There is an interesting essay here on SS “Truth on the Streets” about solving the homeless issue near Portland. It wasn’t easy and involved community/city government commitment. Anyway, I agree with your thoughtful essay and I’m in the about time column!
Dealing with homelessness is not easy. Law enforcement is a part of the solution. Resources are another. Genuine care and compassion are also essential ingredients. But there is no magic recipe, no guaranteed formula.
Still, something needed to change in DC, and now it looks like something is changing. I hope it amounts to progress.
Billions of taxpayer money has been slung into this complicated problem of homelessness. To no avail. Now I know when the money is slung, it ends up or did into the pockets of scheming USAID and corrupt NGOs . Never mind the useless bureaucrats.
Where crime is concerned, the solution is straightforward and simple: enforce the laws.
Where things get tricky is dealing with a city's homeless population. Homelessness is not so much a problem as it is a symptom of innumerable other problems--everything from substance abuse and debilitating mental illness to unresolved trauma to economic misfortune to some combination of all of the above.
There are even some people who genuinely choose to be "homeless"!
On the one hand, people need to be held accountable for their actions--that is an essential ingredient of any effort to address homelessness in any community. On the other hand, people who are genuinely suffering need genuine care and compassion, and those are often left behind with "law and order" approaches to homelessness.
For years NYC was basically homeless-pristine for a city its size because they gave the homeless $100 and a bus ticket to Philly. Philly seems like a good place for the DC folks, too.
That’s what the Authorities here in Minneapolis used to do - give them a bus ticket to anywhere in the continental US where they had a friend or relative who could take them in. Most of them chose a ticket to California (back when CA hadn’t been ruined). Oddly enough, few chose Philly.
As Peter says, homelessness is a symptom of a bunch of other problems, most of which are hard to solve. But Trump has closed the borders, so that will lessen the influx of fentanyl. He has plans which could help the economy and create jobs. And he has served notice on the cities and states that none of them will get federal funding unless existing laws are enforced - crucial!
I’m just waking up this morning, after having a dream that Trump issued an EO that solved some problem, which allowed his son to marry a friend of mine (?!). Yeah, dreams don’t make logical sense - but I’ve never had a dream in which a politician solved a problem. What does that say about the shifting in our national psyche? Are people starting to have hope regarding our nation’s problems? What a positive change that would be!
That certainly "solves" the issue for one city. Not wild about solutions that come at the expense of another city. Injecting externalities into the equation offends my inner economist.
A good clean up was probably necessary and Quoth the Raven had a good article on it today :https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/sometimes-looks-do-matter/comments
However many feel that this could give rise to more of a police state especially if Trump decides to do this nation wide. I will be curious to see John Whitehead's column this week as he writes a lot about this - https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary
Linking as usual @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/
I’m in the “it’s about time” camp.
Signed
A former democrat/progressive.
There is an interesting essay here on SS “Truth on the Streets” about solving the homeless issue near Portland. It wasn’t easy and involved community/city government commitment. Anyway, I agree with your thoughtful essay and I’m in the about time column!
Dealing with homelessness is not easy. Law enforcement is a part of the solution. Resources are another. Genuine care and compassion are also essential ingredients. But there is no magic recipe, no guaranteed formula.
Still, something needed to change in DC, and now it looks like something is changing. I hope it amounts to progress.
Billions of taxpayer money has been slung into this complicated problem of homelessness. To no avail. Now I know when the money is slung, it ends up or did into the pockets of scheming USAID and corrupt NGOs . Never mind the useless bureaucrats.
There is no denying that the way resources have been deployed to address homelessness has been beyond counterproductive.
Who knows the outcome? Maybe DCwill become livable again!
It could turn out well all around.
Where crime is concerned, the solution is straightforward and simple: enforce the laws.
Where things get tricky is dealing with a city's homeless population. Homelessness is not so much a problem as it is a symptom of innumerable other problems--everything from substance abuse and debilitating mental illness to unresolved trauma to economic misfortune to some combination of all of the above.
There are even some people who genuinely choose to be "homeless"!
On the one hand, people need to be held accountable for their actions--that is an essential ingredient of any effort to address homelessness in any community. On the other hand, people who are genuinely suffering need genuine care and compassion, and those are often left behind with "law and order" approaches to homelessness.
Agree.
For years NYC was basically homeless-pristine for a city its size because they gave the homeless $100 and a bus ticket to Philly. Philly seems like a good place for the DC folks, too.
That’s what the Authorities here in Minneapolis used to do - give them a bus ticket to anywhere in the continental US where they had a friend or relative who could take them in. Most of them chose a ticket to California (back when CA hadn’t been ruined). Oddly enough, few chose Philly.
As Peter says, homelessness is a symptom of a bunch of other problems, most of which are hard to solve. But Trump has closed the borders, so that will lessen the influx of fentanyl. He has plans which could help the economy and create jobs. And he has served notice on the cities and states that none of them will get federal funding unless existing laws are enforced - crucial!
I’m just waking up this morning, after having a dream that Trump issued an EO that solved some problem, which allowed his son to marry a friend of mine (?!). Yeah, dreams don’t make logical sense - but I’ve never had a dream in which a politician solved a problem. What does that say about the shifting in our national psyche? Are people starting to have hope regarding our nation’s problems? What a positive change that would be!
That certainly "solves" the issue for one city. Not wild about solutions that come at the expense of another city. Injecting externalities into the equation offends my inner economist.