#choosing not to END THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS IN AMERICA despite HAVING THE MEANS TO out of greed does. however

[tooangrymustinternet]

The train station was empty at that hour. Three in the morning. Alex moved slowly along the platform, exhausted from a fun night out and ready to be home.

As it turns out, this particular train station wasn’t empty after all. A figure moved under a gray blanket nestled against the station wall, the sort of blanket that looked just like all the other blankets the city’s homeless people used. Alex wished once again, silently, for transitional housing to magically appear fully built and ready with enough units to end the crisis. Preferably, of course, with proper management and no unnecessary barriers to access. As a millennial, Alex was convinced that the personal budget to do such a thing, even on a small scale, would never be attainable. “Maybe I should run for city council,” Alex mused silently. It wasn’t the first time, and seemed to be a somewhat less unattainable way to gain the means to fight the various crises created in the city by regressive local and state taxes combined with the policies of the federal administration at the time. Alex continued down the platform, considering what it would take to run for office. Upon nearing the blanketed figure, Alex noticed that the movement had not stopped. Whoever was under the fabric was moving in ways Alex didn’t think made sense with the way human bodies are built. “Are you okay?” Alex called out. There was no response. The motions continued. Alex went closer. “Do you need help?” The motion stopped. There was a pause. “Yes,” a rhaspy voice said after a moment. “What do you need?” Unnerving chuckling. Thin and strange, almost a quiet wail, the stranger’s pained and mirthless laugh sent shivers down Alex’s spine. Alex was determined to ignore the creepy sensation and help if at all possible. After all, Alex felt it was unethical to allow personal discomfort to get in the way of doing right by others. The sounds drifted into silence. Alex continued to wait. After a long moment, the answer came. “Everything and nothing.” Alex’s train began to approach the station. “Is there something I can do to help you, or shall I leave you to it?” “Take this,” the stranger said, still hidden beneath the blanket. A small black box came sliding along the ground from under one edge of the blanket. “You want me to take this?” “Yes.” Alex took a step forward, and picked up the box. It was quite worn, but was clearly once a very nice leather case. “What is it?” “Look inside.” The train began to enter the platform and slow. Alex looked down at the box and hesitated a moment before opening it. This was a very strange situation after all. Inside there was a shiny black pen nestled in black velvet. In the lid of the box was a folded piece of black paper. “This is a nice pen,” Alex said. There was no answer. Looking up, Alex saw that the blanket and whoever was under it were both gone. Alex looked around. No one was on the platform. There was nowhere this person could have gone. Alex was puzzled, but the train came to a stop. One person exited, and Alex got on. Home an hour later, Alex placed the case on the nightstand and went to bed. Despite the late hour, Alex simply could not sleep. The scene with the blanketed figure ran over and over in Alex’s mind despite all best efforts at stillness. Giving up, Alex turned on a light and sat up. Opening the pen case revealed the folded paper. Alex removed it and unfolded it, then gasped in surprise as stylized letters appeared on the page as if they were being written by some invisible hand. “Alex Trumonger, you have been chosen by the Guardian of the Convictapen to wield its powers. Write someone’s name on this page below, and that person will become convicted of all crimes that person ever committed against others. Choose wisely, for there are consequences to convictions. You may only use its powers three times, and then the Convictapen must be returned to the Guardian.”

Three blank lines faded into existence on the page below the text, one after another. “I’ve been awake too long,” Alex said, and went back to bed. The next morning, the case was still there. Alex opened it. The pen was still there, and so was the paper. Alex unfolded it. It was blank for a moment, but then the same message reappeared. “I’ve always wanted to send a fascist leader to prison,” Alex thought, “except that I don’t believe our prison system is ethical.” “If I really do have the power to make this choice,” Alex thought after several hours of debating the question internally, "Then I am just as responsible for doing nothing as I am for doing something. If I do nothing, people keep dying. If I take an action that leads to our fascist president being imprisoned in an unethical prison system, then the harm I cause will be to one person while the benefits I cause will be to everyone in the nation, plus it might get us a step closer to getting back into the Paris Accords so it’ll also potentially benefit the whole world.” Alex picked up the pen, and placed the paper on the desk under the window. After a long moment of hesitation, Alex wrote “Donald John Trump” on the first line, then put the pen and paper back in their case. Alex turned on the news in the background just to see if something would actually happen and got to work doing chores. It was only a matter of hours until breaking news alerts announced that for the first time in the history of the United States of America, an acting President had been arrested. Due to the circumstances surrounding the reasons for the arrest, Vice President Mike Pence was also arrested, as well as most of the cabinet members and a few other prominent figures. The executive branch was in turmoil according to the news anchors, but Alex wondered if it would be more functional this way. Eventually, Trump and Pence were removed from office even before their trials were complete, leading to Nancy Pelosi becoming the first female President of the United States of America. With the Democrat Nancy Pelosi as the new President, and a Democratic majority in the House, Alex got another idea and returned to the black pen case. “Brett Michael Kavanaugh” After a lengthy series of trials, Kavanaugh was convicted and stripped from the bench of the Supreme Court. It took some time, but Congress was finally able to agree on someone President Pelosi nominated. With the federal government somewhat less terrifying and fascist, Alex decided to take a significant amount of time to think about the third blank line in the box. This would, of course, involve researching the leaders and politics of every nation in the world. Alex had to be sure that the last line would be used to benefit the most people possible.

[missmentelle]

hey i hav a question regarding ur post abt giving houses to homelessness and 100% agree with everything u said and thoroughly believe in it, but had the thought that how do you stop people from manipulating that system to get free housing? would it not then lead to the government providing a free house for everyone? just some food for thought

Almost every community in America gives away free food at a food bank, so why are you still buying your own groceries?Whenever we talk about the possibility of people abusing social programs, we tend to dramatically underestimate how much people value their pride, independence and autonomy. The vast majority of people do not want to use social programs, even if they are eligible for them. One in four Americans who is eligible for food stamps does not sign up for the program, largely due to the shame and stigma of being on social welfare; that is 13 million struggling people who would rather go hungry than get government assistance. Whenever possible, people tend to prefer to fend for themselves. It’s often much more difficult to convince people to sign up for social programs that they qualify for than it is to keep fakers out. Canada has a federal program to provide free orthodontic work (which is insanely expensive) to poor children, and only 16 children in the entire country are signed up for it, despite the fact that hundreds of orthodontists have signed up to do free work. Fears of “freeloaders” are grossly exaggerated. People also place incredible value on being able to make choices for themselves; the vast majority of people would rather pay to get something they like, rather than be given something for free that they don’t care for. When you get social assistance, you don’t get much choice in your life. You get what you’re given. You can’t show up at a food bank and say “I’ve got a real craving for eggplant Parmesan, give me the ingredients for that” - you get whatever’s available, whether you like it or not. People in housing assistance programs don’t get to shop around to find a place that’s in a good school district and within walking distance of their favourite restaurant - they get whatever housing is available. For people who are in desperate circumstances, choosing between “sleeping on a park bench” and “having a free apartment that isn’t what you would have chosen” is a no-brainer, but people who do have the ability to choose things for themselves want to exercise that choice. I’m a full-time grad student living in Manhattan, one of the most expensive places on earth; my financial situation is best described by several long screams, and I was still able to shop around and choose an apartment that was in a convenient location for me, near the things I needed. Social programs also have ways to figure out who needs their assistance and who doesn’t. It’s not difficult to work out how much money a person needs to earn in a particular area to be able to afford housing and set an income cutoff for assistance. All existing housing programs do this; you can’t show up with a 6-figure income and declare that you’re tired of paying rent. Free housing also isn’t intended as a permanent solution; it provides a safe place to land, get your feet back under you, and figure out your next steps. Most programs do charge people a percentage of whatever income they earn to help recoup some of the costs of running the program, but this is always done at a level the person can afford, and they do not lose their housing if they lose their source of income. Once you start to approach the income cap, the program works with you to transition you out of their housing and into regular housing. There are some people who might end up relying on it permanently, which would mostly be the elderly, the disabled, or the severely mentally ill - frankly, I have absolutely no problem with that. For the most part, though, housing-first programs work hard to help people regain their independence. They don’t just park people in housing units and forget about them. These programs provide mental health counselling, addictions counselling, educational programming, job training, job search assistance, parenting classes, and anything else a person might need to get back on their feet. Again, this is a reason why people would not want to “game the system” - having social workers, counselors, nurses and support workers constantly showing up at your front door to check on you and help you find a job is a breath of fresh air when you need those services, but if you’re “faking it” to get free housing, that’s going to get annoying pretty quickly.And ultimately, we as a society have to decide where our priorities lie. It might not be possible to ensure that zero people who could support themselves end up benefiting from these programs. But frankly, if I have to make a choice between housing 100 needy families and supporting one “freeloader”, or putting 100 needy families out on the street, I’m going to house those families. I want to live in a compassionate society where a sudden mental illness, job loss or personal crisis does not mean that people have to go live in tents in public parks; if that means that an occasional “freeloader” slips through and takes advantage, well, so be it. Sometimes we have to look at the big picture, and the only big picture I���m interested in seeing is one where everybody has homes. 

[vinayv224]

Amazon has yet to announce the HQ2 locations, but reports suggest the company is coming to both New York City and northern Virginia.

It seems Amazon has finally chosen the two locations for its new headquarters: Queens, New York, and Arlington, Virginia.

The company has yet to formally announce its decision, but news about the HQ2 sites began leaking last week. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that instead of one city, Amazon would split its HQ2 between two locations. A few hours later, the New York Times followed up with a report that the company was “nearing deals” in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens and the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, a suburb of Washington, DC.

More than 200 local and state governments submitted proposals for Amazon’s consideration last year after the company announced it was looking for a North American city to house its $5 billion, 50,000-employee HQ2, a second headquarters outside its home base in Seattle. Some cities promised the company millions of dollars in tax breaks and other incentives.

New York City, for its part, claimed not to have offered Amazon any extra incentives. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, however, offered Amazon a still-undisclosed benefits package. Virginia, meanwhile, reportedly hired McKinsey & Co. to draft its proposal, which has yet to be publicly released.

The road to HQ2

Amazon first asked local and state governments to submit HQ2 proposals in September 2017, noting that municipalities with more than 1 million residents and a “stable, business-friendly environment” would have a leg up, as would those with robust public transit systems and large airports with direct flights to and from Seattle.

“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement at the time. “Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs.”

Hundreds of cities, from New York City to Gary, Indiana, jumped at the opportunity for its potential to boost the local economy and job market. A new Amazon headquarters would create 50,000 new jobs in the chosen city, meaning a larger tax base and opportunities for further economic development. And that’s just jobs at Amazon: Construction crews would be needed to build the company’s new campus or renovate an existing structure, and all those Amazon employees are going to need places to eat and shop.

A total of 238 cities and states ended up submitting proposals. Some, including Detroit, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh, created videos explaining why they were the right choice. Orlando had more than one.

Amazon announced its 20 finalists in January. The shortlist included some obvious contenders, like New York and Chicago, as well as some less likely options like Indianapolis and Dallas.

Some of those cities tried to lure the company with huge financial incentives.

A letter obtained by the Chicago Tribune revealed that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and city leaders promised Amazon more than $2 billion in perks, including $1.32 billion in EDGE tax credits — grants for companies that promise to create jobs in the state — as well as $172.5 million in state sales tax and utility exemptions, and $61.4 million in property tax discounts. The largest of those incentives, the EDGE credits, would have been equivalent to 50 percent of employee income tax withholdings, the Tribune reported.

New Jersey offered Amazon $5 billion in incentives, plus an additional $2 billion from Newark — the second-largest publicly available offer the company received, according to CityLab. Maryland made an even larger offer: $8.5 billion in subsidies and infrastructure funding, as reported by the Baltimore Sun, in addition to an undisclosed incentive package from Montgomery County.

“I’m doing everything I can,” Cuomo told reporters when asked about his administration’s efforts to win over Amazon. “I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes. Because it would be a great economic boost.”

Was HQ2’s competitive selection process a highly publicized ruse?

Some experts reasoned that the massively hyped selection process was rigged from the start, and that Amazon knew where it wanted to locate its HQ2 all along. Scott Galloway, a professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, said as much at Recode’s Code Commerce conference last month when he predicted that Amazon would choose — and has always planned to choose — Washington, DC, as the home for its second location, but allowed cities to compete in order to extract more incentives from both the chosen city and its competitors.

“Amazon has gamified the HQ2 process and basically created a game which will result in a transfer of wealth from municipalities — fire districts, school districts, and police forces — to Amazon’s shareholders,” Galloway said. “I believe it is a [ruse]. I believe they have no intention of being in any of these [other] 18 cities. I believe this game was over before it started.”

CityLab co-founder and University of Toronto professor Richard Florida similarly said in May that Amazon always knew what the location for its second headquarters would be. “Like all corporate site selection, the HQ2 process is a rigged game, where the company knows the answer in advance and sets up a fictitious competition to wrest maximum incentives,” wrote Florida. “What’s going on is something that is bigger than just a search for a second headquarters; it’s about the company’s continued expansion across North America.”

The HQ2 process, he argued, was a way for Amazon to crowdsource information on sites across the country — not a genuine competition for a new headquarters — in order to have intel on where to place new distribution or logistics centers. He called it a “brilliantly cynical exercise in corporate locational strategy,” and he might be right.

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon had begun calling up cities whose HQ2 proposals it had rejected to tell them why they hadn’t been chosen — and some of those cities are taking Amazon’s suggestions to heart. Cincinnati, for example, responded to Amazon’s critique that it didn’t have enough local tech talent by refocusing a high school apprenticeship program on information technology. Orlando, which reportedly received a similar critique, considering starting a community development fund to invest in local tech companies. Detroit is looking for ways to beef up its public transit in response to losing out on the Amazon bid.

So what does this mean for the winner?

It’s likely that despite the hoops cities and states jumped through in order to show Amazon they were worthy of being chosen as the home of HQ2, the company knew what it wanted to do all along. In the case of New York and Virginia, all of this could mean that any extra perks officials offered may come at the expense of longtime residents.

In May, Vox’s Matt Yglesias wrote that Amazon’s promise of 50,000 jobs may not be as much of a boon as it may seem. Instead of creating jobs needed by “people who are really in need of help,” i.e., under-paid, low-skilled workers, Amazon’s presence will likely lead to a surge in well-compensated white-collar professionals who will drive up property values even further.

It’s nearly impossible to overstate the effects Amazon’s presence has had on the housing market in Seattle, which is home to more than 45,000 of the company’s employees. Highly paid Amazon employees in the city have contributed to steadily rising real estate prices in the city and its outlying suburbs, causing housing costs to surge and leading to the displacement of low-income families. In 2015, King County declared a homelessness state of emergency; conditions have hardly improved since, and local lawmakers have repeatedly pointed to a lack of affordable housing in the city as a key culprit in its homelessness crisis. House prices in the city have risen 70 percent since 2011, according to a report by the Guardian, and rents have risen along with them. Traffic is also a concern; Seattle is contending with an excessive burden on the city’s public transit system.

What remains to be seen is what kind of effect HQ2 will have on New York and Arlington, and whether the cities will take steps to protect their residents from Amazon’s presence.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2OxBkwg