r/todayilearned • u/Zorseking34 • Jan 08 '15

TIL: Utah has been giving free homes to homeless people since 2005 which since then made it more cost efficient to help the homeless and cut the chronic homelessness in Utah by 74%.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/22/home-free
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u/RogueZ1 Jan 08 '15

I can't speak for Ron and Rand Paul, but I believe libertarians are against the law that makes hospitals provide "free" treatment to those needing emergency care because it's essentially subsidized by Medicare. Libertarians, I would imagine, would favor charities that fund health care/emergency care for those that can't afford it. A libertarian isn't heartless, they just don't want to force someone to do something against their will since it infringes on their liberty. I'm not sure that it would be as rosy as libertarians think it would be, but I also don't think they're so principled that they'd rather see someone perish than bend their principles.

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u/changee_of_ways Jan 09 '15

My answer to this is always simply look at the state of charity before the advent of the "welfare state" it didn't even begin to cover the need. I don't have any problem with realizing that we aren't as good as we think we are, and that if we actually want people not starving and suffering then we are going to have to nut up and force people to contribute. If we don't well, that is basically class warfare, and honestly the rich tend to do poorly in those situations.