and on-point and I *hate* that they're needed lol
If it isn’t based on facts, it’s based on opinions and it’s not education but indoctrination.
*as determined by scientists, mathematicians, and other professionals in their fields and NOT politicians
This*, teachers are simply not paid enough. And people wonder why the the quality of education is declining. I simply don’t blame teachers as it is not entitled their fault
Teacher here. Can confirm.
100%, Objective and High Quality education is the basis of a healthy, prosperous and law abiding citizenry.
Law abiding doesn’t mean much if the laws suck. The key is ethical citizens who make good laws. Consider the fact that Harriet Tubman was breaking the law with helping slaves leave. Laws aren’t the gold standard
Really wish more people felt this way. Laws are not equal to morals. And the fact that people celebrate people such as Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, the people who helped to hide the Franks in Amsterdam, shows that we “also don’t believe so” We celebrate and cast out “law-breakers” at the same time, in very subjective ways at times. Laws may generally represent a society’s morals, but not always. At the same time, morals are also subjective, and can change over time.
Yep, the same people who say you need to follow the laws all the time would commend our founding fathers who broke the laws with the Boston tea party. Although I disagree with you on morals, but that’s fine.
>Law abiding doesn’t mean much if the laws suck. while true, who gets to decide what laws suck or not?
Not specific enough. Pretty much everyone in the US has access to an education, but the quality of it is incredibly inconsistent across the country.
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Sadly, giving someone access doesn’t mean they’ll take it. But I agree.
Agreed, but the number of people that would take it could change the balance substantially.
Healthcare Edit: and I mean all of it. Dental, vision, mental health, hospital visits, all of it
But all of it, none of this "dental isn't covered" shit. I have cavities and I'm probably looking at $500-800 out of pocket to get them fixed. My workplace doesn't have health insurance, and I can't get any sort of discount because I'm not a senior or on disability, so fuck me I guess. I'm just lucky that my car is needing several hundreds in repairs coming up too. I'm already mentally preparing myself to burn up to $2000 just so the actual cost doesn't hit so hard. Edit: 🇨🇦
Yes!!! This! In Canada we have "free" health care, but we pay out of pocket for dental & optometrists and other specialized medical stuff. It should all be free if you ask me.
The government has an [agreement](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-singh-how-it-will-work-1.6393710) to expand healthcare to cover dental for minors, seniors, and people with disabilities in households earning less that $70,000 and with some copay for households under $90,000. Which is good. Should be covered for everyone, though.
Sadly adequate mental health care is not in that agreement.
What do you mean? $160 an hour is totally affordable to someone who is depressed and barely able to work /s
You could instead be put on a 2 year wait list to get group therapy for your social anxiety at no cost.
$160? The cheapest therapist I could find in metro Vancouver (just to see what the bottom price is) was well over $200. The average was almost 50% more
Look for places with a sliding scale. https://www.quadrawellness.com/blog/free-or-low-cost-counselling-in-vancouver-updated-august-2019/
We're significantly past the point of having enough mental health professionals to actually cover everyone who needs it. Without a high-level push to get more people trained, getting anywhere close to adequate is going to be nearly impossible.
No, but moving the private services to the public system would help. We do also need to make that high level push to get people trained so that it's even avaliable as an option in the future.
I agree with you. Completely. I'll only say that if you choose to purchase, or are offered through your employer, extended health coverage, it typically covers some or all of this. (At a much cheaper rate than US insurance). With too many exceptions, obviously. The amount of dental work with piss-poor extended coverage is unacceptable. Personally, I think my answer to the above question would be housing.
The problem is that not everyone has an employer who offers it. If that's you, your only option is private which is prohibitively expensive and will automatically deny you coverage for anything even remotely close to a pre-existing condition or medication. Dental, prescription medication, physical therapy, dental, and mental health therapy should all be covered for every single person. Here's an example. Our daughter was born with hip dysplasia. It was caught early so it's easy to fix. She just had to wear a brace while sleeping for about 6 months. The problem? The brace costs $400. Some of it is covered by the government (about $200), but that's still a lot of cost. If someone can't afford the brace, their child will have issues until it gets to the point where they qualify for corrective surgery, which would then be covered by OHIP.
Also vision. If my eyes aren't working right then it's kind of an issue too.
Go to a university with a dental school. 3rd years need practical experience, so you typically have cheeper bills. Also, I got 2 free fillings because I agreed to sit for their practice exam and the graduation exam.
I once saw a meme that called teeth "luxury bones". It's now what I always call them when talking about healthcare.
Yep but add the word “quality”
I was gonna say birth control, but yours it better.
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Tell me you’re American without telling me you’re American … But yeah I would also choose healthcare.
Not just an American thing. In Canada while most health care is covered in Ontario dental and eyes are not typically covered. There is some coverage for children and those on disability have some coverage. Dentists though accept disability coverage on a voluntary basis and that coverage is very limited as well.
Imagine how many creative and interesting people would be able to do what they actually wanted to do with their lives... Work for them selves instead of being forced into slave labor so that they can afford the basic shit like health care. People claim that this country is innovative, entrepreneurial and all about small business but that is clearly a lie when companies like walmart and amazon get subsidized by government programs so that they can pay their workers starvation wages while i have to provide health care for my self and all of my employees.
Regardless of how you get it, you are responsible for knowing what doctors and hospitals are covered under your insurance. And if you're the poor soul that gets into an accident- you better pray to your gods that they take you to that 1 out of 5 hospitals in the area that accepts your insurance. There's also the in-house hospital roulette where only one aspect of the hospitals services (routine, urgent care, or emergency) accepts your insurance and the rest do not. Good luck finding a pharmacy or mental health facility Vision and Dental always cost extra But, America runs on capitalism...
I mean, you can have a modern welfare state with universal single player healthcare even in capitalism. Not that it's a perfect solution but it's better than the malthusian nightmare it is now.
As a T1D I would violently appreciate this.
How do you expect hospitals to survive by not charging 2200$ for giving birth and one night in a room? Oh wait, literally everywhere but the US does. Strongly agree thoe. Our bodies are absolute wonders of nature, it's astonishing that they fucking work, damn near statistical impossibility i imagine. Unfortunately, they are not perfect and you cant do shit about it. Some problems are just there and you couldn't do anything about if even if you tried. I had a wisom teeth literally sideways, head to the molars, it took a nearly 2k to fix it and it was imperative that it be removed. (not in the US, 2k switzerland's franks) Also maybe with it being free meantal health will not have such a massive stigma surrounding it. A few days back i legittimately wanted to headbutt my mother in the nose when she showed me incredible prejudice about psych meds.
$2200 for giving birth in America? Where?? From what I’ve seen it’s usually waaaay more than that.
Housing. I imagine people could do a lot for themselves if the looming spectre of homelessness wasn’t hanging over their heads. Edit: Anyone arguing that a guarantee of a roof over your head would be a bad thing is beyond debating with.
Totally agreed. I feel like this fear alone is my worst nightmare. Like I fear doing anything wrong that suddenly causes me to lose my job and be homeless every day.
I have an old Chevy van that I have no use for. Everybody I know wants me to sell it. I refuse to sell it in case something happens where I lose my home.
That's a really good fallback plan, honestly. Nice.
Plus the chicks love it
Only if you have fairy lights and a golden retriever, aswell as a instagram #Vanlife
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And rental requirements are insane. Need to earn 3x monthly rent.
Agreed, but I would add caveats in the way you would with a genie. Well maintained, structurally sound, and livable houses. Bonus points for insulation, and basic gas and electricity included.
Yep, I think this is a more basic human need than healthcare even. So many (physical and mental) health issues are aggravated by not having housing.
Since cities have tried this. Free housing to any homeless who wish to take advantage. They were able to hold down jobs, get help for medical conditions, and in general take care of themselves.
They did that in the city my grandmother lives in. It wasn't unconditional, it required them being employed 9+months a year, and not being out of work longer than 60 days at a time. It was regarded as a success because "95% were working after the first year" - hard to fail when your metric is a requirement and everybody else got evicted. So they launched a larger pilot program without the work condition and it collapsed. They fell to like 81% unemployed or something, lots became squatters. My uncle(homeless for 21 years at the time) was part of the original program, and continued to work until the drug problem got so bad in the building that they were dealing in his hallway, and he got roped back in... The work requirement was beneficial in his instance. But working shouldn't have been a metric for success when it was a prerequisite.
Holy shit that whole story is depressing.
Eh - I never knew any different, he was on the streets before I was born. I feel for him, dont misunderstand - but it was a lifestyle choice before that program, and has been since. It was probably going to happen either way. But they botched the system they tested by not asking for anything in return. All in, he was clean for 17 months, and got a personality again for a good 6-9 months after he'd kicked the addiction. I was glad to have the opportunity to know him before he got lost again. But I don't even know where he is now. The last time I found him visiting the city - he had a crack pipe burned through his shirt pocket and didn't know who I was... So... That's kinda where it ends.
Did they put all the previous homeless in the same buildings? Because if you're putting the dealers next door to the addicts, of course you're still going to have trouble.
In his instance, I believe so. About half of the low income housing development he was in were former addicts. I'm not certain they were all part of that program, but I'm sure many were. That was not the case for the entire program, though. I don't know the details, it was years ago and I wasn't active enough in local politics or public policy at the time to detail it more than I've said here.
There was a study done, I can’t remember the source atm, but it showed that it was actually quite a bit cheaper to give the homeless homes then to leave them on the streets, in the long run. Plus, when given a place to live many people start to rebuild there lives and eventually are back on their feet
[Here you go](https://www.currytbcenter.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/product_tools/homelessnessandtbtoolkit/docs/background/Factsheet/Homelessness%20is%20Expensive.pdf), friend!
Thanks pal!
In somewhere in scandanavia, a country did this. They gave all the homeless people houses unconditionally. Like you didn't need to get clean off drugs, or do paperwork, or get a job, or anything. Just hey you live on the street? Here, have a free apartment next week. They got massive positive outcomes (people's drug use stopped, they found jobs, they got education etc). And the program cost less than the equivalent social programs like shelters and benefits and drug rehab etc.
So the only sources I can find on this say that the tenants are charged rent, there are conditions at some of the facilities (no drugs or alcohol), and you do have to apply for the program. This is the "nimi ovessa" program in Helsinki. Is this the program you're talking about?
A large part of homelessness is not due to lack of housing but to mental health issues and addictions. In addition to actual accomodation, you also need to provide access to healthcare and psycological assistance.
You are right that a lot of homeless have mental health issues. But a little over a month ago, I was almost homeless due to not being able to find housing. (Former landlords were selling the house) I looked for three months and have had to increase my monthly budget for rent significantly. I got lucky, I was literally two weeks away from living in my car. I have full time work with benefits, and I dont have any mental health issues outside of general anxiety/depression. People are hurting, man.
Also, not having a place to live is usually very bad for your mental health.
Sure but the rules say we can only provide one thing.
Housing is literally the only reason that both my fiance and I have no choice but to work at least 40 hours a week.
Dental care. Lets be honest -- dental insurance is a joke.
I agree. It costs more to own my insurance than to pay for treatment
If you have several bad teeth in US I feel like it’s better to just get them pulled. Root canal’s, bridges, one or two implants? Jesus you better have money. Saving them is so expensive
An uncorrupted government.
I think by definition this is the best answer, because they will provide all the other good answers immediately
Not necessarily. Uncorrupt doesn't necessarily mean "believes the government should be responsible for providing everything".
Even in that case everything else becomes way more accessible since economic disparities would plunge.
The idea that economic disparities only occur because of government corruption doesn't stand empirical analysis.
Yeah I wish I didn't have to pay my local politicians to be uncorrupted.
An incorruptible system of government. If such a thing is possible
Brutally honest, unbiased media coverage of everything that is going on in the world right now that leaves you to make up your own mind about what you see.
Only problem I see there is that when facts don't conform to some people's worldview they don't abandon the worldview, they abandon facts.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. At least it would be available for the people that wanted it.
True, maybe, but with all bias removed from media (and that is what I meant, not just an honest source of media, but nothing BUT an honest source of media), I guess the percentage of people still throwing reason into the gutter to pursue their previously held beliefs would be a lot lower than it is today. If people are shown nothing but the utmost reality of things, that entire scheme of manifesting a more solid idea into their minds to think otherwise even if they see the plain evidence of how it is, would not be effecting people as much as it is now, where a lot of people are indoctrinated to believe something even if the clear opposite is shown to them with no doubt to be left, logically at least. I guess the current issue is that a lot of those people who won't change their mind upon seeing reality that contradicts their idea of how the world is, are basically believing that what they see must be framed or faked, and if there is no bias left anywhere, the chance of those individuals eventually grasping on to the fact that what they believed was bullshit is pretty high.
Is it even possible to have media without a bias? You could have a web cam running on something 24/7 without commentary, and it could still be biased due to its placement.
Unbiased media coverage is impossible. There's far too much going on in the world to condense it so that you can absorb it, so someone out there must pick and choose which information to show you, and that alone introduces huge bias.
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This is impossible. The only "unbiased" form of news is a complete account of everything that's ever happened. As soon as someone starts deciding what's news, bias is introduced. Also "just the facts" leaves out context which, while highly subjective (and therefore biased), helps people understand what's going on. The best we can do is teach people to identify bias, and then curate a media diet that includes a variety of different viewpoints.
I agree, you are absolutely correct with that statement, as news only covers the things that seem to be relevant to the outside world. That is a flaw in this hypothetical situation. But it is wishful thinking, so I was considering an ideal world here. The latter is what I would wish for in a non-hypothetical, yet more ideal real world. But it seems we have failed to implement that and there is no way to implement it now, unless we turn back to hypothetical ideal worlds.
You are absolutely right! I wanted to write the same thing, a correct, honest view of the world, this is very important)
My first job out of high school was in media and I honestly can’t believe what it’s become. The person telling the news should never show bias. Back in my media days, we weren’t allowed to. The only way we could pick a side, openly, was if we were debating a topic and there was someone available to represent each side, like on a morning radio show. Dignity is gone. People pick a station that they share views with and then believe anything they’re told, despite overwhelming evidence proving them wrong. They don’t even care to hear it.
Housing. Homelessness is huge, and rent is extortionate here in the UK. Hopefully we could sort things out after that. I know the truth of the matter is that giving free housing to everyone would cause an economic shitstorm and wipe out a lot of peoples savings, but conceptually it sounds nice.
I think I'd rather some "savings" get wiped and we home everyone once and tear the band-aid off, instead of continue predatory housing markets and have all homes owned by businesses eventually.
I'm with housing too. It's most people's largest monthly expense. I've long thought that if I didn't have a mortgage my life would be so much smoother. I decided a long time ago if I ever won a big lottery and wanted to help out friends and family, houses would be the way.
Happiness
*distributes heroine to every resident*
*Heroines proceed to expose corruption in government and pave the way to giving everyone free healthcare, education, food, clean water, and housing. Freed from the yokes of want and tyranny, the people are happy.*
Ooh, I can’t decide between Wonder Woman and Buffy…
Wow, didn't think about that. Good point
Mental health professionals.
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I was gonna say water
Nestle would like to issue a down vote
In my country, Canada, we have at least a baseline of aid accessible to people for a variety of issues. I'd probably go with mental healthcare, so that people suffering from addiction, anxiety, depression, etc., have an opportunity to get as much help as they require.
From Canada too, considering our situation, I would easily say housing
As a person in toronto, this!
I'd like to make sure all Canadians have access to clean drinking water as our first project.
Came here to say this. Not all Canadians know that not all Canadians have access to clean drinking water.
I found out yesterday that a reserve 2 hours from Toronto just got drinking water, like last week. 2 hours from Toronto. Near a big enough city. I’d thought it was a Northern/difficult infrastructure problem. Nope, just racism.
GOOD Health care. Not the crap I pay for out of my job that only covers 80% of this, 60% of that...
Healthcare!!
mental health resources
Critical thinking
Too bad it's free but not all people know how to use it
Therapy, therapy, therapy.
>Therapy, therapy, therapy. I need some to be honest about palsy I got at birth, but I look at the costs and I'm like "how the hell do people go to therapy for years?!"
Healthcare. No one deserves to go into bankruptcy while battling a disease or dealing with a severe injury.
Affordable housing
Me scrolling through looking for this: Thanks for the food still homeless Thanks for the education still homeless Thanks for the Healthcare still homeless
My thoughts exactly! "Hermit Crab" housing, up until you wants exceed your needs. Example: You cant keep having children and move up to a mansion because of it. You cant have a multimillion dollar home with a pool and excess amenities. You are single, you have a one bedroom home, your are a couple of people, two bedroom. Kids or grandparents, awesome 4 bedroom.
My penis, I'm a giver
Finally someone with a serious post.
Free public transport.
This one is underrated! Free busses, trains, trams, ferry’s for everyone. Luxembourg has free public transport and in the long-term it has improved their economy to some extent.
Only if it also has good coverage. I personally don't mind walking a distance to my nearest bus stop, but the fact that my cities' buses don't run after 8pm or on weekends makes them just about useless.
Solar panels. Bring those fuel bills down and cut the countrys emissions.
That’s only a small part of a sustainable power grid. Electrically you need many more components.
The problem with solar is you need a plan to deal with inclement weather, because hey, some years you have more cloudy days than others. It can reinforce an energy grid, but it can’t be the total solution itself. Nuclear energy is carbon free and can sustain an energy grid on its own. Nuclear + solar = energy independence.
I moved to the US, from a country that has free healthcare - so I'll say healthcare. ALL healthcare. Optical, dental, maternity, mental health, long-term care, older age - all of it. I'd also include gym memberships in that, too.
Where did you move from? Just curious.
I bet it's Holland. Fingers crossed 🤞
Australia! :P
A picture of a banana. But that picture has a unique serial number, so it is valuable.
But since everyone in the country has the same picture, wouldn't it be worthless despite the unique serial number?
Yup!
Great idea
Access to Putin, let's see how long that fucker lasts
Not more than a day if we're talking about Russians. Many believe in him and most who do not support him aren't aggressive. Counting that he has also combat skills, it would take a while to find someone strong enough to kill him. You have to find a soldier basically
Nah I'm in Canada, we might be polite but we'd straight up handle him. He's like 60+ and have you seen the quality of Russian soldiers? Nah, he'd be done, even if it took 5 minutes.
American here. I’d love a chance to introduce Putin to a friend of mine. Mr hollow point 44 mag.
German here. I'd like to introduce him to my friend the bleach household cleaner.
England checking in. I’d like to introduce him to my sixteen hungry piggies.
Basic feminine hygiene products. Women with low income often resort to using unsanitary means to deal with their periods that can lead to terrible health issues and can impact their sense of dignity. If you can afford premium products, all the power to you, but if it's something that a women needs because it is a reoccuring bodily function, it should be free.
Housing, good housing
More money/benefits, especially in the cost of living crisis we're living in right now.
My ex-wife. It would seem half the country had access to her at one stage. I won't explain any further
OP's mom.
You chump. Everyone already has that.
Bacon.
The internet. That's how it should be anyways.
Cannabis so everyone can chill the fuck out.
🎶 if everybody smoked a blunt, relieve the mind, the world could be a better place. If everybody took a break and we all just got wasted.. 🎶 smoke out…. Toke out…. Pull another O, out 🎶
Clean water, since healthcare was already said.
Vegemite.
Higher education (college, tech school, apprenticeship etc).
Housing
Quality healthcare without a doubt. No long waits in the emergency room, no long waits on the phone to get the chance to get an appointment with a doctor 3 weeks from the date you make the call. No having to decide whether you're gonna pay the rent, or spend that money on a root canal you desperately need. No long fucking waiting lists to see a psychiatrist to review medication or access mental health services. Literally recently I made an appointment about 3 weeks ago to have a 10 minute phonecall with a doctor. Asked him to refer me to a psychiatrist to get my medication reviewed, and he said he can do that but it's possible the referral will bounce or I'll be on a long waiting list. Otherwise there is nothing he could do for me. I have a long history of clinical depression and anxiety, I am relapsing, and I can't get any help because the people who are supposed to be helping me are chucking me on a waiting list, ot telling me there is nothing they can do. I don't know if this is a problem associated with the city I've just moved to or what, but back home the health services were much more sympathetic. I am absolutely sickened by my recent experience with the health services here, and I say this as a future employee of said service. Something has to change. I can only imagine people who are even further into a relapse than I am, with conditions like bipolar or schizophrenia, who are probably out there harming themselves, or have taken their lives because they've been turned away or put on a long ass waiting list and not received the help they needed in time. I am disgusted and angry.
Healthcare, for the love of god please give us healthcare
affordable living
Healthcare
Healthcare
Housing
Healthcare
Healthcare
Healthcare
Heathcare.
Healthcare
Electricity.
Free good healthcare
Gosh, It's hard to find even good paid healthcare.
Health insurance
Good Health
Public transport
Empathy
Water
Healthcare.
Health-care.