And some from non EU countries.

Some men from Macedonia slept opposite my apartment in Copenhagen for a while in the summer. They get enough donations from passers by to keep them supplied with alcohol, and somehow avoid being deported (or return soon after?).

People may also beg even though they have a home.

Interesting that they can't force people into help. Some Western democracies have provisions for forcing people into help: UK with the previous ASBO laws, US with wards of the state, and even San Francisco targeting 100 "most hopeless homeless" to be forced into help.

It's very odd to me that you need to be a citizen to get benefits. California takes care of everyone -- citizen or not.

I’m sorry for the irony in the following paragraphs, but here is how i read this post:

Thanks to the world renowned U.S social saftey net everyone get looked after!

This is why you for example never see any homeless people in SF or LA. If you happen to stumble upon a rare occurence of a person sleeping on the steets, you can be sure it’s at least a US citizen.

<\irony>

No, but seriously, it is true that Sweden (and social _democracy_ in general) is a way of forbidding citizens to live in extreme poverty, to the benefit of everyone.

This is not imposed on the citizens themselves but rather the state.

We do this by having the state make sure there are provisions in place to TRY to take care of everyone. You might have to be able to navigate the society to some extent though, something that can be especially hard for individuals with mental illnesses or drug addiction (in many ways these are ofc connected).

It can also be true if you are actually not a citizen.