rogueoftimeywimeystuff:

wetwareproblem:

You know, even if the right-wing line about how poor people make poor decisions were true in the ways they use it…

Have you ever been that hungry? That tired, or cold, or wet, or desperate? You can’t think straight. And being that way chronically makes it so much worse. 

Even on a good day, my cognitive functioning is nowhere near where it was when I was eating steadily. I can’t hold as much in my head at once, can’t build models as complex in my head.

So… Yeah, sometimes poor people make poor, short-sighted decisions. It’s because we’re fuckin’ exhausted.

It also exacerbates mental illness. It’s even a thing in a mentally Ill households to check when a person doing worse when they ate, slept, or drank last.

So in a country that doesn’t take care of its mentally Ill, subjecting them to food, sleep, and water deprivation is going to cause them to make worse decisions than they would even normally make.

So basically, to help people make better decisions? Feed, clothe, and give them a home.