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This week Colleen and I talked with one of the people who organized Finland鈥檚 successful campaign to get homeless people off the streets.

His name is Juha Kahila, he lives in Helsinki, and we wanted to know how Finland did it, so he told us.

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“We got to rid of most of the shelters. And we renovated the shelters into housing first units where people have apartments of their own,” Kahila said. “And then we tried to get rid of almost all the temporary solutions, and we built more affordable housing, where people could have a home of their own for an unlimited time.”

They realized that the free market would never solve the problem. Because you can鈥檛 make a profit building low-income housing and providing support services to the residents, so his foundation used tax money to do it.

Here, of course, we believe in the magic of the free market, except we really don鈥檛. I hear people say, 鈥渓et鈥檚 unleash the energy of the free market, and we鈥檒l be swamped with housing.鈥� And yet those same people want to keep zoning rules in place. Well, how is single-family zoning a 鈥渇ree鈥� market? It鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 the ultimate government control.

Earlier this month, a group called Challenge Seattle, backed by local employers, issued a very specific plan for ending homelessness. At the heart of it is upzoning. The notes that 70% of the residential land in Bellevue and Seattle is zoned single-family. On Mercer Island, it鈥檚 90%.

The report says the state should pre-empt local zoning whether neighbors want it or not.

I asked our guest from Finland about that 鈥� about how they managed to build all that low-income housing near middle-class neighborhoods. He admitted not every neighborhood was happy but that Finland鈥檚 history played a role in helping people accept it.

“I think the history of Finland helps a little bit because back in World War II, we lost a lot of land to Russia. And we needed to house 400,000 people who were left on the wrong side of the border,” Kahila said. “So I think we have that mentality, everyone deserves a home of their own.”

In Finland, they have the mentality that everyone deserves a home of their own!

Is there anyone here who feels that way?

My impression is that in America, our mindset is that if you鈥檙e homeless if you鈥檙e living under a bridge, or in a tent, or a beat-up RV, you must have done something to deserve it. If you can鈥檛 feed your kids 鈥� well, you shouldn鈥檛 have had kids. You need to take personal responsibility. I鈥檝e heard that line on talk shows for years. It鈥檚 been their theme song. 鈥淧ersonal responsibility, free market solution 鈥� but don鈥檛 change our zoning.”

Well, I would say we鈥檙e living in the free market solution right now. The free market says if you can鈥檛 afford rent, you live in a tent. If you can鈥檛 pay, we throw you away.

Whereas In Finland, the attitude is 鈥� we share an 830-mile border with a country that tried to exterminate us. And we can鈥檛 afford to lose a single citizen 鈥� rich or poor.

Listen to Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien weekday mornings from 5 鈥� 9 a.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.