San Francisco SPCA uses a robot to chase away homeless people, because cruelty to humans is just fine

[Mindysan33]

And this is precisely why I’m suspicious of it.

[anon76197405]

@lolipop_jones

Institutions Will Seek To Preserve The Problem For Which They Are The Solution. -Clay Shirky.

Conservatives are sociopathic assholes who hate others and want anyone in poverty to suffer - every action they’ve ever taken.

[wait_really]

@the_borderer

But is UBI just another subsidy for the rich?

Maybe also, but I think mainly it’s The Road to Serfdom.

[the_borderer]

I think the SPGB would agree with you. I know I do.

[gracchus]

@the_borderer

But is UBI just another subsidy for the rich?

Depends on how it’s implemented. In its most likely neoliberal form in the U.S., yes.

[Mister44]

@Wanderfound

Throwing money at bureaucracy and policing rarely solves problems.

Throwing money and resources directly at the people in need is often surprisingly effective.

Yes, I agree with that. I remember reading that homelessness is often just a crisis or two away for most people. Actually, could have easily happened to me if I didn’t have family support. Also read about pilot programs for small grants for basic stuff like car repair or a new washer.

@codinghorror

You’d be surprised what the data says on this.

Yeah, as above I am talking about the typical “throw money at it”. There are various programs out there that aren’t seeing results despite the money. As I said above with Wonderlust, I am on board with that concept.

I have for a long time taken the view that the closer one is to a problem, the better they can help.

[redesigned]

@fuzzyfungus

I’m sure that there are some absolutely precious explanations of why filthy homeless are an unpardonable intrusion on public space; while a trundling surveillance dalek is a completely reasonable and neighborly addition to the vibrant life of the sidewalk…

unfortunately I think a percentage of people value the robots more.

robots are a clean expensive tech that remind us of our future even if people are making them do shite things, homeless are devalued by society and a painful reminder of the very very thin thread of circumstance that separates any one of us from any one of them. The upper casts like to remind the middle class every so often to keep them on the treadmill, but not to often as to cause change. things gotta change.

@Uncascrooge

But what do you expect? When you visit countries that should have a large homeless population, but don’t, you find they have a few things in common: national health care, clean and attended public restrooms, and plenty of cheap public options for bathing.

well said.

@Uncascrooge

We can’t afford all of that in America and also have the greatest military ever. So we end up with a Roomba for the homeless.

well, we could, and it would cost far less, but there is a certain right wing ideological roadblock towards giving others free help. the right is not a “do unto the least of these” crowd…

[redesigned]

@wait_really

in the form of UBI.

Our rapidly advancing abilities have already outgrown the capitalism of several centuries ago, and modern capitalism is a sham and goes through the motions of capitalism while being highly broken. UBI is one of the very few ways that capitalism can adapt to the future that we are on the doorstep of. There are other non-capitalistic solutions that we could go to instead of keeping capitalism and adding UBI, but capitalism is a pretty devout religion chalk full of fundamentalists and they’d rather make that concession than change faith especially since they’ve spent their whole lives clawing their way up the rungs of the church of wealth.

[smulder]

What's on the Ground in The Jetsons?

[RickMycroft]

Quick! Head for the suburbs!

[lolipop_jones]

Have a great day. I’ve been called a lot worse here, and I never let myself be goaded by it.

[lolipop_jones]

Except that SF is spending $40,000 per homeless person per year, money which was generated by capitalists, and it’s not solving the problem.

[blondie]

That’s because they’re spending it on the homelessness bureaucracy and not giving it to the people themselves.

[lolipop_jones]

That’s exactly right! But dollar sucking bureaucracies are not produced by “capitalism”. They are produced by the normal human tendency to maximize job security, which happens in every known economic system.