this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
1122 points (99.4% liked)

Political Memes

5606 readers
1045 users here now

Welcome to politcal memes!

These are our rules:

Be civilJokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.

No misinformationDon’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.

Posts should be memesRandom pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.

No bots, spam or self-promotionFollow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 154 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Also I don't quite get it. Who makes the money?

Oh is this so they can work?

Do they have to sign a contract where they will work for you or else they lose the house and counseling?

I just don't see how a society can continue if they aren't paying their fair share!

/SarcasticCapitalism

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 months ago

Had me in the first half. My thumbs were really revving up.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The worst thing is, this is a far more effective way to make them productive members of society. It just isn’t cruel.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 75 points 2 months ago (5 children)

Yes, but if we don't have so many shitheads in the street how can we justify such bloated police budgets? I would rather spend the money on our fine boys and girls in blue then some people who actually need it.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 2 months ago

Okay, but we have to be careful what part of the budget the money goes to. If we pay the cops too much, they might send their kids to college or some other liberal bullshit; and if we pay too much for training, we might accidentally get them competent instructors instead of grifters who promise them that killing people will make their pp hard. We have to make sure that we only buy military surplus that no police force could conceivably need, and paint it scawwy black, because military camo isn't oppressive enough.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 51 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It still blows my mind that some people cannot comprehend that not everything needs an exchange of currency in some way shape or form.

"They don't do anything in return?" "They don't get worse!" "But who compensates the people who help them?" "We do." "But then who compensates us?"

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago

I view it as a form of capitalism indoctrination. If there's no material compensation it's a bad idea, which is the capitalist idea of "if I don't make a profit I won't do it". I've seen people argue free energy is bad because the excess energy cannot be monetized, which is something you say only if you want to profit from energy.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

Like do these people realize that if we give people the means to not just survive, but thrive, in our society which rapidly approaches post-scarcity (I'd argue we'd basically be there if we had better distribution of wealth) then they would have no reason to steal or kill? I mean except for the worst cases, but ya know.. if everyone except for the truly evil has no reason or desire to do crime then....

Just saying imagine a world where police actually fought bad guys and just let social workers handled the wayward sheep, the downtrodden, and the desperate?

[–] [email protected] 49 points 2 months ago (2 children)

They key is they did it nationwide. If one area in the US tries to do this, other areas will ship them their homeless.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

If you recover 4/5 from them, then your economy is going to boom

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

If you recover 4/5 from them, then your economy is going to boom

It has to function long enough and well enough for that recovery, and the sheer malice of conservatives in this country suggests that the city would be swiftly overrun with confused bussed-in folk on the taxpayer dime while GOP governors crow about how they've defeated the Woke Menace(tm) yet again

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Who knew getting them healthy and back in the workforce paying taxes could pay off?

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago (2 children)

This here exactly should be the goal of all those "fiscally responsible" Republicans: homeless sick dude is healed and housed and counseled until he's back paying his damned taxes and a productive member of society again.

People who can't cope will need a different programme, but still a live-in deal with counseling and a focus on the fundamental needs.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Homeless people cost more money than these programs do, even if you don't take into account the amount of taxes being paid back.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So do prisons. It's all performative nonsense from a financial perspective.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 months ago (1 children)

"Party of fiscal responsibility" is projection, just like everything else.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 43 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Conservatives hate these not because they don't work, but that they shouldn't work. They insist that the only thing that matters is piety and hard work. If those aren't enough, you just aren't pious enough and aren't working hard enough, even if the work literally crippled you that you cannot do as much of it as you did before.

It is entirely about being cruel and evil as a policy.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago

"Without the threat of being thrown out onto the street, my workers won't put up with as much mistreatment."

If you have kids and aren't rich, you literally can't go into business for yourself in the US...if you fail that means your family becomes homeless and loses their health care.

The cruelty and evil helps the rich control the rest of us.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today is a -- rather long winded -- story, co-authored by Mark Twain, about a family who inherits something like 80,000 acres of [worthless] land in east Tennessee. They spend years trying to scheme their way to wealth by selling the land, only to completely fail and ultimately lose it due to unpaid property taxes. The story is satire but it's a sad one.

It's about poor people who imagine themselves to be rich people in waiting. If not for this one pesky little obstacle, which actually turns out to be a lifetime full of obstacles. Because the easist way to get rich is to be rich and the hardest way to get rich is to not be rich.

On some level, this is how the average Republican sees themselves: a rich person in waiting. And they would finally get there if not for all those OTHER poor people who keep "stealing" all the "wealth".

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 40 points 2 months ago (4 children)

As a conservative I support this idea, because it has no means testing.

Means testing is fucked up in two ways:

  • It makes government larger and gets the government asking questions, poking its nose into everything
  • It creates a perverse incentive structure, one which doesn’t match nature and hence doesn’t match the way our brains evolved to respond to challenge.

The perverse incentive structure is the worse of the two, in my opinion. Just like crack cocaine hacks the brain, presents something the brain can’t handle because it didn’t evolve for, rewarding a person with resources only when they don’t succeed basically programs a person to fail.

I’m all for the government generously giving with an open hand to people, and letting the people decide when to start receiving benefits and when to stop. People are either worth it or they aren’t, and a person doesn’t stop being worth it just because they got their shit together, or start being worth it just because they failed.

Government should treat everyone the same. If a government wants to present a service like “free housing if you want it”, I’m totally fine with that.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 2 months ago (4 children)

As a conservative

I’m all for the government generously giving with an open hand to people

"Conservative" is not exactly a rigidly-defined term, but here in the US these two lines I quoted from your comment are absolutely polar opposites.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Edit: I should probably start by saying that this is somewhat off-topic.

In the Netherlands we tend to rank our parties along left-right and progressive-conservative axes separately. Conservative-left gets you Christians who care about the poor. In other countries there's also the "I want the government to support our workers", "I want to go back to Soviet times" and "I'm leftist but LGBTQ is wrong" types.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

It's an interesting difference. By supporting aid to the poor, you are trying to conserve that which already exists in your country. By supporting aid to the poor, we are trying to progress beyond what already exists in our country. Same issue, same viewpoint, but because your country is so much more advanced than us already on this issue, it makes you a conservative and me a progressive.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

A conservative with compassion and sense is always a welcome sight. This is a pretty obvious solution imo, but the powers that be seem to disagree.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I'm for restricting human behavior as little as possible while still allowing anyone to escape any bad situation they don't want to be apart of.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ok, but how can Finland afford the nesting-doll yachts if they are giving out money that should have gone into billionaires' hoards?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago

I can imagine nothing more miserable than having a day out on a massive expensive yacht... on the Baltic Sea.

(Regular rich people might have some fun on the ferries, but billionaires probably don't, because this involves buying a ticket and sharing the ship with the rabble.)

One day, I wish I had a shitty old fishing boat and go slowly puttering through the rain and gloom. Living the real life.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (12 children)

I really don't think anyone can get physically healthier (I think that's a big point) when they are sleeping in the cold and don't have good nutrition. (Multivitamins ftw.)

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Everyone deserves food, shelter and safety

[–] [email protected] 32 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Ok Jesus.

Whats next, everyone should be able to see a doctor if they are sick!?

This guy.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Ive had it up to here with this new testament soy boy. Wheres the brimstone? Wheres the suffering?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

In my day, the women lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like that of donkeys and whose emission were like horses. Ezekiel 23:20

MY God commits war crimes on a massive scale:

The earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger. Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.

Whoever is caught will be stabbed, and whoever is captured will die by the sword.

Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished. Isaiah 13:13-16

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)
[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 months ago

The "4 out of 5" figure roughly matches what I recall being told by a head of Catholic Charities maybe a decade ago. You certainly have some percentage of people who’ve been given everything they need to be comfortable, and when you leave them alone and come back to check on them, they simply have not been able to look after themselves. But for the vast majority, it does work. People are in a safe space where they can look for work, have an address to put down on applications, and all that.

Quite affordable too; ambulance rides and jail visits aren't cheap.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I've seen nothing more demonic than prosperity gospel.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

Would be funny if it wasn't so sad and aggravating.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

Canonically, if Jesus saw a megachurch, he would start making a whip.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

In the US the cruelty is the point. We will never end homelessness here because its an intended feature of our economic system. It's a constant threat to workers. Coercing them into accepting low wages and long hours in the name of stability.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Just execute the homeless, grind them into feed for the poor and the problem solves itself.

Holy shit, it's not that hard.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

A modest proposal really, Swift would be proud.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

mmm, yes, their sweaty, sweaty fate

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago

Why does it even need to be a transaction? We help each other because it's the right thing to do. It doesn't need to result in anything other than gratitude and happiness.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago

Alternatively the government can spend an equal or greater amount to making homelessness illegal, making their lives as painful as possible, reducing every opportunity they have for upward mobility, and simultaneously reducing taxes for the capitalists.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Dishwashers are an accessibility item, too. Housing should be required to have them, just like places require wheelchair ramps.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (3 children)

And if we have to pick in-unit laundry should be top priority. You can do a lot with a sink and a hot plate but ain’t nobody should be washing clothes by hand and having to keep an eye on your clothes, especially for unhoused people who are probably a little justified in being worried about leaving their stuff unattended, takes some energy people may not have.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yeah here in Finland that is basically achieved by having a laundry-room in apartment buildings that you can reserve. In some of the places I lived, it did cost though, so more of a laundromat in the cellar of your building. But usually free in the buildings that have a lot of government supported people.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

Nooooo that money is supposed to go to hard working shareholders like nature intended!!

/s

load more comments
view more: next ›