experiencing the local homeless

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

If you're mentally ill, mandatory time in a state mental hospital until further notice. Barring that, greatly expand county lockup facilities.

Rummies, drug users, vagrants, into work farms somewhere c. Columbia River Gorge or points NE to produce goods and services for productives in society. "Overwhelmed" by life, and/or "substance abusers" will be cleaned up fairly quickly. Work will be found, from breaking rocks for roads to harvesting crops to building Ziggurats for all I care.

Repeat offenders: federal gulag, Alaskan camp system, in intervals of 10 year sentences.

This (BS) needs to end. Not interested in more anti-church, anti-state, anti-war, anti-civilization standards Hollywood portrayals of that or anything else, personally. Here's to really, really hoping the past year was a new dawn in this greatest nation on God's green Earth.

That's the rub, the "righties" want solutions they aren't willing to pay for. Without real funding, it is just talk, talk, talk.

The "lefties", on the other hand, are willing to pay, but all too often for solutions that have no teeth.

I'm for providing basic income (instead of welfare), housing supports, addiction treatment, mental health therapy, health insurance for all, food stamps, re-training, integration/employment programs, prosecution diversion for non-violent petty criminals who enter treatment and/or therapy programs, warrant relief, restrictions on credit/background checks, etc., but if they continue to commit crimes, disturb the peace, or otherwise show they are unwilling or unable to obey the laws and live "in society", then they should be arrested, prosecuted, and, where appropriate, jailed or committed.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by bergun

Great post and the only workable "solution" to the problem... I basically stated the same thing a year ago since my "solution" to this problem sounded like a "final solution," I was basically labelled a nazi... I would make a sorry @zz Nazi since I'm half Black, my father was Jewish and I'm Catholic... And dating a woman from North Africa.

Work with the homeless, especially the familes AND the working poor AND the single homeless individuals, but deal with the "professional" homeless people and the mentally ill in a manner that will work, even if it hurts their feelings or the professional groups/organizations that claim to protect them and their rights... Regardless if their rights trample the rights of hard working and responsible citizens.

What I posted is not "Nazism" or other Ad Hominum. Nor, I presume was yours (didn't read it, link if you'd like). No offense, let's leave ethnicity out of it, yours and/or mine. That's where people go to attack the poster, not the idea.

We have sufficient money collected by the Socialist-leaning government to, as you phrased it: (second quoted) "Work with the homeless, especially the families and the working poor (etc)." Agreed there.

Crisis management is not about sentimentality, it is about action and authoritative leadership. We have little of this at-current. When the police are unleashed to do what cops do, they inevitably gun down the wrong group of bums or scumbags and it all rolls over again. That time is now past, again, and it is time for aggressive action to resolve said-crisis.

Interring the mentally ill in mental institutions is not illegal, though right to habeas corpus is very important once a fair involuntary period for evaluation has passed. I believe that was a major failing of the previous state-level systems.

Work camps for vagrants are not structurally different from work gangs in the South in the 20th Century. Nor do I mean it in any other context. Medium to light security, identity checks using bio metrics, no access to services in the US without a work card and identity check, if "homeless." Escapees to be meted out harsher sentences like any other criminal. This will take care of drug user, work shy, scummy and loud criminals and vagrants with good solid work benefiting productive citizens of the state.

Alaskan gulag may be illegal, though I don't see how that is terribly different from our existing national penal system for repeat offenders. Expand it substantially. Work on the AlCan Highway and/or the Dalton, they always need plenty of help seasonally.

Enforce the damn citizenship and vagrancy laws, make citizens and bum accountable for anti-social activities that threaten productives.

NO ONE has any use for shiftless, no-good, non-working, non-productive scum who use drugs, steal, harass taxpayers, and desecrate the streets. Big difference from mentally ill and not, however. No blame is assigned to the mentally ill, I have brief acquaintance with it, and the only "blame" she absorbed was failing to take her meds. Hence occasional involuntary 72 hr hold when she'd be arrested by Olympia's finest, last I heard, from wandering the street spouting her conspiracy craziness.

Case in point.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

Originally Posted by Nurse Bishop

Lets look at a time line of mental health and treatment in the United States

TIMELINE: Deinstitutionalization And Its Consequences – Mother Jones

Deinstitutionalism was already well underway. All Reagan did was change mental health care from federal to funding by the states.

Yes, & he was responsible for NOT putting in place the promised “safety net” of services that were to be made available “in the community” for all those deinstutionalized individuals...outpatient mental health clinics, housing, educational/job assistance, health care, & teaching resocialization skills. The other states then followed his lead.

And, a good number of “the homeless” that you now see are some of those people, if they are still alive, plus their children & grandchildren.

Reagan could have made it different...but, he was onto bigger & better things, like POTUS, so he could attend thousands of useless state dinners & his wife could parade around in fancy red ball gowns...the price of one of those would have fed, clothed & sheltered many people.

I still choke when I think about Nancy Reagan’s little First Lady project, the “Just Say No” to drugs program, & her consulting of psychics to solve world problems. LOL!

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by Scotty Dosent Know

I really dont have any funny stories. For the most part I just cant stand the homeless.

At first you kind of feel sorry for them until you realize that there are plenty of acquaintances and family that know these people are homeless and and just dont care. We are talking about people who have burned every bridge they have and for the most part I dont think want to be productive members of society even if they could be. They dont want a job, home or anything that requires any sort of effort......because, well that requires effort.

Just happy as clams to trash the area they live in, rob hard working folks and do their drugs. I have zero give a damn for these people.


Also I'm sure someone is going to respond with not all are drug addicts, some are mentally challenged, some are veterans etc. Yup, realize this but i believe those are the minority and not the majority.

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

I have a very strong "whatever" attitude about the homeless and I completely ignore them. I don't mind them being around, but I certainly wish they'd keep their areas tidy and I don't understand why homelessness must always be accompanied by total disregard for immediate surroundings. Explain it to me: You take the little pieces of trash and you put those inside the bigger pieces of trash. You take those and you put them in garbage cans, or if cans are already full, just drop it next the trash cans and help public works out a little bit. Nooooooo.. instead they have throw every. single. piece. of plastic crap all over the place. For me this is a fundamental and basic obligation of the social contract. I don't expect everyone to have jobs.. I don't expect everyone to have homes. I do expect everyone to know where trash goes and where it doesn't. A universal skill taught in every single preschool curriculum ever.

Lot's of great points in this thread. Thank you everyone.
I really identify with these two posts in particular.
I have spent countless hours with homeless people in my community, trying to get to the source of their problem to help them out. I do it on my own because I care.

I'm getting to my breaking point. Not because I am tapped out financially, in fact I don't give out money or much of anything. I'm just tired of the people who don't care as mentioned here.
If these people can't care, aside from those with legit mental issues, then I don't think I will either.

-Mike

[noah]

Listening to the news this morning they were talking with someone who ran a homeless shelter of 70 beds that they could not fill because they required no drugs or alcohol for anyone staying with them. They mentioned most the other shelters in the city don't have this stipulation.

[OffTheGrit]

Originally Posted by treuphax

It's "homeless privilege."
.

Interesting perspective. Thx for sharing.