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Comment by Gibbon1 | Hacker News Reader

General principal among civilized peoples is you can't punish people for breaking laws they they are unable to follow through no fault of their own.

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"Through no fault of their own" is the point of contention with this topic. One side believes the homeless are mostly victims of circumstance, the other that they're mostly victims of their own poor choices and addictions.

Can the tv news both sides nonsense. Other points of view are the failure of governments to provide services to their citizens. For example what if the government provided for different solutions and support for those with mental and physical illness. What if governments provide stable housing AND emergency shelters. You can't just work harder to afford housing and you can't just go to AA to treat your addiction and underlying conditions.

>Other points of view are the failure of governments to provide services to their citizens.

of which services are funded by and voted in by taxpayers.

So yes, to some extent it is the people's fault.

There are no free public toilets. So the homeless shit in the street. Arresting them for that fixes nothing. Except maybe buys you a day or two without shit, until another homeless person settles in.

There are plenty of public toilets where I live, and the homeless use them the same as the rest of us.

And while certainly not in all cases, it’s at least sometimes their deliberate choice and preference to live a life of zero responsibility.

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