yep.
A common fallacy is trying to make public policy out of what a individual should do. So like if drug use leads someone to homelessness then you think "stop drug use, therefore less homelessness".
But then actually if rent was cheaper, drug use wouldn't cause homelessness in the first place.
If you want to understand the origins and solutions of the American homelessness problem, a really important starting point is to understand that the problem mostly exists in places where *there are lots of jobs and the labor market is really strong,* not in economically depressed areas.
people experience financial shocks for all sorts of reasons, it's true that addressing them is one way to address homelessness. But also financial shocks are a part of modern life and homelessness isn't actually universal at all. It's a specific policy failure.
In Portland people talk about about addiction and mental health, but their *actual complaint* is about hyper visible homeless camps. Very different causes and solutions!
it's almost academic at this point, since we (the west coast) do have a legit terrible homelessness problem, but I do think if everyone had a home then people with visible mental health issues in public would still be considered a "problem" that needed to be "solved."
I think people who say "it's not a housing crisis it's a mental health crisis" are really trying to say "I don't want to feel bad so let's pretend there's nothing that can be done and it's all there fault".
As silly as aphorisms are, for some reason "homeless people in your neighborhood are your neighbors" really cut through my own dismissiveness to the 'personal responsibility' arguments and idk why.
