Why does the US suffer from such an embarrassing homeless problem but China does not?

为什么美国面临这么严重的流浪汉问题，中国却没有？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

China - World Leader.

Answered by

John Fenn

Author has 8.8K answers and 22.3M answer viewsUpdated Dec 4, 2021

The united States practices unfettered Capitalism.

The Chinese work to ensure that massive inequalities do not occur. Tall poppies are cut down to size. The Americans OTOH love their superstars and multibillionaires. They have a saying that “he who dies with the most toys is the winner”.

美国实行信奉zb主义。

中国人努力避免大规模不平等现象的发生。限制高收入人群的规模。而美国人就非常喜欢超级明星和亿万富翁。美国人有一个说法，“离场时拥有最多玩具的人，就是赢家”。

It is often said that 1% of Americans own 90+% of the wealth of America. So what does the bottom 1% own? Not very much.

The homeless in the US is not regarded as an embarrassing problem, but rather as a salutary lesson for the weak, the stupid, the unlucky and the lazy. At least according to the privileged few.

人们常说，1%的美国人拥有美国90%以上的财富。那么1%的底层人拥有什么呢？很少。

美国人并不认为无家可归是一个尴尬的问题，反而是给弱者、蠢人、倒霉蛋和懒人的教训。起码少数特权阶层就是这么认为的。

One must understand the basic differences in these two nations and how they each look upon their fellow citizens. One nation is dedicated to bringing everybody along, the other nation is a dog eat dog society that simply doesn't care. The result is inevitable.

And I repeat, Americans are not embarrassed by this, mostly they are angry … at the poor and the homeless.

人们必须搞清楚这两个国家的基本差异以及他们各自如何看待自己的同胞。一个国家努力带领全体民众共同进步，另一个国家则是一个弱肉强食的社会，根本不在乎弱者。那么这个结果自然是不可避免的。

我再说一遍，美国人并不为此感到尴尬，他们中大多数人对穷人和流浪汉感到愤怒。

Mia Brown

Studied World Literatures & Chinese (language)Author has 643 answers and 13.6M answer viewsFeb 24

It's an interesting question. China is not a rich country, yet there aren't any homeless people in China when compared to developed countries like the U.S. and UK.

I read an article before, an American who has been in China for more than 20 years said that he has been to almost all the cities and villages in China. But never seen a group of people slee in urban and rural streets or open Spaces. For twenty years, only one or two people were found slee on the streets.However, when he returned to the America, he walked down a street on Christmas Eve and saw one or two people slee on several streets every 100 meters. Still see some people slee in the street on Christmas morning.

这是一个十分有趣的问题。中国并不是一个富裕的国家，但跟美国和英国等发达国家相比，中国没有流浪汉。

我以前读过一篇文章，某个在中国生活了20多年的美国人说，他几乎去遍了中国所有的城市和农村，但从没见过一群人睡在街道或空地上的景象。20年里，他只看到过一两个人睡在街上。但他回美国后，在圣诞节前夜的街上看到每100米就有一两个人露宿街头。圣诞节早晨也可以看到一些流浪汉。

And most importantly, most of the homeless people in America have no shelter, no job, no money, no opportunity. I think they have nothing. However，The poor people of China, take the people living in the very poor areas of China as an example. Although they are poor, they are not at the point of destitution. They have land to grow some vegetables and crops, they have houses to at least shelter from the wind and rain, they have clothes to keep them warm. Because of the nine-year compulsory education, their children can also be educated and the school provides nutritious meals. Especially after the success of China's poverty alleviation work, there are no people in the poorest rural areas in China who have no food to eat or clothes to wear. Basic food and clothing canbe guaranteed.

最重要的是，美国大多数流浪汉没有住所，没有工作，没有钱，没有机会。我想他们是真的一无所有。

而中国的穷人，以生活在中国非常贫困地区的人们为例。虽然他们也很穷，但还不至于一贫如洗。

他们有土地，可以种植一些蔬菜和庄稼，他们有房子，至少可以挡风遮雨，他们也有衣服来保暖。

由于有九年义务教育的政策，他们的孩子也可以接受教育，学校提供营养膳食。

尤其在中国的扶贫工作取得成功之后，即使是在中国最贫困的农村地区，已经没有人吃不饱，穿不暖了，人们的基本温饱问题可以得到保障。

In addition, When we think of a person as poor, it's not just material, it's also spiritual. As far as I know, many homeless people in America are able-bodied and able to work, but they don't work. Some because of alcohol and drugs, some because of laziness, some because of the loss of hope in life. I think this spiritual poverty is even more terrible. Of course, this is also due to the social environment. Some tramps have thought of changing, but after they have experienced things being stolen and robbed, collecting protection money, being ignored by the police, not daring to sleep at night, and even losing their self-esteem, they may choose to continue to sink.

此外，当我们说一个人穷，不仅是物质上的潦倒，还有精神上的贫瘠。据我所知，美国有很多流浪汉身体健全，有能力工作，但他们不愿意工作。有些人是因为沉迷于酒精和毒品，有些人是因为懒惰，有些人是因为对生活失去了希望。我认为这种精神上的贫瘠更可怕。当然，这也跟社会环境息息相关。有些流浪汉也曾想过改变，但在经历了财物被盗、被抢、被强索保护费、被警察轻视、晚上不敢睡觉、甚至失去尊严之后，他们可能会选择继续沉沦。

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has a diverse economic structure and huge social needs. In China, there are countless job opportunities. As long as you have hands and feet and work hard, you can support yourself without going begging. Cleaners, takeaway workers, security guards, restaurant dishwashers, even if you come from a very poor area, as long as you haven't committed a crime, everyone can accept you. For exampleIt，It takes almost nothing to land a job as a food delivery boy. As long as you can learn to use a smartphone and ride an electric bike or motorcycle, you can sign up for a job. It's not glamorous or easy. You won't make a fortune, but you can still make a living doing it. So unless you really like being homeless, there's always a chance.

中国有14亿人口，经济结构多样，社会需求巨大。中国有无数的工作机会。只要你有手有脚，努力工作，你就可以养活自己，不用去乞讨。清洁工、外卖工人、保安、餐厅洗碗工，即使你来自非常贫困的地区，只要你没有犯过罪，大家都可以接受你。例如，当一个外卖送餐小哥几乎不需要什么门槛。只要你能学会使用智能手机、会骑电动自行车或摩托车，就能找到一份工作。这份工作虽然不诱人也不轻松，赚不了大钱，但你可以养活自己。所以除非你真的喜欢当流浪汉，否则机会还是很多的。

In China，even if someone becomes homeless, he can go to a city shelter. Every city has shelters for homeless people that provide them with food, clothes, beds and even a hot bath. According to China's Regulations on the Safety Management of Rescue Stations, the Rescue Stations shall provide the following assistance to the recipients:

在中国，如果有人无家可归，他还可以去城市收容所。每个城市都为无家可归的人提供庇护场所，为他们提供食物、衣服、床铺，甚至热水澡。根据中国《救助站安全管理条例》的规定，救助站应当向受助者提供下列援助：

1. Provide food that meets hygiene requirements.

2. Provide accommodation that meets basic requirements.

3. Sent to hospital in time for medical treatment in case of sudden illness in the station.

4. Help contact relatives or work units.

5. Tickets shall be provided for those who return to their domicile without transportation expenses.

(Supplement: the aid provided by the relief station shall be divided into accommodation rooms according to gender, and female aid recipients shall be managed by female staff.)

Poor people have a hard time in every country, but in China you may have more opportunity, more dignity, and more hope.

1. 提供符合卫生要求的食品。

2. 提供符合基本要求的住宿。

3. 受助者在站内突发疾病需及时送医院就医。

4. 帮助受助者联系亲戚或工作单位。

5. 为没钱返乡的受助者提供车票。

(补充：救助站按受助者的性别安排住宿房间，女性受助者由女性工作人员管理。)

在每个国家，穷人的日子都不好过，但在中国可能会有更多的机会、更多的尊严和更多的希望。

China - World Leader.

Answered by

P Burgos

Author has 107 answers and 38.6K answer viewsJan 8

There are homeless people and beggars in China.

I suspect that there aren’t as many homeless people in China as in the US, and I suspect that both culture and policy contribute to this. In China, some employers will allow their employees to sleep at their place of employment if they cannot otherwise afford a place to live. That doesn’t happen in the US. Some other employers will build dorms onsite for their employees, sometimes using ship containers and sometimes more permanent structures of steel and concrete.

中国有流浪汉和乞丐。

我感觉中国的流浪汉比美国少，可能是两个国家的文化和政策造成的。在中国，如果员工租不起房，一些雇主允许员工在工作场所过夜。但这在美国是不可能发生的。中国还有部分雇主会在工作地为员工建造宿舍，有些用集装箱，有些使用更为永久的钢混结构。

Culture also plays a role, with adult children and parents much more frequently living together than in the US. This allows people to pool resources and prevents family members unable to work from having to live on the streets.

China also, as a matter of policy, promotes the building of homes, in opposition to the US, which has a policy of allowing local residents to block the building of US housing. Chinese housing policy makes NIMBYism virtually impossible.

文化也是其中一个原因，跟美国相比，中国的成年子女和父母同住的概率要高得多。人们可以集中资源，没有工作能力的家庭成员不会流落街头。

中国制订政策，促进住房建设，美国的政策与此相反，美国的政策允许当地居民阻止住房建设。中国的住房政策使得邻避主义没有实施的空间。

Finally, people in China are less likely to use drugs. That keeps a lot of people with mental illness from self-medicating in very destructive ways.

最后，中国人不吸毒。很多精神疾病患者不会用这种极具毁灭性的方式进行自我治疗。

Thomas Lee

Multinational Senior Executive Upvoted by

Jawad Falak, MSC International Relations & Terrorism, National Defence University, Pakistan (2015) and Chi Yan Chan, lived in The United States of America (1984-1997)Author has 5.1K answers and 15.9M answer views10mo

Because the poorest people in China mostly live in remote countryside with their own houses, they grow their own foods and their children receive free and subsidized education. They have very little cash in hand but they survive.

But poor Americans, Australians and Europeans cannot do that when they are poor even in the richest countries of the world. They need a lot more cash to survive than poor people in China but they are not getting enough.

因为中国最贫穷的人口大多生活在偏远的农村，有自己的房子，自己种植粮食，他们的孩子可以接受免费教育和政府资助的教育。他们虽然手头现金十分有限，但他们还是能过活。

但对于贫穷的美国人、澳大利亚人和欧洲人，即使他们生活在全世界最富有的国家，他们也养活不了自己。他们比中国的穷人需要更多的钱来生存，但他们就是赚不到足够的钱。

Jade0514

Mother, former wife, wildly disparate life experiencesAuthor has 217 answers and 120.7K answer views10mo

Because like most surface issues, the US doesn't subscribe to a “hide the flaws, protect the face” ideology.

因为和大多数表面问题一样，美国不认同“掩盖缺点，保住面子”的意识形态。

Mark Palmer

Studied at University of California, BerkeleyApr 28

Homelessness in the U.S. is a drug, mental illness and enforcement problem.

在美国，无家可归者的问题是毒品、精神疾病和执法等导致的。

Amethyst

Social Democrat, lover of philosophy and video games.Author has 580 answers and 147.5K answer viewsAug 13

Because China believes houses are to live in and America believes houses are to profit from and that should tell you everything you need to know about the outcomes.

因为中国认为房子是用来住的，而美国认为房子是用来炒的，你对于这个问题的不解之处就这么迎刃而解了。

Martin Oghigian

Author has 1.8K answers and 796.3K answer views10mo

Most American homeless are addicts. I've seen numbers as high as 80-90%. A majority are also mentally ill

大多数美国流浪汉都是瘾君子。我见过很多，80-90%都是。大多数人还患有精神疾病。