From Laurie. "This Republican mayor has an incredibly simple idea to help the homeless. And it seems to be working."
Just coming home from China, this makes sense to me. However the Liberals just about had a conniption when I proposed it years ago. Then of course some Liberal would decide that the vagrants should be able to unionize, get job security and higher pay... Then the system fails.
How could we keep this program reasonable? I would like to have our urban centers / streets as clean and well maintained as those in China.
G2A Way to Create American Jobs
German City Pays in Beer
Just coming home from China, this makes sense to me. However the Liberals just about had a conniption when I proposed it years ago. Then of course some Liberal would decide that the vagrants should be able to unionize, get job security and higher pay... Then the system fails.
How could we keep this program reasonable? I would like to have our urban centers / streets as clean and well maintained as those in China.
G2A Way to Create American Jobs
German City Pays in Beer
5 comments:
It is simple, and not simple. You didn't explain why China brought the idea to mind, but I think I know, having observed it myself. You are correct, it is simple. Rather than government deciding who is "worthy" of a welfare check, let private citizens or charity keep them alive while insisting they "clean up their act" and find work. Now what is not simple is that some of those folks are basically unemployable and that /assumes/ that government-as-last-resort jobs are even available, which is what this mayor is doing. I've met many of these folks, and some of them either have no work skills, no work ethic, no desire to work, or no ability to work (i.e. really screwed up). If we could connect the private charity personal service and responsibility with government job training/placement/employment, I think we would have something. As an example, though, remember when Wisconsin instituted "workfare," 20% of recipients simply disappeared rather than seek work.
And by the way, my own father was on the wrong end of this for a while, and was always careful to distinguish between a "hobo" and a "bum." "A hobo will work for what he gets. A bum won't." During the 30s there were a lot of both, and people routinely found little odd jobs for the hoboes who came to their door. Then he got a spot in the CCC.
Personally I think China decided that they want to maintain nearly full employment and almost no welfare state.
Therefore instead of buying big machines to clean the streets they give the nearly unemployable a broom, dust pan, shears, pruner, etc and pay them a minimal wage. This way the people feel they are working for their benefit, and the capable ones are highly motivated to look for something better.
I think that is also a benefit of their highly manual agricultural and construction systems.
Along these lines... I was fascinated to see different beggars operating regularly at the corner of 494 and County Road 9 (ie Rockford Road).
I mean I am pretty certain none of them live in that area, so I was wondering how they had gotten there. My thought was a beggar business... Someone is likely driving these folks to more affluent communities and dropping them off at busy intersections...
Capitalism at its finest...
Well, let me repeat my father's story about the beggars he would regularly encounter on his way to lunch. He worked near the local "skid row." Occasionally a "bum" (not a hobo) would ask for "money to get something to eat." Dad would say something like, "the restaurant is right there, come along and I'll buy you all you can eat." He was usually refused, meaning the bum had no real interest in food.
His employer would also occasionally hire from the city's employment agency, which drew from this "labor pool." The standing rule was that you never paid them until the job was done, because they would never be back the next day-- too drunk. Government programs either don't reach them or don't help them. Not even the threat of /losing/ those benefits seems to matter.
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