Not ideal solution, but I'm so happy that something is being done. I think people who don't live in West Coast realize how much homeless people victimize working poor. That's me and my family. Rich people don't care that my wife can't take the Max to work for fear of being attacked. They'll just drive wherever they need to. My city just posted allowed camping map and guess what? It's all around apartments because it's close to transit. I've voted Democrats since I lived in this country, but they have been in charge of Oregon for ages and solved nothing.
It doesn't solve anything, except make more poor people suffer, or make poor people suffer more. The cruelty is the point. If anyone in power was actually trying to solve anything, then they'd be sponsoring programs to actually help these people instead of imprison them.
I am a person who is victimized by homeless. If I had an instrument that gives every homeless a home, I'd use it, but I don't have one. It's not my job to create one either. It's the government's job. Now I'm given another instrument that allows me to move the problem somewhere else. I don't care where it moves - it's not my job to setup this system. I can only choose between my family's safety vs some rando safety. I will ALWAYS choose the former. It's not cruelty on my part - it's just logic. People making these pro-homeless comments fall into 2 categories : 1. Not personally affected because they don't live here or are rich 2. Have high tolerance of danger like those people climbing mountain without rope. I'm not one of those people so any instrument to deal with my immediate problem is welcomed.
What a typically selfish and disappointing attitude. “Sure it sucks, I have to deal with it. But you know what would make it better? Somebody else dealing with it!”
Oh, sure. I thought you thought it was a fix. What you're saying is that you're in a bad position and you're happy for any relief, even if it fucks over others.
I'm happy that your life will improve, and I'm sorry that you're in such a bad position now. But I still wouldn't claim this as a victory.. There's a chance you'll be on the boot end of this kick at some point in the future, more so if you've been homeless before. But with any luck, you'll stay homed, and the rest of us can try and get this shit fixed.
This is sadly a logical response. One you will be crucified for sadly.
I always give food to the homeless when I can spare it, but I don't know how you got in this situation, I owe you nothing, and I don't know what you're willing to do to survive... And I have to priortize my safety over that of other people.
That said, the homeless around here usually keep to themselves and camp out in the trees, so I feel no danger...
If I lived somewhere more urban it may be a different story.
The government ABSOLUTELY owes their citizens the basic necessities of survival, as the constitution says they must provide for the general welfare and support one's right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Instead they ignore the cosntituion to feed the For-Profit Labor machine.
We need a new FDR, the practice of for profit prisons must be illegalized and these prisons must be ceased and converted into no-cost apartments for the homeless.
Agreed. Somebody should have resolved it 20 years ago. Forgive me for not believing in this resolution that never comes. Government is out of excuses as far as I'm concerned.
You're not wrong, but a solution to the homeless that helps them, thus making them less of a problem for you, and is forward-looking to reduce the number of homeless helps in the future will yield better long-term results. This isn't cheap, and will be attractive to homeless people living where there aren't these options, which increases the burden on those states that are actually trying to solve the problem rather than mitigate the visible symptoms. I realize you probably aren't in a position to change that, and certainly dealing with the symptoms you describe is also important.
Yeah, I think it's a combination of those puritanical ideals and "rugged individualism" where if bad things happen to you you probably deserve it, and it's up to you to fix it. Like how America spends as much on government healthcare as most other developed countries, and yet that only covers Medicare and Medicaid, and then have to get private insurance on top of that, because not helping others who can't help themselves is more important than making your own life better.