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I believe that this is wishful thinking on the parts of many people. It is virtually impossible for most of us to put ourselves in the shoes of a homeless person, but people become homeless for a number of different reasons.
Just providing food and shelter is not always going to be a solution to this problem. Neither is making mental health counseling widespread going to completely solve it either. This is a complex problem with many different layers and it will require an equally complex solution.
I agree that housing by itself is not alone to solve homelessness.
I think the ask from the OP is sort of unreasonable - if you want to see fewer homeless people in Raleigh and aggressive panhandlers, that's not really an issue you can just ignore and wish away (and blaming it on people's own decision making isn't going to help that either)
(And if you don't think it's already an issue in Raleigh, you clearly haven't been paying attention to all the homeless camps that exist around highway interchanges especially on Capital Blvd)
I am proposing that the Triangle should decide whether they want what L.A. has or not.
That's not a proposal. What are you actually proposing be done? What do you think are the steps to take to resolve the issue? Criminalize homelessness? Right, because there's so much available room in the prisons. Then we just end up paying for them to have someplace to live. We just trade one problem for another.
So what is the actual solution other than wishing it away?
Right or wrong, support for the mentally ill was greatly reduced during the Reagan years. They gained their “freedom” and institutional support was gone. In states with the most “transients” who actually refuse housing help it appears that there is a lot of erratic behavior by street people. So far NC has escaped most of that. But in the future? Who knows. But institutional living should possibly be re examined for that subcategory.
Last edited by luv4horses; 08-29-2022 at 09:02 AM..
And your proposal is....? Maybe drive the homeless from our cities and make them someone else's problem? Or forced relocation (that was popular in the mid-1800s), or perhaps internment camps (more of a 1940s thing). Or I suppose we could have our version of the Squid Game.
Apparently other states have been doing this. Here is one of many articles about it....
Yes it is. Look up the definition of a proposal... a suggestion qualifies as one, especially when it is presented with the understanding that the remaining steps of any formal plan cannot be defined until the very first step of that plan is completed.
The first step of the plan is for the triangle area to decide whether or not it wants to join the ranks of other cities that have been tolerant of homelessness and panhandling and are now paying the price, or whether it wants to take firm action to combat it.
Because proposing specific steps beyond that would be counter-productive if they are not aligned to the wants of the area residents.
If everyone wants to become the east coast capital of sidewalk tents, then that's fine but please state it here so that I can formulate the next steps of my plan (like moving away).
Quote:
Originally Posted by hertfordshire
What are you actually proposing be done?
For folks to think about the future and make up their mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hertfordshire
What do you think are the steps to take to resolve the issue?
What issue is that? There's no issue if everyone wants this to happen right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hertfordshire
So what is the actual solution other than wishing it away?
The easiest solution from my perspective is for me to live in a place that I like. If this is not going to be that place in the near future, I'd like to find that out.
It's not an easy problem to fix because the "problem" is actually multiple problems.
Some homeless have addiction problems.
Some are veterans with PTSD.
Some have other forms of moderate to severe mental illness.
Some are basically asocial (not the same as antisocial).
Some are not actually homeless but are panhandling for income.
Some are felons that can't get a job because no one will employ them, so they are destitute.
Some are women escaping abusive situations.
Some are men on the run because a gang is hunting for them.
Some are men trying to quit the gang life.
Some are people whose lives have been impacted by grievous circumstances that were not their fault.
Some are... (fill in the blank).
Homelessness is one thing. Panhandling is something else. It's a Venn diagram.
Notice something about your list? With few exceptions, and discarding the poorly defined line items like "circumstances that weren't their fault", the majority of your list identifies people who got there because of decisions THEY MADE rather than circumstances beyond their control.
Creating comforts that support their regrettable decisions of the past will only lead to more regrettable decisions in the future.
Some of them already have lives that are not salvageable due to their own unwillingness to take an active role in fixing their lives.
For the ones who are strong enough to pull through and turn it all around, a tough love approach will work better to filter them out from those that are hopeless.
The easiest solution from my perspective is for me to live in a place that I like. If this is not going to be that place in the near future, I'd like to find that out.
Well the homeless people are still on the street in that scenario if there's no assistance. So what's the difference then between LA and Raleigh?
I think it's been well proven that the best way to eliminate homelessness is to provide housing so that people have the opportunity to get back to a sense of normalcy so they can return to being a productive member of society (or if not so that they can get the help that they need in a safe facility if there are mental or health issues).
California has a severe housing shortage which has exacerbated the issue in cities - the podcast 99% Invisible did a series last year about the limited resources local governments have in being able to house the homeless that they have https://99percentinvisible.org/need/
The problem is that many people with addiction and/or mental health issues are not willing to accept help while they are in their current state of mind. At some point I think we may have to force them into getting help. Rather than going to jail, they would be placed into a facility that provides drug/alcohol detox and/or mental health counseling and assistance along with life skills training. Then these government facilities partner with companies for vocational training and job placement.
And for those that feel that we shouldn't be forcing anyone to do anything (which by the way NC has already been doing involuntary commitments for years) then how else are we going to possibly solve this situation? The "king" of that homeless camp on Capital has already said that he wants to live that way because they basically have their own set of rules and they feel they can do whatever they want. I'm sorry, but we are a civilized country with laws and everyone should have to abide by those laws. If someone is mentally incapacitated (whether from drugs or mental illness) and not able to do that then we as a society need to make sure that they get the help they need so that they become mentally stable and on a path to self sufficiency.
And for those that truly care (and yes I do actually care)....why would you want people to be living in their own feces/urine, strung out on drugs/alcohol in ice storms etc. I have a hard time even seeing animals in need
Easy for you to say. If you should run into serious trouble in your life, I hope you encounter people more merciful than yourself.
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