Sigma Sreedharan never met a contrast slider she didn't love

@4:

Speaking of ridiculous takes...

You're one of those people who hold entire groups accountable for the actions of a few - except for the po-po of course, where it's only "a few bad apples" who cause all the problems, amiright?

A third of unsheltered people are families with children, and another fifth to a quarter suffer from severe mental illnesses that didn't come about as a result of bad life choices. The criminals and junkies narratives is a deceitful one and makes you look worse than it does the people it's directed at. Also, permanent supportive housing and housing first policies have consistently reduced homelessness and people who have access to such programs are more likely to remain stably housed and make great improvements in their mental and physical health. Sorry to burst bubbles with facts.

https://endhomelessness.org/resource/data-visualization-the-evidence-on-housing-first/

@3 I guess you're an abolish police supporter, right?

" Every conceivable solution has been tried - repeatedly - and has failed. "

This is patently and provable false.

A supply-side society like ours that has no real social safety net generates new homeless people every year. But many programs have housed many people.

So saying that homeless has never been "solved," no matter what we do so we should just stop, is like saying CRIME has never been "solved" so we do not need police. We should give up on all crime mitigation because society produces an endless supply of criminals.

Many homeless people have permanently become housed through various programs that, hold on to your hat, supply them with homes. But these programs are expensive, require patience, consistency and political will. Which are in short supply in a nation of delusional sociopathic boot-strappers.

What you have almost realized is that a society that prevents people from becoming homeless in the first place by have appropriate safety nets (free drug treatment, socialized healthcare, and a healthy supply of subsidized housing, etc) would work better.

Congratulations on coming close to having a breakthrough realization.

@9 and crime is with us everywhere and everywhere. So what?

Your rhetorical sophistry is not particular convincing of anything.

As per usual you ignore the bulk of the points presented to you with glib dismissal because your thinking on the matter reflects similar depth.

What we CAN see is the rate of intensity of these social problems is less or greater in various societies. And where they are less is consistent with strong safety nets and robust well funded prevention and intervention policies.

Again it's telling your defeatist cynicism is predictably not extended to policing and crime due to stereotypical rightwing bias.

"Over time, most of them don't stay."

Presenting claims not in evidence.

Regardless do most criminals don't stay in prison or reoffend? Why is this not something you likewise consider with this fallacious argument.

Rather than mere claims and anecdotes for you to mindlessly batter against here are studies proving that various policies are effective at keeping human beings off the streets.

https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/briefing-supportivehousing-2002.pdf

https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BriefingPaper-ResearchonHousingAssistanceforHomelessFamilies-2-12-2009.pdf

Here is an overview of these policies:
https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/proven-solutions/

And examples of success:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/02/how-finland-solved-homelessness/

https://caufsociety.com/cities-solving-homelessness/

wwJd?

where's the fucking
Compassion?

reicht-wing talking points
lead US straight to
Fascism.

THNX Roger
Dale and
blip.

What @6 and @7 say is not at odds with sweeping encampments as warranted.

making Housing
a Commodity
was our 1st
MIstake.

If the proposal is that Seattle's homeless population be permanently housed in unregulated encampments in public parks, then make that proposal and defend it as policy.

Oh brother. Literal red baiting whataboutism.

That's not a conversation it's a rightwing derailing fallacy. Okay. Since you won't tackle any substantive portion of the topic presented to you, defend your poor thinking, and incessantly slide into fallacies I think we're done here.

I can never understand why the homeless solutions have to be mutually exclusive. Advocate for increasing housing and helping those who want to get back on their feet. Criminalize assault, theft and other elements brought by bad actors. Their primary victims by the way aren’t homeowners, it’s their fellow homeless population. Within that spectrum sweeps have a role. They are not a solution but they set a tone that destroying public property is not acceptable and if you are unwilling to accept help it’s time to move on. The one truth about addiction is that no one changes if they are made comfortable and told to do whatever they want until they are ready. As long as the debate continues to be binary and you either need to give people free reign to do whatever or push them around the city there never will be a workable solution.

@21: if a percentage, say just 5%, of the homeless are antisocial, criminal assholes, and you increase the number of homeless year after year after year, then year after year, there will be more antisocial, criminal assholes.

the misery of living on the streets with a drug habit is almost sure to turn some of the homeless into thieves.

that's where we are. its not all of the unhoused. most are just trying to survive, and plenty are failing at that.

@6 - I was wondering this morning what those percentages might be. Thanks for the info. My heart and all the help I can give go out to the hungry and homeless who are just down on their luck. We don't see them because they stay hidden, families living in their cars or roaming the streets. That sort of thing is just a missed paycheck for a lot of us. A lot.

There's going to have to be a way of separating those unfortunate souls from the belligerent, dangerous, unrepentant parasites that share the same streets if not the same hiding places. First of all, not everybody who uses is dangerous, but most probably no one forced that first hit of heroin into your arm. Dumb choice. Look at all the success of people who have used. Two, everyone needs to have enough gumption to try to get out of that evil cycle of desperation and despair and take the help that's offered, If you are amongst the unbalanced and mean, I don't know. If we can't force treatment upon you, then we say, "Expect an unhappy ending."

The efforts of some user advocates up in Vancouver sort of take my breath away. First they wanted clean, safe injection sites (which some still don't use). Hooray. All for that. Stop blood-borne transmission of whatever. I'm all in. Free Narcan for those at risk? Yep. Sure, Saves lives. That's great. Now with all the fentanyl-tainted heroin about, those same people are asking the city to purchase and dispense safe heroin to shoot - not to help ween people off of heroin, but to make their addiction safer to have. For me, that's a bridge too far. I want to help an addict get through his/her crisis. I'm not interested in prolonging it.

While heroin is worse than terrible, it doesn't necessarily make you a psychopath. Here in Los Angeles you may have heard of the frequent attacks on primarily women by some of our homeless population in areas that have traditionally been safe: the Fairfax District (Jewish, though not so much anymore) and Melrose (Gay, still is). Women are getting abducted and stabbed and robbed in daylight just strolling down the sidewalk. There's a backlash a-brewin', and it's going to be ugly. I hate seeing our civilization deteriorate into what it is and worse, what is coming.

I suppose the reason why the homeless crisis is so very hard to solve is because it isn't one big problem. It's many big problems that need a wide range of solutions. But people are getting feed up with the crazies and city governments aren't helping much.

@6 "The criminals and junkies narratives" is by no means deceitful.

Year after year, drug and alcohol abuse is one of the primary self-reported causes of homelessness. This cause ranked second in the most recent "Count Us In" survey, far surpassing eviction. See https://kcrha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Count-Us-In-2020-Final_7.29.2020.pdf

44% of those currently experiencing homelessness report substance abuse problems. See id. Yet only 9% are receiving treatment. See id.

I don't know why there is such resistance to the idea that our homeless population suffers from substance abuse problems. It's a huge problem, affecting nearly half of our very large homeless population, and pretending that it's not won't make this problem go away.

when you get Sick &
decent Healthcare is
outta your Price-range
and you lose your Dom-
icle & you and Yours are
out on the Street sometimes
those Drugs* can look Pretty Good.

Illusions

that's what America
Sells in triplicate
have You got
Yours?

*alcohol's barely a drug:

'Please Binge
Responsibly!'