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Comment by simplotek | Hacker News Reader

> This is a fair question to ask, though. Why don’t they just get jobs? What are the structural issues in society that lead to this? Why are some people chronically homeless while the average length of homelessness (for those experiencing it) is “just” around 150 days? Why is getting a job not the solution for many? Why are there even people with jobs who are homeless?

I feel that it's more fruitful to not frame discussions on "why homeless people X" and instead think about why some of us end up losing any support and specially income so that the only and best option is to lose our home.

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You answered the question "why don't homeless people get jobs" with what you insist it should be reframed as. That doesn't make sense.

I don't think it's healthy let alone desirable to discourage pointed questions from kids. It's another thing altogether to teach them to be tactful and tip-toe in mixed company around sensitive topics (which goes beyond the level of maturity of a child), but they shouldn't have to do that with their own parents.

> I don't think it's healthy let alone desirable to discourage pointed questions from kids.

Reframing a question isn't tiptoeing around it: "that's a Wrong Question" is the start of an answer. Though, probably the kind of answer you'd give someone able to read The Ask and the Answer and realise it's about fascism.

Answering with a "Why don't they? What's keeping them from doing so?"-type reframe is the better approach for people not used to making such leaps on their own: you're teaching them to do this reframing, and to question premises.

(Wrong Question = question from an invalid premise)

It's not an invalid premise.

> You answered the question "why don't homeless people get jobs" with what you insist it should be reframed as.

No. The problem is not whether X has a job or not. The problem is why X was forced to lose their home. In this day and age you can still lose your home even if you are juggling multiple jobs.

> In this day and age you can still lose your home even if you are juggling multiple jobs.

Not with geared-to-income housing that one rents. A house you own, yes, but the outcome of no longer owning a home does not translate to homelessness.

The answer to your hypothetical question is because many people have mental illnesses that make them dangerous to be around in some shape or fashion to the point that only a state actor can safely step in and help.

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