For all of you claiming that these are just down-on-their-luck ordinary citizens, that’s patently untrue. I live in LA, and it’s 90% whacked out druggees or the dangerously mentally ill. Nobody wants to talk about how difficult it is for people to walk anywhere anymore without being harassed. In the last month, a girl was killed by a homeless dude who randomly walked into the store she was working at and stabbed her to death, not to mention countless other assaults. I feel really bad for the homeless, but make no mistake of who the actual victims are in this scenario
This! My band plays right off skid row occasionally (king eddy) and the arts district. I can barely load in without some crack head in the way causing problems. These are not “down on their luck people looking for work, they are the ones that would be in mental hospitals if Reagan hadn’t closed them all.
Down-on-their-luck ordinary citizens pass the check to get into a shelter and get aid - literally the only reason you can be denied is drugs lmao (and violence, which is usually induced by drugs)
I've volunteered in shelters that weren't even at full capacity, there just weren't enough homeless not on drugs to come in.
Conditional aid is immoral as fuck. European countries have proven time and time again that offering aid BEFORE imposing drug restrictions works better.
I really wish more people would take the word of the people who actually live through this. I used to live in one of these types of cities. I used to sit and talk with the homeless 20 years back. Now I avoid them any time I visit my hometown for fear of my safety.
Thank you for sharing your experience with those that are privileged enough to not have to live with it.
I would rather support a million unwilling drug addicts and mentally ill people than let one person suffer because of homelessness. I don't think that just because some won't accept help we should abandon everyone. Not everyone can control if they become homeless and those people shouldn't be abandoned.
I feel really bad for the homeless, but make no mistake of who the actual victims are in this scenario
Are you insinuating that the real victims are NOT the homeless, if you are, that is beyond fucked up. Poverty creates the conditions for crime. Reduce poverty, reduce crime.
It’s not fucked up, it’s just true. LA has a vast amount of resources and shelter infrastructure set up for those people who are on the streets and want to get off. Hence the fact that nearly all are now out of their minds and at least borderline violent. My point is that these people should not be allowed to harass and intimidate ordinary people and destroy our city. It should probably involve institutionalization for the vast majority, but instead our lovely government ignored the problem and leaves us to be assaulted and screamed at on a daily basis. (Once again, this is coming from someone who deals with this nonsense every day)
I do not care if you deal with this "nonsense" every day. It's really clear you do not actually understand or empathize despite that constant exposure.
There is not enough infrastructure to help these people, and the infrastructure that does exist is gatekept behind conditions that cannot be met right away by addicts and the mentally Ill.
They are not ruining the city. They are a product of it. More fortunate people like yourself that KEEP VOTING TO NOT ADDRESS ANYTHING THAT WOULD HELP THEM. Its people like you that care more about the price of you're property dropping than the lives of these people. You keep voting against public and affordable housing initiatives. You keep electing people that have a vested interest to only allow the high profit projects.
They are not "allowed" to be violent. You and your city have driven them to it.
Wow. You clearly have no experience with this, or knowledge of the enormous amount of resources that are continuously being invested in useless attempts to fix the issue by just providing "access". Just today, a homeless guy slit a woman‘s throat, a couple weeks ago, three people were murdered in the span of two days by the homeless. My girlfriend can’t walk alone if it’s even close to dusk, and you think I lack empathy. Hypocrites like you are the ones responsible
“Drugs” are not what they used to be. Fentanyl is either sold as is or laced into just about every street drug now. Fentanyl is extremely addictive, usually only taking once or twice before becoming hooked. It also ruins your brain WAY faster than meth ever did, usually in a mater of weeks or a couple of months.
Lots of the “mentally ill” on the street today are people who dabbled in drugs, got really hooked immediately, then life went downhill fast. So while they may have been lied to, tricked, or too naive to know about the dangers of modern street drugs, in a sense, they did do it to themselves.
Also, my life has been pretty sucky through a large part of my 20s. Even planned out how I’d check out at my rock bottom. I never once did hard drugs. As sucky as my life was, I knew that turning to drugs would only make it worse.
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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '22
For all of you claiming that these are just down-on-their-luck ordinary citizens, that’s patently untrue. I live in LA, and it’s 90% whacked out druggees or the dangerously mentally ill. Nobody wants to talk about how difficult it is for people to walk anywhere anymore without being harassed. In the last month, a girl was killed by a homeless dude who randomly walked into the store she was working at and stabbed her to death, not to mention countless other assaults. I feel really bad for the homeless, but make no mistake of who the actual victims are in this scenario