I believe it was Yeonmi Park - a North Korean defector - who said (on Joe Rogan’s podcast) how surprised and in a sense happy she was to see homeless.
Effectively, you can’t have upward mobility unless you let people fail (and id argue many homeless choose that life style, based on my experience working with them). She explained in North Korea there are no homeless, everyone is equally poor.
Highly recommend listening to a talk with her. Truly eye opening
You don't need homeless to have upward mobility. That there are homeless means the consequences of failing are too high and the risk will have a repressive effect on society. People are much more likely to thrive and innovate when they have safe and secure living conditions.
> consequences of failing are too high and the risk will have a repressive effect on society
as a USA citizen I absolutely agree with this -- a rise in low-level legal cheating over money, and a marked decrease in arts and the lives of artists, are plainly visible now
Don't agree with this at all. In fact, this seems like a very American point of view. There's plenty of poor countries where people are allowed to fail. It doesn't correlate to upwards mobility.
Some of the richest people - Gates, Bezos, Buffett - were able to become that way because they had a safety net provided by their parents. They were able to take risks knowing they wouldn't become destitute if it didn't work out.
Effectively, you can’t have upward mobility unless you let people fail (and id argue many homeless choose that life style, based on my experience working with them). She explained in North Korea there are no homeless, everyone is equally poor.
Highly recommend listening to a talk with her. Truly eye opening