Why does Finland have less homeless people than America?

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨War5oldier@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

You can visit like Helsinki: and yet, there’s barely any homeless people around (of course, homeless people still exist) while comparing that to Los Angeles, it’s a fucking joke. It’s because they prioritize housing for everyone indifferent to their circumstances (even those addicted to drugs or with mental health issues are also sheltered) as they recognize that housing is a human right.

The housing is managed by the state, while Finns pay A TON in taxes at least it’s heading to cover expenses for getting people off the streets. It’s because the Finnish government is on board with putting them into housing while American government demonizes their existence as a whole not even considering them as human beings at all, like WTF is wrong with their mindset?

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Comments

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porcoesphino@mander.xyz ⁨27⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago
What the fuck is this and where are the mods?

Agreed the US system is a joke but so is the trying to pitch this post as a question

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Godric@lemmy.world ⁨47⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago
Famously cold winters + not having a home to shelter in = not many homeless :(

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ExtremeDullard@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Have you been to Finland?

6 months of the year, homeless people would freeze to death in short order if they were left outside.

Finland has homeless people, just not on the street.

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- Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  6 months of the year, homeless people would freeze to death
  
  True, but that does surprisingly little to prevent homelessness.
  
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  - protist@retrofed.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    True, but that does surprisingly little to prevent homelessness.
    
    Yes, but it does a LOT to keep people experiencing homelessness of the streets and in shelter. In US cities that have harsh winters, they also have many fewer homeless folks visible on the streets than you’d find in California or Texas, where people can pretty much live outside in perpetuity
    
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- FireRetardant@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Same is true for much of Canada yet we can’t seem to shelter them either. It isn’t just the weather, the finnish government is far more compassionate towards homeless people than any other government I know of.
  
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- starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  So you’re saying homeless people have, um, homes?
  
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  - ExtremeDullard@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Being in a shelter hardly qualifies as having a home. Unless you like shelters maybe…
    
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- neidu3@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  My immediate thought too. We have homeless people here in Norway too. Homeless does not mean without housing or shelter.
  
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melsaskca@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
My guess is ‘empathy’ and ‘honour’.

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555@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
It’s cold and homeless people spend nights in public indoor places like airport lobbies and train stations.

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- black_flag@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
  Also if you try to spend the night in a station in America a guy with a gun will kindly see you back into the cold
  
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Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
The United States doesn’t even consider food a human right, so why would they give a single flying fuck about housing?

Pedophilia is apparently, however, a right that is guaranteed by the US Constitution.

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- HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
  not mention healthcare. pretty sure clean water is for those you can bid the highest. in bribes of course.
  
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AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

WTF is wrong with their mindset?

Unchecked capitalism and individualism.

Basically: “why should I help the others with my taxes if I’m doing ok?” and “profits over anything else”.

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- Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Just like Jesus would tell them to do it 😌
  
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DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
You can’t talk about homelessness in America without talking about Ronald Reagan.

When Reagan was elected Governor of California, the state had a large number of mental hospitals in place. They weren’t perfect, but treatment was available. reagan thought these places were a waste of tax payer money and had them closed. California now had a lot of homeless folks. They annoyed the locals, so the state had to hire more cops and build more jails.

This worked so well that Reagan did exactly the same when he became President.

My family lived in New York during that era. We went from a few homeless folks down on the Bowery to literally thousands. Every park was full.

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Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Finland has actually tried to do something about it, contrary to USA where homelessness is borderline illegal, and the main policy against it is harassment to make them go somewhere else. Finland is a civilized society, USA is a sociopathic society.

That said, homelessness is a challenge, but Finland has a program they call “housing first” to help prevent it, that has turned out to work better than what most countries do.

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Thavron@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

while Finns pay A TON in taxes

Looks up Finnish tax brackets… Looks up Dutch (my) tax brackets… O-kay.

Finland 2025 State Tax Brackets (Earned Income)

€0 – €21,200: 12.64%
€21,200 – €31,500: 19.00%
€31,500 – €52,100: 30.25%
€52,100 – €88,200: 34.00%
Over €88,200: 44.00%

Dutch tax brackets.

Bracket 1: 35,75% (0 - €38.883).
Bracket 2: 37,56% (€38.884 - €78.426).
Bracket 3: 49,50% (above €78.426).

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