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There are solutions to our problems... (thelemmy.club)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/workreform@lemmy.world
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[–] 4 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Unequivocally, yes. Programs that freely give things beyond base needs tend to have anywhere from 100-200% increases in material usage. See: Iran's free gasoline for a societal example, or help in most soup kitchens or volunteer at a food bank. It's still the right choice, but requires slightly more nuance than immediately apparent.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    Iran’s free gasoline

    I am entirely unfamiliar.

    help in most soup kitchens or volunteer at a food bank

    I have, there was very little waste?

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  • [–] -1 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/454663/Iran-s-gasoline-rationing-scheme-from-policy-to-practice

    Reasonable enough overview of the issue.

    As far as food bank and soup kitchens, have you really never noticed the abundance of discarded bags and bowls? Heard the endless nimby complaints from people in the neighborhood? Encountered, in marketplace style systems, the random hoarding that needs to be stifled?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Fuck NIMBYs, I don't listen them. We recently had a youth crisis center go up in town, and despite the dire warnings, there was zero increase in crime.

    As for the discards, I've found that depends almost entirely on policy. In areas where they just give you a tray with little consideration for dietary needs, or on days where the food is straight scop, yeah, there's a lot more discarded food.

    But that's not happening because it's free.

    The hoarding is similarly not happening because it's free, it happens because it's free this time, and there are no guarantees that it will be there when you need more. Even if they swear up and down it'll be there when you need it, you've been let down so many times you can't trust it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago* (2 children)

    How would a youth crisis center increase crime? What an absolute nonsense thought by nonsense people. "If we make sure teens are ok, then they'll start stealing and smoking reefers" feels like the thought process. Dumbest thing I've ever heard.

    I will say, it feels like you've inadvertently stumbled upon the nuance. That offering food requires more than throwing food at the problem, if you're on any sort of budget.

    However, I do recognize food scarcity leading to hoarding being fully mitigated by consistency, and you're entirely correct to suggest that it's worth re-evaluating broad interactions based on safety concerns being met

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Because "youth crisis center" is a polite term for juvie rehab. They work with kids that committed nonviolent crimes. The NIMBYs and business owners swore up and down that it'd lead to prowling youth gangs and shit, but it hasn't.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Did they waste the gas/food or did they use what they needed instead of what they could afford before it was free?

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  • [–] 0 points 1 month ago

    Oh, people just drove everywhere, always, anytime, and without concern. Ran generators rather than purchasing electricity from the grid, didn't care about their car's fuel economy because it didn't financially impact them. Iirc, they alone were contemporaneously above the US in petroleum use per capita, and by nearly 2x. And the US is disgustingly over-reliant on petroleum to this day.

    https://www.worldometers.info/oil/oil-consumption-by-country/

    (Today's numbers for perspective)

    If you read the article, you'd see that Iran ended up a net importer of gasoline as a result. Iran. That's like Canada becoming a Net importer of maple syrup because they had a custom of pouring syrup over their nipples and inviting people to lick it off at the turn of every hour. People in Canada would unequivocally be happy about it, but it doesn't seem like the best use of resources.

    As for food, I'm going to consider my opinions a bit more before offering anything.

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