My first trip to the US was to San Francisco about 15 years ago and I could not believe the amount of homeless people.
I can only liken them to pigeons, they were all pretty harmless and moved out of the way when you walked past, but they were just everywhere. I was pretty shocked.
(, Mon 23 Aug 2021, 10:02, Reply)
SF filled up when they closed the mental hospitals
It's also a pretty nice climate if you're sleeping outdoors.
(Well, nice is not the word but you get me).
I stayed downtown for a conference several years on the trot and it didn't get any better. The American political system breeds fear and short-sighted selfishness, in my opinion.
(, Mon 23 Aug 2021, 11:36, Reply)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsrBlKpbBS8
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Mon 23 Aug 2021, 13:30,
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Prisons are the new mental hospitals.
Politics feeds on greed and fear, the homeless are part of the fear.
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FeralCatMan Long ads need comments sections, Mon 23 Aug 2021, 14:28,
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It isn't just confined to the US either. The Mrs is from Vancouver, and I've had extended stays over there a few times over the last decade. I'm no expert, but the way it appears is that in the late 90s a particularly hawkish local government closed all the asylums and instituted a 'care in the community' type policy, booted the inmates out and tossed them a monthly stipend. That did not go well. So despite a more UK-like universal healthcare system, Canada is more apt to wash its hands of undesirables in a US-like fashion by tweaking the system away from direct accountability.
Which is why, now, we have areas like East Hastings (immortalised by the Godspeed You Black Emperor track of the same name) which are aglomerations of addicts, the mentally ill, veterans and the general dispossessed - with a roaming tent city on its general periphery.
Your experience of SF matches mine of Seattle and Portland as well. I'm not so well-versed on the socio-economics of the Western US, but it seems to be an endemic problem there too. Certainly as a first-time visitor it's shocking. But 95% of the time, you learn, they aren't that interested in you and you can more or less travel unmolested. I just kept half an eye out, and ladies, do not ever walk barefoot.
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Quiver Search for FATALISTS on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, &c, Tue 24 Aug 2021, 10:18,
Reply)