Have them work on a farm, contribute to team effort with others like themselves and therefore produce a commune of healed humans .
very close to my opinion. Its like a work release program of sorts.
Not that I'm disagreeing with this approach, but how do you propose we do that? Keep in mind these are the people that are already getting their asses kicked on the regular by life. They've basically hit rock bottom. I doubt punishing them more helps, unless we're talking of just wiping them out. Out of sight, out of mind works, I guess.
no way man. Not wiping them out. I totally have empathy. Just not sympathy.
Im talking tough love. Work it off. There are for hire signs everywhere.
if they arent willing to go to work to be a contributing member when the government puts a roof over thier head, finds the work for them and provides transportation(bus fare compensation, etc) then they should be confined to the roof over thier heads and not allowed to travel around the city destroying it.
now of course, like ive said (and rarely acknowledged) that its not a simple issue. its a complex, multifaceted issue.
I just read in this report:
https://www.streetroots.org/news/20...p-addiction-homelessness-housing-and-recovery
this:
“More than 90 people died homeless on the streets of Multnomah County in 2019 alone. In more than half of the cases, drug or alcohol toxicity caused or contributed to their death.
Nearly half of the people living unsheltered on Portland’s streets last year reported living with substance abuse issues, either alcohol or drugs. One in four people sleeping outside reported having both a mental illness and substance use disorder.”
Giving them a roof isnt going to solve shit if the root of the problem isnt first addressed.
The roofs over thier heads should be mental help/recovery institutions and drug rehab facilities. they should not just get free rent in apartments and hotels.
And so
@Phatguysrule when you ask how it would enable, this is what i speak of.
Just giving them a roof would enable them to continue thier self destructive habits and addictions.
And these people cant be helped until they decide they have a problem and genuinely need help. until they come to that step in recovery, no amount of giving is going to do anything but enable. I know this. I live with an alcoholic and im seriously struggling with his repetitively bad behavior and how ive enabled him.
To give them free rent, to me, is putting the cart before the horse.
and we arent even touching upon the percent of homeless that are basically anarchists and want no part of our current society and sleep during the day and set fires at night.
Unfortunately( and i do think portland is a bit more of an anomaly and not all cities’ homeless are like the ones here) there is a decent percent of people here who do not want to participate or contribute and they are here because this is one of a few ground zero points for anarchists and extremists who will push for change through force and destruction.
@UncleCliffy'sDaddy and
@Hoopguru nailed it when they said unfortunately there is a percent of people that will not participate in a productive, society contributing, life.
For the percent of the homeless that are mentally stable and truly stricken with a financial dilemma forcing them on the streets,
Im all housing them, finding work for them that will meet a modest but livable lifestyle and having them start paying rent as a rent to own type deal.
But they have to work.
Part of our increasing inflAtion issues are because people wont work. People are making more on unemployment and stimulus payments that they wont work.
If that isn't a sign that when given a choice these people will be lazy, i don't know what is, but its clearly an enabling problem.
in conclusion, like a few others have said, there is no easy answer and thats why i push back at the narrative that it is simple to house them and the problem will go away or whatever symantics want to be used here.
The reality is, until they want help, they will just continue to destroy the housing given to them And in short time it will be a condemned type of building and they will be on the streets again. Or complaining that the city neglects them because their place is run down.
Ive lived too close to addicts to think that one can just give them things and they will turn things around. No. They will use it up and ask for more. And more and more.
im tired of paying for it in my personal life and im damn sure not gonna vote to pay for it for strangers through taxes. Not without a clear agenda and end game lined out that they agree to contractually that includes them not sitting aRound under that roof, but getting out and working to help our economy get back on track, or get the help needed to get back on track themselves.