There's a spectrum of potential societal function and I'd like to use a recent, specific, real-world example to explain what I mean.
Everyone should watch the bodycam footage from earlier this year in which a woman living inside the sign of a grocery store had to leave the makeshift dwelling after being discovered.
While the police were very polite with her (and she was too), the situation, on multiple layers, is indicative of a dysfunctional society.
Obviously no one should have to resort to homelessness to avoid an abusive living situation, which seems to be the case here. But let's also talk about other aspects.
When confronted, one of this woman's concerns was what was going to happen to her belongings. She made it quite nice inside the sign, including things you might find in a normal home, such as picture frames, a desk, a coffee maker, etc.
The manager of the grocery store reasonably expressed concern about liability if the women were to continue living there, in case anything happened, such as the sign falling. As such, while it is reasonable that the woman was made to leave, a better society would have already had a function in place for the safety of this woman's belongings.
Additionally, the police, however polite they were, were unable to arrange replacement shelter for the woman. This is not a criticism of the police in this particular case, but rather an indictment on the fractured nature of society as a whole.
She was not arrested and did not obtain a criminal record from this incident. Still, though, no substantial assistance was provided. The issue was essentially only moved to a future point in space and time.
