I am hoping that as more research is done about giving people homes or no-strings-attached cash money, we will start realizing that all the crazy charity and legislative work could be far more simple and productive. As it stands now so much of the money and time is spent on talking and organizing rather than the actual help.

My point, which I didn't make very clearly, is that a lot of politics is "facts" - numbers and data that back up people's stances. Until we have a way to measure the effect hugs & hi-fives have or how many hi-fives were given last year vs this year, its going to be hard to legislate. Saying "we got 10 billion dollars off the street, which was 120% more than last year" with photos of cops standing in front of heaps of money, guns, and drugs is "proof positive" that the laws are "working". Nevermind the fact that the facts are manipulated heavily, a pile of money and drugs doesn't say anything about improvements to poverty-stricken areas, or the laws are working in the sense that they are actually curbing violence and drug use and improving communities. Big dollar signs and percentages = success. We can't repeal something so "successful".