It was supposed to be about protecting their civil rights…they now have the rights to furthering ruin their lives and the lives around them such as local business owners and regular citizens
I'm a recovering meth addict and what got me out of it, was I stopped being a victim and started facing my dragons one at a time. Yes, I had childhood trauma, but I realized that as an adult, I had control over my behavior. What happened to me was affecting me and my ability to respond instead of react to situations. I finally realized what was behind my reactions and started slowing down & responding to situations. I still have difficulty sometimes when I don't realize I've been triggered, but I'm able to deal with issues more quickly. Any fellow addicts/alcoholics out there: the power is within you & you are worth it!
Not anywhere near as bad as meth,but I have a severe nicotine addiction and go through a 50 mg bottle of juice in a couple days.Its really an everyday struggle,even the people who are sober are still addicts deep down and work everyday to make the right choice.Good on ya for breaking your habits,ill be right there with ya soon✊
I was a homeless addict until the age of 29. Allowing these "tent cities" discourages homeless people going to the shelters. The shelters have resources (or access to resources) available that are vital to their health, well being and potentially their recovery. The things that go unnoticed in these tented areas are often tragic. There's no one to look over the more vulnerable. The environment that cultivates in these places is detrimental to everyone involved.
I also was a homeless addict and I agree with what you are saying. Once I came out of that lifestyle, I have come to believe that the more enablement of homeless drug addicts the worse off things are going to be. Do we need resources for people to get help and use funds for that yes, but you will not help people by allowing them to live in squalor doing whatever they want.
My son is seriously mentally ill with psychosis and a disabled vet so he receives money and thank god I am his guardian and conservator, but the homeless befriended him since he was so lonely and has addictive behaviors so they destroyed his home along with him of course. He is now addicted to meth or anything to smoke. I moved him out to our ranch, but he has once again befriend more druggies. I have him living in a RV on our property and I am torn as to whether I should confront these drug people and tell them to stay away or I will call the sheriff or just call the sheriff. He is being treated for his mental health, but that isn't making progress since he is using. Any thoughts?
@@nickparis7 I can only speak for the two cities I was homeless in. Baltimore for instance is allowing tents to be placed just about anywhere. There is room in shelters in that case for instance. There was plenty of shelter in Harrisburg, PA but the rules were pretty strict. There is a huge problem in LA (which is a city I wasn't technically homeless in). There are thousands if empty shelter beds each night in LA. It's certainly a nuanced issue. For instance, many of their shelters are ran poorly, not sanitary and potentially even have rat infestations. The city is throwing plenty of money at it, but oversight is really shitty.
One of my close friends and former boss was a narcotics detective in California. He told me that you can try everything under the sun but the likelihood of a 45 year old man who is addicted to meth changing his ways is basically zero. However, the likelihood of stopping a 16 year old kid from ever picking up drugs by providing sports, Education and mentorship is far greater. Unfortunately, the most effective way is to improve the next generation and he started a free non profit boxing program that provided HW tutoring, mentorship and training. Solutions exist. Fund them.
Ironically, CTE from multiple concussions makes those kids more likely to develop a substance habit. I grew up boxing… I love the sport… but you aren’t helping kids by getting them to competitively hurt each other. Instilling discipline and structure is a farce fabricated by karate gyms that want people to bring their kids. It’s ridiculous to think you’re decreasing the likelihood of violence by teaching kids how to fight. Every competitive athlete has a desire to hurt people.
I was a homeless couch surfing, non drug using college student in San Francisco. There is zero help if you are normal. I couldn't even get food stamps. I was told to get pregnant. Insane city.
Yeah, thats the craziest part to me. That the people in charge instead of trying to change the fucked up policies, they just try to convince you to cheat the system and rely on them. It's fucked.
@@skellington2000 It's less than $600, so definitely not enough to pay rent, you would be on the street, drug habit or not. Also, SSI if you are disabled is less than a $1000 and won't even rent you a room in SF.
I’m literally in San Francisco right now, its my first time here, and I’m with my fiancée and our child. I was completely unaware of the homelessness in San Fran before visiting. In the 6 hours I’ve been here I’ve seen a prostitute shooting heroin on the bus stop, and guys peeing out in public, one person completely exposing himself. I can confirm, that the union square area is completely packed with homeless people
@@jonaskessler326 I actually appreciate that, because with the weather right now, and especially the sketchiness of union square, I’m struggling to find the vibe I was looking for lol. I will definitely look into those places. Thanks a lot!
@@darindthomas anytime! I feel ya with the gloomy weather, but we’re thankful for it these days, considering all the fires we’ve had lately in California. On a Wednesday night, I’d probably roll to Broadway or Columbus street in North beach, or Polk street in Russian hill/Nob hill anywhere from post and Polk going as far north as Broadway and Polk. Still a weds night, and a rainy one so prob not too much going on right now anywhere to be honest but my previous suggestions should still hold true in general. Forgot to add that the Castro district is always safe and the Height district can be fun in the daytime. Enjoy your visit!
@@jonaskessler326 that’s great! I plan on hanging out at the hotel tonight, but tomorrow I plan on taking your advice. Really appreciate it. If you’re ever in Denver, I’d be happy to give you a few recommendations
I hope your trip had at least some value. I used to live in CA and, though I like cities, always dreaded having to go there. I went earlier this year and the extent of the destitution was astounding.
This guest is a self promoting Propaganda artist. Almost as bad as MSM legacy. His bullshit isn't fact at all. Us Bayarea Natives know how this shit got started and why it continues.
just because someone isn't legacy media doesn't mean they're telling the truth. this guy is a liar and the fact that you would believe him without doing any research says a lot about you.
I lived in San Francisco when I was 34. Put my truck in storage across the street from my studio apartment between Sutter and Bush on Leavenworth. I worked on Geary Street in a hotel pretty nice hotel I might add. I had a great life running around until I met up with the wrong people. Soon after I was doing meth smoking it putting it over marijuana in a bong getting it from people who took it out of their mouth wrapped in a plastic baggie and hand it to me so disgusting. I didn’t care how gross it was I was so out of character I would do anything to get this shit… Except prostitute that never came to be thank God. Eventually my sisters husband my amazing brother-in-law brought a huge suburban SUV up packed it up my whole studio apartment, took my 4Runner out of storage packed it up and headed back home for Carmel Valley, California. Funny because back then my rent was $1,000. a month. When I gave my notice of departure to my landlord, he said he would lower my rent by $200 making it $800 a month. So I would agree with you, it wasn’t the rent. I had to fight for my life from the drugs which had captured and hooked me and held me prisoner. God bless you Joe, so love your interviews Edit: Now living my dream life completely clean and sober I don’t even mess with beer anymore.
I was a homeless heroin addict for 6 yrs. I've been clean for 2yrs and now work in a drug rehab. The fact is that most addicts want to get high, do nothing and get something for nothing (social services). U gotta want to not live like that and the truth is a majority will not put forth the effort.
truth. Im a support worker for the homeless in shelters and people have no idea. They assume everyone wants a house, kids, dog and a car. In truth, they don't. However they'll pretend they do for as long as possible in order to access services which are supposed to get them those things in order to get stuff for free and keep living their nomadic lifestyles
I'd hate the idea you are in a position of support when you generalise every addict as "pretenders". Really gross attitude, and that kind of ignorant generalising only furthers the misconceptions of addiction.
My problem is that in Seattle , the way the system works is you have to be late on payments to get assistants. I work at homeless shelter and these guys get a whole apartment paid for , yet people trying to not be homeless are not a priority.
This. And the system also preys on the fact that very sick, very vulnerable people don't have the fight in them to advocate on their own behalf in many cases.
@@Da808Boii Dude, I live here. The YMCA/YWCA homeless shelters pipeline single adults into 2-3 star motels in Shoreline and SeaTac. On average, a person would be at the shelter for about 3 months and then get put into a hotel room for up to a year (the Holiday Inn by the Space Needle was converted to this program too). But they usually move on to government housing within a few months of getting the hotel room - elderly housing, families with young children, even residential drug treatment programs. If you don't qualify for those programs (single non-senior non-addict), you're encouraged (but not required) to get employment and there are charities that cosign leases and such
This is the mentality that gets everybody in a bad place. You can also choose a government that helps both. But please stop blaming patients for being sick.
Many, many people have had difficult childhoods. It's no excuse to destroy yourself and others. It is a blessing to hold people, adults, accountable for their actions and help them get free, healthy and whole. Aiding them to slowly kill themselves isn't compassion, it's cruelty. God bless~
@@timtim7674 Why are people like you so goddamn desperate to try and derail any conversations. That has NOTHING to do with this video. Get out more, or read a damn book.
@@jcfra420 why are people like you so desperate to try and derail a poster adding to the conversation. This had EVERINGTHING to do with this video as victimization was discussed. get out of your head more, or pay some damn attention.
After living a year in San Francisco's Tenderloin area... I never want to go back. Needles. Homelessness. Poop on the floors. Everything smells. Screams late at night of downright insane people walking the streets drugged out of their minds. Homeless people stealing things from CVS stores in broad daylight. San Francisco is a beautiful city in general - it's very rich, the architecture is incredible, and it's located right near the ocean. But the city has been totally ruined with all these issues.
I cant believe you survived living in the tenderloin for a year. I used to do skate trips in SF pretty frequently with a big group of friends. One of the first trips we ended up in the tenderloin. We couldn’t go 50 feet without belligerent dudes charging into the street after us, throwing bottles and shit. SF is fucked
My friends has rented a small studio with rent control on Eddy Street for 10+ years. I couldn't do it and I live in a not so desirable neighborhood in Sacramento myself.
@Yefri Fernandez It's America... Same shit everywhere. Everything u think about America is probably false. There's so much poverty out here and only the elites have money. Nothing changes no matter who u vote for because the politicians are looking out for the rich and vice versa.
My mother has been a drug & alcohol counselor for 30+ years, and believes one of the biggest problems with addiction in the US is the quality of treatment available here. Treatment for the poor is notoriously bad and usually run for-profit with contracts with the state, and most of the companies running rehabs are trying to cram as many people in as legally allowable while providing the lowest-cost treatment they can. Most are 28-30 days, which is usually not adequate for someone with a serious addiction to opiates or amphetamines. My mother has also worked in self-pay rehabs that are outrageously expensive ($10,000+ a month), but provide far better care, longer stays, healthy meals, specialized classes in yoga, meditation, tailored addiction philosophies, etc. Those who can afford these places have much better outcomes. Unfortunately, if we want to reduce the drug epidemic in this country, we need to shift our entire health care system - and that doesn't seem to be anywhere close to happening. I personally worked in mental health as an intensive case manager for people with the most severe mental illness, and can attest to the difficulty of keeping many of these folks housed. In a lot of cases they were simply too paranoid to maintain housing, and it was close to impossible to house them in supervised facilities, which is what some needed. I had one guy who literally punched out his mother's car window and tried to strangle her because he thought she was working with the CIA against him, and court still refused to commit him. It wasn't until he stripped all the insulation off every electrical cord in his apartment and ran them under rugs to protect himself from the CIA "listening" to him that we were able to place him in a hospital.
PRECISELY, I WAS JUST SAYING WHAT YOU ARE SAYING TO SOMEONE WHO SAID REHABS ARE A WASTE OF TIME UNLESS SOMEONE WANTS TO GET CLEAN. I SAID THAT IF THE TREATMENT IS INADEQUATE, QUALITY OF COUNSELORS, TIME SPAN, ETC. THEN MORE PEOPLE FAIL. IF THE TREATMENT IS DONE RIGHT EVEN SOMEONE WHO DID NOT WANT TO GET CLEAN, PERHAPS COURT ORDERED, CAN STILL BE REACHED BECAUSE DONE RIGHT
In my country we help them and they get back to drugs and then rehab again and again.... you think anybody here wants to pay for those m0r0ns? fck em, nobody wants to except some leftists wo dont have a real job and dont pay taxes! Its not someone else problem if you cant handle life and become a drug addict.
@@LucielStarz123 Frankly, if your dollars don't go to treatment, they'll go to prison corporations. Not sure why you would prefer this option, as it is more expensive and due to our atrocious prison environment, it only tends to increase recidivism and make society worse. It really comes down to the kind of society you want to live in. You want to live in a society where drug addicts rotate between prison and homelessness, making your streets less safe? You want a society where people with serious health problems (which addiction is) are unable to access decent treatment and instead roam the streets fueling a criminal drug culture and potentially commit crimes to fuel their addiction? Or do you want a society where addicts are offered real treatment that stops the cycle of addiction and allows them to become productive members of society - thus reducing homelessness and crime associated with addiction and making urban life safer, more pleasant, and more visually attractive?
In the past 40 years, there’s been a major reduction in mental facilities in California. In 1970 there were around 40,000 facilities in California. Today, less than 4,000.
But Michael Shellenberger is just going to talk out of his ass for 6 minutes. This guy is part of the YIMBY movement. Funny how he doesn't even mention the actual conversation in SF. SF was bought out, forced out by developers. FUCK HIM!
@@theamericanopry why is YIMBY bad? Never heard the term before, but it seems like people who want more housing available in communities. Why would that be bad? Edit: fixed spelling error
There was a big phyc building in the north area of Chicago on Sheridan, that closed and the tenants/pts were relocated. I wonder if its associated with the tent situation.
You’re speaking too much sense for the JRE covid conspiracists. They would rather blame the problem on “Black People” or “the left” or “victim mentality drug addiction”
It's not a rumor. Also, the homeless aren't locals - I talked to several homeless people in LA and SF, they are all from Texas, Indiana, Michigan etc. Stats confirm this as well...
This is true. My city gets bus loads of literal crazy people that police officers in other cities cant handle. You can literally watch them spread through town and trash everything
Yeah right. If you're homeless and don't want to work, where are you going to go? Minnesota? No you're heading to California where you can sleep on a warm beach.
Here in Michigan we have a big drug/homeless population too. From my understanding, a lot of these people are wanting to be in a warmer climate. A lot of people freeze to death every winter.
That's a half truth. San Francisco has no greater greater concentration of homeless people from outside the city than any other major city. And most of those that hadn't lived in San Francisco proper are from the larger Bay Area. San Francisco gives bus tickets to people to cities if they can identify someone who'll see them there.
You weren't listening. He didn't say it had nothing to do with it, YOU did. He said it's not as big of a factor as people are making it out to be. Can't make money when you're struggling with crack, heroin, and alcohol addictions! Duh
Ex homeless heroin addict 14 years sober. Homeless when I was basically a young adult around 22-25 years old. He's absolutely correct. Its almost entirely a drug issue and probably 20 percent mentally ill people who should be in institutions. The idea that its all people who are just down on their luck or even a fairly high percentage are is bullshit. In my years homeless I never met one person out there who didnt want to be out there using. Not one! Not one person who was trying or wanted to get off the streets who didnt. I only did beacuse my family came and found me and put me in rehab over and over until it stuck.
Most people who are homeless in San Francisco are not addicts. It's like 30-something% and that includes alcohol. I was homeless in SF, and I had none of those issues. There's a guy who was an addict for 6 months in San Francisco and he's built a little cottage industry talking about his addiction and homelessness. Right wing media loves him, and his perspective is the same as yours ie: "homelessness is all about addiction". That just isn't true.The statistics don't support that. Nothing but people's prejudice and desire to blame shift does.
@Yefri Fernandez My statistics come from San Francisco’s own city data. I have been involved in homelessness and poverty activism in San Fancisco for 3 years since I became housed after having been homeless myself. I know what I’m talking about more than this grifter (whose previous grift was climate denial). Obviously, you have an ax to grind about many issues not real acted to the one we are discussing. Not going to address those.
@@metalchix ahhh there ya go.. "involved in poverty activism' says it all. You know what, I dont believe you for a second that you were homeless. Because I was. My own eyes saw everything on the streets of Portland, Seattle, Vancvouer WA, and Vancouver BC. I lived all up the coast in all those cities homeless. There are TWO types of homeless, those who live on the streets and sleep on the streets and those who are down on their luck and live in the shelters for a period of time before eventually getting back on their feet. There is a poverty issue for sure but the leftist narrative that its all poverty is a LIE. flat out LIE. ANd you are clearly benefiting from that industry because you admitted its what you do. You have a stake in perpetuating that lie that its all poverty. Fuck off dude. Seriously. You are a danger to everyone with BS and corruption like that. Folks dont listen to him. Take it from someone who spent years homeless and has the real experience to back it up!---- BTW I worked with the homeless too for years through mamas hands a charity when i was a teenager before i became homeless. Same thing then in seattle. All drug and alcoholics. Nothing wrong with that but its the reality of it!
also who am i going to trust a dude who works for a cause with an agenda and "works with the homeless" Or my experience meeting hundreds of homeless while I was myself sleeping on the streets!
Thanks so much for sharing. I have a very close friend who is addicted to Opioids and keeps relapsing. Is there any suggestion for what kind of treatment you think works best?
@@Sorel366 my father was a Vietnam vet and I love our country but honestly bury all your family in a 4 1/2 yr period, have the 2008 housing crash hit while you employ 9 people, and get a divorce on top of that, then load everything up in a mountaineering pack that's key to your comfort and survival and simply try to lay your head down to get some sleep and you'll see how much freedom you truly have trying to get life sustaining sleep. Many turn to meth to stay up and I can't stand them stealing and thieving. I refuse to do the major cities and I stay in a national forest outside a small community and work 4 days a week. It's just me on my own now truly free for 11 yrs.
And yet, there's still people that think this 'homelessness crisis' is linked to letting a couple thousand fruitcakes out of their mental hospitals 40 years ago.
@@HardwiredZ06 Not talking shit just being real bro that's a very ignorant comment. Millions of people smoking fentanyl which people do not overdose with because there is close to no risk unless you're injecting with needles. Majority of people shooting up are injecting heroin and even if they wanted pure heroin without fentanyl cut inside of it they couldn't get it. All of it if not 90%+ has fentanyl in it. Just smoking fentanyl is safer in the long run if it's produced properly without anyone cutting it after cause it doesn't damage the immune system near as much as heroin does.
@@tommychoppa7564 lol that’s an interesting response. Ignorant huh? I guess I should have acknowledged the drug users who use responsibly and don’t die from misadventure. Got it.
I've been by any standard but my own homeless. I fortunately, though, was just homeless. Not an addict, though I definitely drank too much--but that was more self medication than addiction. But my point is I ran in homeless circles so to speak. And the lack of dignity is the quintessential problem, from a practical standpoint. Once you have crossed that many boundaries and been that degraded, it is very, very hard to make good or sane choices to better your situation. The idea of just giving people houses isn't born out of endless compassion. It's that it is impossible to love yourself enough to have kind of hope it takes to get up every morning and slog your way through it. It's not a question of who is accountable to whom. I promise you, after what I've seen, I'm no bleeding heart. We SHOULDN'T be so condescending. Lot's of people DO just need a good kick in the pants and to face some real consequences for once. Lot's of people ARE just deeply confused about what is truly important to make a good life and are learning it the hard way. Some are beautiful Jesus like souls. Some just think they are. Some are the skids temporarily, and some come to love the street life. But the cross section you are talking about--the fucking crazy drug addled methheads who have open dug wars on the street, and strip naked and don't live in reality and make the streets unsafe, who ARE a menace and should not be conflated with the endless variation of people without means--those people are not on the same planet. They're gone, okay. They have been replaced with zombies. Get their act together? What does it even mean to be accountable? The world makes no sense in that state. Accountability is an impossible ask--unless, hopefully, maybe they can get their bearings long enough to remember they are human beings. But like I said, Im not exactly a bleeding heart at this point. I don't think they should be allowed to camp on the streets. They need to either go someplace that can help them or go some place where they won't make every day terrifying. Ive seen cars blown up and malatov cocktails thrown through windows by these tweakers---the fact that we're doing nothing is abhorrent. But the goal is to do things that will work, and not breed more problems.
I’m with you. I spent a year in the “hotel circuit” amongst other addicts. I was a bukowski-esk alcoholic with little ties left on reality. Drank myself into oblivion and ended up homeless right when the pandemic hit. My fiancé and got sober after 4 months of getting kicked out of hotels all over OC, mingling with other drug addicts and alcoholics, it was very easy to see how these people get here. We stayed sober and after 7 months got ourselves out of that life. I have to say though, we didn’t meet one person during that time, that had ANY interest of getting out of the life. They were so satisfied with a wad of cash they made the night before, and a pocket full of dope, they think they are living the good life. They’re perception becomes so warped that they no longer even conceive the idea of stability. They’re extremely arrogant about it as well. Hookers who think they’re celebrities, druggies who think they’re rappers, and schizophrenics that will attack unprovoked was the lay of the land. This was in Anaheim and most of north Orange County. I am completely jaded by it all and I have no sympathy for them. I’d been destroying my life for over a decade with booze, and all it took for me to put it down was a positive pregnancy test from my now wife. It can be done, but these “zombie people” are just that…they’re zombies and they’re creating wastelands amongst society. There are two plagues we have currently..one of fentanyl, and one of inherently unjust sociopaths we call our leaders. I don’t see an end which is why I’ll be arming up and leaving this fuckin state. Luckily I was able to restart my career and I can work anywhere
I was a Libertarian and then realized that society had to control drugs, drunkenness, homelessness and unlimited individualism. Anarchism from the right or left leads to society sinking to the lowest common denominator.
I'm from the Bay Area and I've been living here since the late 1960's in Oakland, Ca. Homeless started when gentrification came here during the late 1980's. And the people here in the Bay Area were once paying anywhere from $250 - $500 a month, and now a one bedroom in the Mission district of SF goes for $3,500 and up & West Oakland starts at $3,000 a month for rent.... It's impossible to buy any real estate around here, when the median home goes for $1M and up, & when it used to sell for under a $100K. And the average blue-collar salary is now under $60K a year. This will push most local's into depression & alcohol & drugs and mental illness for being homeless.
I saw the match that ignited homeless problem in SF. It was 1978 and from my seat on the "8 Market" bus I saw a crowd of bums appear in tents near the CIvic Center. Art Agnos was the mayor and he said it was ok for the bums to live there. It was like a brush fire that got out of control, to be the mess it is today. If only the fire was extinguished back then.
It’s foolish to say that high rent isn’t a factor in SF’s homeless problem. The drug epidemic is a nationwide problem, but in most states drug addicts can still find a place to live while still having the drug problem.
Why aren't you using the word California? You are using "SF", you do mean San Francisco right? So high rent is a problem in SF? Or in California? Should I keep going? Or can you already see where this is going? PS; the "drug epidemic" is not a "nationwide" problem, it's a big city problem
@@skyeangelofdeath7363 everything about the point you’re trying to make is wrong lol. Rent in SF is the highest on the west coast, and number 2 in the country as a whole for cities. And the drug epidemic is a very nationwide problem, not limited to cities at all. In 2015 people in rural areas were 4x more likely to die of an overdose than in the year 2000, because it is a problem everywhere, small town america is very affected by opioids.
@@skyeangelofdeath7363 you do realize all these homeless move from Red states to California. I talked to many if them snd they all moved from Red states
what about the identity we give the elite? successful businessman, geniuses, philanthropists, heroes...when they are really all psychopaths. yeah i think that might be worth talking about a little more than not being hard enough on the person born into conditions most of us can't fathom
My recollection is during the Feinstein decade as SF's mayor there was a huge tent city on the expanse of lawn outside city hall. Many folks couldn't understand how a mayor who had no solution or even response to the growing crisis was somehow qualified to become a US senator.
So he doesn't think the skyrocketing rent in San Fran has anything to do with homelessness? I'm calling BS on that one. I'm not saying it's the biggest reason but he just dismissed it.
Sky rocketing rent in Hong Kong/Singapore/London etc. Its a symptom...And San Francisco wasn't always expensive either. Devaluation of currency and inflation with massive corruption.
There is also the homeless industrial complex. State and charities are spending billions on helping homeless/indigent and a lot of that is getting syphoned into the pockets of consultants and non-profit management
There is a Vlogger called German in Venice who captured Los Angeles, Venice Beach and what not in a very good way, he treated all of the homeless he spoke to with much respect and it was very interesting to hear what some people said. Los Angeles is such a lost case, tons of overpaid state/city workers totally indifferent to the people just making a buck managing poverty.
Everyone involved with the homelessness industry deserves to be called out. Obviously their efforts aren't working because that would stop the money train.
I listened to the whole episode on Spotify and learned a ton. This excerpt doesn't do it justice. Shellenberger has as impressive grasp of a complex problem and doesn't suffer from partisan tribalism.
I lived in San Francisco/Bay area from 1985 - 2015. We noticed a change around 1995 - 1996. It started turning more "grunge" around that time with homelessness, people using outside as a bathroom, and Overdosing on the street. 6th Street near Market street, Civic Center Plaza, the Mission District, the Tenderloin or TL and the Haight always had their own vibe and people who hung out there panhandling. Back then you weren't afraid or uncomfortable going there because no one bothered you other than asking for spare change. They weren't violent and aggressive like now. You could pay a homeless man a few dollars to watch your car if you were going to a restaurant or event and you parked your car outside of a parking garage and it would be safe when you returned. Even though the politicans were Democrats, they were more Moderate: Dianne Feinstein, Art Agnos, Frank Jordan, Willie Brown. The current politicans, Tech companies, high rents, companies leaving to Conservative States have contributed to the demise of San Francisco. I still have great memories and will always love San Fran regardless!
All relative. I remember being in Berkeley off of Telegraph on a Saturday afternoon in the 80's and seeing a street person passed out in Durant Square. I came back a few hours later to see the EMT's hauling him away DOA.
@@N0tARapp3r They also choose to go there. Mild weather, easier access to drugs, the culture of homelessness (Skidrow comes to mind), they throw out drug charges, much easier to not have to post bond/bail, etc.
I've also heard that SF heavily favors renters versus those that own the rentals. Creates a high risk situation for landlords so they hike up the rent to cover any potential losses, or dont bother to rent at all and leave places vacant. Have you heard about this?
I honestly feel bad for hard working Californians right now what with the surge in shoplifting, homelessness and now with the ban on gas powered lawn maintenance equipment.
A large percent of the homeless population are not the usual " mentally ill " or " drug addicts " . In 2021 a lot are actually just simply the working poor.
Alot of homeless people in my town are just veterens who cant keep a job. I see more collage students do crack and heroin then the homeless but maybe thats because i only walk by the homeless camp
I’ve lived in SF for 18 years and 2 of the biggest factors contributing to the rise of homelessness aside from drug use is 1) Mayor Gavin Newsom’s “Care not cash” program was eliminated once he became LT gov and Mayor Ed Lee took over (the program transferred the $700 check homeless people would receive each month to a room in a single resident occupancy (SRO), and 2) after 2008 Google went IPO and hundreds if not a few thousand brand newly minted millionaires moved into the city and offered up to twice market rate or more for the most desirable housing, and Mayor Ed Lee also decided to give massive tax incentives for Silicon Valley based tech companies to move their offices or expand into the then and now still dilapidated Mid-Market region of San Francisco, with the idea that they would clean up the neighborhood and bring more retail and other businesses in. No such thing ever happened, and the city became flooded with tech-bros who ordinarily would have stayed in San Jose or Palo Alto now moving to SF and more than willing to pay $4k/month or more for a 1br apt. Naturally, anyone who used to be able to afford living here would either move away or move onto the streets.
@@geoffvalero3516 always evade the blame and ppl STILL think democrats r for the working class!!! proof is in the pudding, red or blue, these ppl r in it to make the wealthy richer and THATS IT!!!
I worked at McDonald's when I was younger, and we sent out all these "free with any purchase" coupons for a new product roll out. The only problem was the geniuses in marketing put the "FREE!!!!" part big and bold and the "with any purchase" part down at the bottom, in fine print. So we got absolutely bombarded by people trying to come in for a free sandwich and getting pissed off when they learned they had to buy something. Total nightmare.
@@joehilner4830 Portland invests millions in affordable housing. Go visit and tell me why they have thousands of homeless shitting on sidewalks and setting up tents in the street. You can't help those that don't want it.
Also a huge contributing factor is politics and transient nature is what dragged it down to this level. -Libertarian culture -Utopian/Progressive world view -Leftiest Policies Is a perfect cocktail to destroy any liberal city in America.
What I’ve seen: Activists who view homelessness as a non-judgmental lifestyle choice whose proposed solutions are always “give them free stuff”. They tend to overlook the mental health problems that lead to being “unhoused”.
It's always a hoot when these same lefties get victimized as a result of their "open all borders, give everything away" attitude. But their warped minds just lead them to believe it's always someone else's fault.
@@Carma123 yes. Also drug prohibition: I’ve talked with homeless people who spend $100+ per day on their addiction. That’s over $40,000 per year in pre-tax income! England solved this problem by medicalising drugs which eliminates the criminal, health, and economic impacts of addiction.
I’m so happy Michael Shellenberger is on. I ran across him several years ago talking sense about nuclear energy being the sustainable solution TODAY for cheaper, more abundant, cleaner energy
The homeless problem in Stockton and Sacramento are also extremely bad. It's scary, I worry for my families safety. It feels like we need some kind of federal help or something here in California. It's horrible.
Im from San Francisco, 4th generation ....and i'm the last of my family left here! The root of the problem is actually the tech folks! These tech companies have created an environment that is not geared towards the local population. these tech workers are making more money than most of us, they are being offered extremely high salaries as well and stock options and bonuses, so they can afford to buy homes and teslas and expensive things, and the government is loving it all, because they are making a literal killing off property taxes, and payroll taxes etc. The Sad truth is that there is no money to be made from us locals, we are just in the way now taking up precious space. And then everyone seems like they are shocked and confused as to why the homeless and drug crisis????!!!! .......and that is even more alarming , that we have all had the wool pulled over our eyes with the smoke and mirrors of thhe pandemic, politics, race issues and police brutality. Sad.
As a bay area resident for almost my entire life, I can attest that this response is probably the only one that really holds any water. Tech industry is 100 percent the problem, and they've attracted H1B visa holders that have zero college debt in addition to six figure incomes. It's priced out native-born Americans.
@@franksanz1044 WHAT BUBBLE DO YOU LIVE IN MAN?! THE TECH FOLKS HAVE PRICED EVERYONE OUT OF HERE. THATS A FACT. WHERE DO YOU EXPECT 10s OF THOUSANDS OF HOMELESS ARE GOING TO GO? THE STATE HAS BEEN CLEARING OUT THE SIDES OF THE FREEWAYS, BUSHES, CREATING STREET PARKING CODES SO NO RVs CAN PARK AND SLEEP, ETC.....SO WHERE ARE ALL THESE FOLKS SUPPOSED TO GO? IM A LOCAL TOW TRUCK DRIVER, AND HAVE BEEN FOR ALMOST 2 DECADES, AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT I REGULARLY TOW FOLKS OUT TO THE CENTRAL VALLEY THAT HAVE EXPRESSED TO ME THAT THEIR HOMELESS POPULATION IS STAGGERING, AND I HAVE TOWED SEVERAL HOMELESS PEOPLE TO THESE LOCATIONS IN THE VALLEY BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN CHASED OUT OF HERE......AND THEN MANY OF THESE PEOPLE TURN TO DRUGS TO COPE WITH LOSING EVERYTHING. I HAVE PERSONALLY BEEN TO THESE HOMELESS CAMPS IN THE VALLEY, PARTICULARLY MODESTO, WHERE THERE ARE LITERALLY BETWEEN 400- 600 EITHER TENTS OR TINY TINY HOMES IN ONE CAMP, AND THERE ARE SEVERAL OF THESE CAMPS...WITH A HUGE FENCE , GATES AND SECURITY 24/7. ALL THE WHILE, DURING THIS PANDEMIC, I CAN TELL YOU AS A PERSON THAT DRIVES AROUND THE GREATER BAY ALL DAY EVERYDAY, THE ONLY THING THAT HAS NOT SLOWED DOWN AT ALL IS THE CONSTRUCTION OF MASSIVE APARTMENT COMPLEXES THAT FOR SURE THE NATIVE LOCAL POPULATION CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE IN! SO PLEASE FURTHER BACK UP YOUR STATEMENT WITH SOMETHING VALID. I'LL BE AWAITING YOUR RESPONSE!!!
“It’s hard to pinpoint a single thing.” Meaning impossible. Drugs are a symptom. It’s mental health at root. Then add the well-intentioned but horrible political, legal, celebrity, and community interventions along with no accountability and you get the problem we see now.
Plenty of otherwise mentally healthy people get into drugs and it ruins them, its not as if mental illness is always the pipeline to drug use, if anything it can just as easily be the other way around. Mental issues can cause drug use, drug use can cause mental illness, and poverty could either cause or result from either.
The major cause of drug addiction, especially with the mentally ill, is people trying to self medicate their problems away. When those problems are mental illness, it's a real recipe for disaster.
@@kobeh6185 I think people underestimate the prevalence of mental health issues. Drug abuse is very much connected to mental health in that it used to self medicate. Anise/misuse of drugs, food, sex, gambling, and other things are very often all symptoms of untreated mental health problems.
@@davidluchsinger7377 that is true, all im saying is that often drugs are a major factor is making those mental issues more debilitating than they would have already been, or can create mental disorders themselves.
When I travelled to the US for the first time in 2009, I landed in San Francisco, and I was shocked at how bad the homeless situation was in the city there. Here I was dragging around a big suitcase (hey everybody, it’s me the tourist!), and quite a few homeless guys were approaching me for loose change. It was a big culture shock. During that big vacation, I travelled widely in the US, and SF was clearly the worst I saw for homelessness. Followed by DC, strangely enough. I was expecting the worst to be in NYC, but I was wrong there. Having said the above, homelessness in my city of Sydney AUS has gotten worse over the last 30 years too.
I did some public contract work in Dallas back in 2017, and there was a program in place that offered to bus any homeless person to San Francisco, LA, or Seattle on a free one-way ticket, or wait for us to finish our work. All anyone had to do in order to qualify was name a relative in any of those places that they could conceivably room with. No proof needed, no plan of reintegration, no services offered, nothing... And from what I've heard that was the norm in many parts of the country. "Greyhound Therapy" I think was the phrase a lot of people were using for the program. Bottom line, I don't know why folks are trying to reduce the issue to any one cause in particular. There are many, many reasons for the homeless crises we see in many of these large metropolitan American cities.
There was a fascinating article in the guardian a few years back that showed how the homeless in America are just bussed around the country by law enforcement. 1 way tickets are bought for these people from one city to another. Not really a solution to the problem that actually works.
It’s a good solution and everyone wins. Dallas gets to keep its city safe and beautiful. The homeless person gets to go to CA where they will be taken care of with open Arms. CA residents feel all warm and fuzzy that they are helping a victim.
As somebody who struggled with Heroin pills and fentanyl for six years I’m 11 months sober now and I would say that it gets so debilitating if it wasn’t for somebody taking initiative and making sure I follow up with direction I would be dead! Any process towards sobriety isn’t going to be easy or comfortable or sensitive we have been rendered sick and impaired of any clear judgment whatsoever your moral compass needs to be replaced don’t even bother with the old one it’s dead now and will leave the vulnerable to relapse being made uncomfortable to make a change! Is a vital and necessary part of the journey!
I was sitting in a circle in Golden gate park and then Mayor Newsom and his posse came strolling through, assessing the "drug problem" By the next week hundreds of homeless had been arrested for cannabis possession or fled, I too fled. Now him and his buddies are rich from legalization and all those poor people still have records.
That’s a big part of my life story also. I raced motorcycles in the early 2000’s. Lots of broken bones and surgeries at a time when docs were prescribing OxyContin like Advil. I got hooked, then when they stopped prescribing painkillers I switched to heroin. I finally got clean in 2012 but I wasted so many years in absolute misery. Life is great now and I have more than I ever thought I would. But I have a lifetime of regrets from that time of my life.
Forgot mention how California budgets $50-60k on each homeless person to live in a tent. I work for the government at a top University here in San Diego making 52k so technically I'm budgeted as a homeless person? I live a pretty good life. Come on California where is that money really going 🙄
Lookup Martin vs City of Boise , its been in LA and SD newspapers and news 30+ times since case began and it's what changed homelessness enforcement permanently.
San Francisco has always had homelessness problem. It is one of the most expensive cities in America. The rent in San Francisco is ridiculously high, a one bedroom in an 80 year old building could go as high as $ 3000. dollars per mount. Drug addiction is just one of the problems that is contributing to homelessness but there are many others. That said , it is a city that I love for as long as I live.
It did not always have a problem. It started just about the time Uni-party rule started. Around mid 1960s. And since then it has been carefully nurtured into big enough proportion to hold the city hostage. Its a completely manageable issue that is unintentionally being mismanaged.
Having been imported to San Francisco 1958 and living there until 1974 I had seen “homeless” individuals we called HoBo’s back then. I lived on the south side of KYA hill during the building of Candlestick Park (mid 50’s). The government tore down those projects mid~late ‘60’s. We as kids would play around Candlestick point at the water and chit chat with HoBo’s hanging around the area cooking their food in coffee cans. Frequently would be different individuals since they moved around a lot. Fast forward to mid to later ‘60’s the Hippie movement began to rear its ugly head. Drugs, free everything, liberal roots taking hold. Another point is Alcohol was a major cause of homelessness then also. Along Mission St, from 1st street (AC terminal) towards 5th was full of pawn shops, liquor store, cheap motels and numerous winos. Aquatic Park had drugs rampant 60’s-70’s. While riding 3rd & Kearney bus we ran over a wino on 3rd and Mission st [1967?) My step father died on Mission st (1982?). Had an individual shoot out his brains on Muni Pear while we were fishing (1969?) So homeless in San Francisco was long in progress.
My observation as a regular visitor of the US over about the last 15 years is that 15 years ago homelessness was the reserve of the addicted and sick who lived in tents tucked away out of sight, under bridges, in tunnels, in bushes, etc. This year I visit to see that it's no longer just pockets of tents, but whole homeless communities, no longer just with addicts and the sick but whole families too. People now living in motorhomes, cars and make shift huts. It's become not just a problem of health and addiction but an issue of a seriously broken system that lets whole families slip through the cracks. It's no longer something people can look at and say "take drugs and that's the result" but it's grown to something much bigger. It's now become an issue of not paying the bills on time falling pray to the cut throat nature of the US system and businesses. It's very very sad to see.
I wouldn't necessarily call someone living in an RV homeless. I've lived on a boat for over a year, three different times. The boat was my home. I'll probably do it with an RV when I am too told to handle the boat.
@@ralphholiman7401 that's fair point. It's more the location, environment and surrounding community that set them apart from people who do it by choice/pleasure and those who are doing it for necessity. :/
@@thomasraven2024 , it's necessary for some people to live in smaller homes than others. That doesn't make them homeless. Just look at the tiny home movement, for one.
@@ralphholiman7401 Other than picking nits through the use of anecdotal ,exception-based semantics, what is your intent with these posts? Are you refuting the broader assertions made by the OP? Reading the conversation, it appears to me that you are simply playing the role of contrarian for the sake of being provocative. In any logical analysis, a clear distinction exists between someone who makes a conscious choice to adopt a motorhome or boat as their permanent place of residence and people who are living in something other than a a fixed, terrestrial structure out of necessity. The same is true for tiny homes. You don't strike me as someone so naive as to not understand the not so subtle differences between these situations. Therefore, it begs the question, what is your point?
Love how the federal govt involvement in the opioid crisis always neglected. The federal govt started demanding that pain be the 5th Vital Sign. Inpatients were not allowed to have a VAS pain score of more than 4 without adequate narcotics. Physicians had been taught for decades to restrict narcotic prescription due to fear of addiction. During these mandates all those studies were said to be invalid and addiction potential in the postoperative period was impossible. Pharma took advantage of these mandates and (especially percocet and oxycontin) became standard postoperative management due to marketing efforts (which wouldn't have worked if mandates were not in place).
Very insightful. This is why many people are Mrs. Doubt Pfizer, and are demanding to protect their rights against the "Mandate" -the govt is here to help you and saving lives BS propaganda.
The idea you're a bad doctor if you're patient is in pain came vein the govt. They used the nurses as enforcers. You would get phone calls that you're patient had a pain score of 5 and they wanted to give then morphine for the pain. If you said no, you'd be written up and you'd have to explain yourself. JCAHO would do audits on pain scores and physician response and hospitals would get fined. So protocols were implemented on what to give for each pain score. Big pharma couldn't infiltrate the hospital nurses and administrators. That's not to say they didn't hit the marketing hard. But the govt wants you to blame big pharma and not realize that they set up the environment. So postoperative pain patients started getting addicted (~10%) and then they would start visiting pill mills. Then the govt started cracking down on pill mills and the addicts turned to fentanyl. Then China started getting involved and sending Mexico the ingredients to create their own batches. Then the deaths started spiking. So the govt jumps in to save us from the epidemic that they started. Now doctors have to check Eforse everything they prescribe a narcotic and assess abuse potential. If they don't they will be fined per occurrence. So what do doctors do? They don't prescribed any more narcotics because they don't want to be fired. So the real chronic pain patients (injuries, autoimmune disorders, rheumatolgoical conditions, fibromylagia, etc) don't have providers writing them prescriptions. So they have to go to pain centers and sit for hours to get a 30day supply of narcotics and repeat this again in 30 days. Then theybshow up one day to find out an auditor reviewed their file and have mandated that they receive half the dose for the to 3 months. So the real pain patients go to the streets to manage their pain. Had the govt not stepped in, and let the professionals do what they had been doing for 100 years, there would be no opiod crises. Big pharma is the scape goat the govt uses to redirect your attrntion away from them. I can go into medical error mandates as well and show how govt mandates via EMTALA and price control lead to medical errors and rising costs of Healthcare. And how in 15 years with CME, time outs, root cause analysis, and $20 billion dollars spent there has been no drop in medical errors. But thats another video .
And now its impossible to get opiates. I'm a disabled vet and live in constant agony because it is impossible for me to get opiates legally. No doctor will prescribe them to me. The crackdown on opiates hurts people as well.
@@bucknasty69 this right here is one of the seriously overlooked side effects of the opioid crackdown. I've been trying to manage a fairly severe case of Crohn's disease for almost 15 years, and after trying everything except surgery I've found nothing even close to being as life changing and effective for managing pain & symptoms than certain opiates which are almost impossible to get now. Regardless of what people like Joe Rogan might say, there are some individuals out there who can't live a normal life without these drugs. Unfortunately the panic caused by deaths from overdoses, street drugs laced with fentanyl etc is affecting a group of people who need these medications
@@cloudbloom You are right about drugs like Noco being nearly impossible to get prescribed. I was hobbling with a cane and bent over in severe pain when I saw my doc. Nothing prescribed. When I was unable to sleep for 3 days because of the pain I would up in the ER. They gave me a couple of shots of morphine and prescribed the Noco. I was able to tolerate physical therapy and after 5 months, I'm doing well. The point is, when your pain level is an 8 some intervention is necessary in order to heal and sleep. Telling doctors they shouldn't use them and monitoring the doIcs closely is an error in the opposite direction and may impede healing. P.S. I didn't get addicted.
Not a single word on the rise of the Tech Industry. I've been in Oakland for 13 years. As the tech industry has grown so has the homeless population. The amount of home displacement, loss of jobs, and rent increase definitely have a huge impact. Where there's more money there's more greed. This dude only covers a small reason of why homelessness exists. I volunteer at a local organization and see the problems first hand.
It is really sad. I remember visiting SF in the 90s and there were always a homeless population around fisherman’s wharf but my last trip there about 4 years ago was shocking. No homeless at fisherman’s wharf but a ton have moved to union square. Right outside our hotel it smelled like weed and urine and I was having to step over people to walk in. It was really sad seeing so many people with mental health issues on the streets. Used to be one of my favorite cities to visit, now it just makes me sad.
It doesn't sound that bad. Kind of like a garden party or something. I think we should encourage it if anything. Did you know you can get them to fight eachother for money and drugs and then you can film that and sell it online. Not just fighting either, you can get them to do any kind of crazy wierd stuff and then take them out on your boat and just push them overboard and find another one. Just be careful of covid, you want healthy homeless people.
He has a lot of truth and some Bull crap mixed in his analysis. Gary Null has been doing documentaries on homeless crisis for years. High cost of living is a huge factor too. Lots of people go to jail for crimes. This guy is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The system is broken all around
Yeah he says high rent isnt a factor. If thats true then why is it only the most expensive cali cities that have this level of homelessness? There are drug addicts everywhere, not just in SF.
At least he’s bringing attention to long overlooked problems homelessness, networks lying, the problems with overgrowth of various industries and the many problems that creates
But these aren't overlooked problems. As Joe pointed out in other interviews, California has spent BILLIONS on the homeless problem. The issue is government corruption - much of the money never makes it to the people who need it. Joe referred to it as "farming the homeless" which I think describes the situation perfectly.
I think a lot of this stems from the breakdown of the family system. In a past era most of these dysfunctional people would be living with relatives. Now that everyone is more independent, they have no interest in housing such people in their own home. It's easier to let them wander the streets.
@@marcdemontbron9657 Idk if there's a shortage, just maybe in the urban areas where rent is so high. There are literally hundreds of ghost town subdivisions that were created during the housing collapse of 07. There used to be anyway, IDK if most of those were demolished or fixed up and sold since then
The family unit has nothing to do with it. It can actually be linked to the defunding of the state sponsored mental institutions in the 80's. Before that point families would dump their mentally deficient members into an institution. Have dyslexia or down syndrome? Get dumped in an institution. Color blind or epileptic? Institution. Once those places were closed we saw a huge boom in the homeless population around the country. Also the average family in America has not been educated on how to handle or work with mentally deficient family members, so unfortunately it is quite common in our country for families to cut lose a person instead of learning how to help them.
@@matthewgabbard6415 There is a housing shortage EVERYWHERE. Many ghost subdivisions were unlivable & needed to destroyed (most of those were built out of mortgage fraud). But there just isn’t enough housing for the amount of people that need it throughout the US.
I’m definitely not a fan of pharma either, but I had a major knee surgery & I stopped taking any pain pills on the morning of day 3 after surgery. The pain was definitely still there, but it wasn’t bad enough to justify taking them anymore. Point being, you chose to continue. And continue. And continue. I’m genuinely sorry about that struggle, but your choices had a lot to do with it.
@@internet_internet Whether or not it's a 'choice' to continue the drug, the government officials and the owners of the opiate patents need to be punished for lying about the risks and bribing doctors to prescribe them. We can't just watch something like the drug epidemic unfold and just say 'It was your choice bro', and let the assholes who make billions off of it get away with contributing to the downfall of civilisation. It sets such a bad precedent for society that will inevitably lead to the same type of shit happening over and over again until someone's greed and stupidity just kills us all.
26 year SF resident here. I worked a block from Occupy, walking past it every day, and it had NOTHING to do with the homeless tent problem. Saying that is UTTERLY Absurd and completely delusional, all due respect. Sure some tents lingered for a while after Occupy but it was only a handful of them and everyone I spoke to living in those tents were hardcore Anarchists. I did not see one actual 'homeless' person. The gentrification in 2013 and on is when the homeless issue really started to get way out of hand. Before this it was mostly limited to the pan handle area, or where the drugs were like the Tenderloin. SF had a housing shortage and then allowed tech companies come in through tax incentives(Newsom). Countless commercial high rises, including the tallest in California, went up without the city providing adequate housing. This is when 'medium to large' tent communities started in areas such as near Polk or Duboce and by 5th St. At this time rents reached $7500 for a 1 bd. The city at this point had a record amount of evictions(search for the eviction map around this time). I was evicted along with just about everyone(artists) I knew who was on rent control. Prior to this massive tech invasion SF had a large amount of hard partiers who lived paycheck to paycheck who were now forced on the street. I still see many people I would see in the late night party seen living in tents now around SF and Oakland. The tent communities then snowballed and a lot of outsiders came into SF once the REAL seed was spread. Add to this, San Francisco's underlying communities of tolerance that go back to the 60s or further, more money coming to SF and being put into programs causing homeless to influx in and then what you see now makes sense. Essentially, it was a complete neglect of proper city planning(including no plans to clean up the Tenderloin) which resulted from politicians being bought out. Once COVID hit it seems the huge tent communities in Berkeley and Oakland started coming in, or back in. All of this contributes to what we see today. I know Im missing a few causes but generally what Im saying here is what I witnessed as a person who has frequented every inch of this city since 1995. Back then, Dolores Park was the homeless area where the hard drugs were sold.
I grew up as a kid in Santa Cruz in the 90's. Santa Cruz is ULTRA liberal and their liberal digression has always been about 15 years in front of SF in terms of wackiness. What Santa Cruz did was make it super easy for homeless people to come out into the open and exist as a homeless person within the city. They provided soup kitchens, tent cities, water, portable toilets, instituted police policies of non intervention, ect blah blah blah. As you would expect word got out and the homeless population in CA flocked there. Same shit happened in SF. If you make something easier you'll get more of it, make something harder you'll get less of it. Simple law of human nature, everything else is just a compounding factor.
Yeah dude, i lived in SC for 2.5 years from 2010-2013 and I was warned by locals not to be downtown after dark by myself, and even during the day I would get heckled by crazy people or mocked by homeless dudes wanting my money. One guy took food and was happy about it, but he was old and had a long story. The young homeless guys were always jerks. After I left, I followed the local news and kept in touch with my sister who still lives there, and it only got worse. They had a big city meeting over the growing homeless, drug addicted population and couldn't figure out what the hell to do. It's like, all the rich yuppies live around the mess and talk about it, but none of them do anything about it. All the volunteers I ever met were college students and older women who grew up there.
@@xtiphuny89 Yeah, the trope is that SC is where hippies go to grow old. Don't get me wrong, they're well intentioned, but those policies simply don't work. Unfortunately, that city has always been unable to make necessary decisions to reign in it's problems. The extreme progressives are actually EXTREMELY judgmental and unforgiving within it's own community and virtue signaling is huge. Any hint that you are a moderate on an issue like this and you'll be ostracized and ridiculed.
Just finished this entire 3 hour podcast and came back just to say it was an incredible interview in terms of both information learned, new perspective gained, and overall very entertaining. 100% would recommend giving it a full listen.
Yeah.im guilty of it.deep down we want to drop responsibility and live it up like the others.we have the mentality of IF WE HAVE TO SUCK IT UP.SO SHOULD THEY
@Dungeon Master I think that's true to the extent that it's an illness. But cancer patients can't exercise their own agency to change their life and get rid of their problem. There also isn't a group of activists who think that cancer is a "lifestyle choice" and that encouraging people to get surgey/chemo/radiation is "victim blaming."
I live in Oakland and I can tell you, it got bad in the last ten years with a cocktail of Big Tech, tech workers, and Gavin Newsome. They have a circle of wealth that isn't shared with the common resident of the bay area. They make money and spend it amongst themselves...when you bring a bunch of money into a city and don't spend locally, small businesses go belly up. They move in and don't shop at small businesses, so rent goes up because income has gone up. Income has gone up but it isn't locals making the money. It's the outsiders they bring in to work. So now rent goes up, cost of living goes up, and people who have been here can't afford to live here. Why? They aren't making any of this new money. In 2014 I was working two jobs and minimum wage was still $8/HR. Yet the rent was crazy. Couldn't afford to live. Yet I'm seeing young white and Asian people move in to buildings that were once abandoned. They are now fixed up and looking nice. On the street I grew up on (31 st street) there are big brown gates in front of every house. There used to be only two gates on that street. They moved in and barricaded themselves. They only shop at big box stores or Amazon and don't bother coming out ever. The problem with homelessness now is it isn't just mentally ill or drug addicts. It's working class people as well. The people who were on the bubble in housing barely making it were forced out to make room for new employees who can afford the rent that's only high because they now live here. I see the problem. Until people around here get serious and stop acting like tech isn't the problem, then it won't get fixed. It's not even the workers that are the problem as much as it's the politicians who never cared about the citizens enough to make tech pay for the problems they knew they would cause. How can the city of Oakland police dept have a budget funding issue when the company Twitter is located here? Aren't they taxpayer funded? Well if the most financially successful companies aren't paying taxes comparable to your local deli worker then who's paying for this shit? All this "income" and the city broke....how is that? Maybe Google can buy Oakland and kick the rest of our broke asses out so they can bring more Romanians in to code. Ahhh sweet capitalism.
I was a bike commuter coming from a club I closed in Jack London Sq, Oakland. Rode my bike north straight thru the city hall area, aka Occupy. For the last decade I’ve watched homelessness go from blankets on the ground to tents to, now, whole goddamn mini houses!
@@farzana6676 I mean if jobs that pay well lower their qualifications then maybe I’ll apply but until then I’ll work in a dead end job that’s okay with my mediocrity
@@xxo-deathshot-oxx2047 Yeah but either way, even working a dead end job and renting a room. Sharing a house with other like minded workers means there shouldn't be a homeless epidemic. How can there be so many homeless people when companies are saying they're struggling to find employees.
@Dungeon Master Lol, you're a fool. And it's clear by your absurd economics, you've never owned nor even rented a home in your entire life. Regarding the rest of your comment about being harder to get a job due to being homeless, I can't comment on it. It might or might not be true.
@@jakeaild94 It means "fuck joe biden". It was chanted at a Nascar race and the politically correct reporter/news outlet for the race didn't like hearing that so they changed it to "lets go brandon" to basically cover it up. There's PLENTY of videos on it
@@NotAnEconomist suuuuuure! And all the psychotic’s out on the streets can’t be Ronnie Reagan’s fault? Call it what u want but republicans and democrats have made this a reality.
These cities need a strong dose of tough love. Sweep the streets clean of the homeless and evaluate each person, incarcerate the criminals, give medical aid to those who need it, give mental illness help to those who need it. House the people who want help and are willing to help themselves. It will cost a lot of money, but, the solution will benefit everyone in the city.
The fact that it would cost a lot of money is why nothing is being done about it. If there was money to be MADE in helping the homeless, the Government would address all those points you made within a week.
@Ms. Speak Tha Truth the Democratic Party control over large cities is a byproduct of a urban mindset. People who are born into a system that they seem to think owes them. The graft and corruption are not held in check because the system is so large, and the citizens just consider it part and parcel to doing business in a large governmental system. People raised to work in a rural area are use to less government control and want even less, this creates a division that we see exaggerated by the media today. This isn’t a red vs blue issue it’s a urban vs rural issue. You can’t expect a farmer who opens a small dairy item and baked goods store front to make some extra money for his/her family to abide by being forced to build a transgender bathroom when the population of transgender people in his area is zero. But the democrats want an across the board rule of law for everyone everywhere. And this small example is only a small example of things that might float in a big city but not in the small towns across America. Gun control in a city where the police are 2 to 5 minutes away might make sense because of gang violence and criminals, but the family who has to wait 30 minutes to an hour for help of any kind to arrive is going to need to protect their own lives and property. The major problem with these two situations is the gangs and criminals will get guns no matter how much gun control you have,,,, because they are criminals to begin with, and criminals don’t follow the rules or laws that the law abiding citizens obey.
@Ms. Speak Tha Truth so the Democratic Party has the best interest of the people in these ghettos? Then why are there still having the same problems? The Democratic Party has had control of the inner cities for over 60 years, but these ghettos still exist? The same political system makes more voters in the same system in the same ghettos for generations now. Yet you’re blaming the GOP? I still think the democrats are fostering slavery, but now the citizens under the democratic system are the product not the work force, the votes that give these democrats power is the end game. Don’t vote for a living, work for a living.
@@ianstradian I think it's just different people every few years that have the same problem. Not many people stay homeless addicts in the streets that long. Something happens to intervene usually
"To victims give everything and demand nothing" Yikes this is a powerful statement and I would love to hear a "victim" explain how this statement makes them feel.
This Guy is great I was formally homeless due to my addiction to opiates. Eventually I got sober and now work in treatment. My lived experience suggested what this guy is saying is %100 accurate!
Was back there a month ago for the first time in 15 years. Sad. They have snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory. I thought all the negative press was over hyped. Sadly it was not.
The only homeless people in my town work 40 hrs a week... neither are addicts, alcoholics nor crazy. I would have become homeless as well had I not taken on 65+ hrs/ week. Homelessness here IS ABSOLUTELY a result of poverty.
@@arighteousname5882 I was curious to that as well. I’m assuming it’s a heavily dense area bc are more sustainable locations for people that do not want to be homeless and willing to work 40 hrs per week.
No one is forcing those priced out to stay in california.. move to alabama, its 14x cheaper to live. can stay on the crack and have roof to sleep under.
@@slaup1163 Spoken like a true ignorant American. "Why didn't you just move your family to the opposite side of the state?" Because moving an entire family, all living paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by as is, can move across the country and have a set job for them. Sit tf down
@@godsfather9686 Shut your hole, already. Every comment you make is simply "It's never anybody's own fault or responsibility." Sit tf down until you grow a brain.
I lived in SF for 21 years and in the Bay Area for 45. I worked in the mental health field. In the 70s there were continual runaways chasing the dead hippie dream in the Haight and some down-on-their-luck adult men on the streets of the tenderloin but homelessness was pretty negligible. Then Reagan came along and policies were put in place to deinstitutionalize people with severe and persistent mental illness while also cutting HUD funds. That’s when rents began to rise and the yuppie class came into fashion. This was helped along by DiFi who made a push to beautify and gentrify the city. By the 90s the tech sector took off and this put the icing on the cake. Housing prices skyrocketed and they have continued their upward trend since that time. In addition, San Francisco attracts those who are in the vanguard or fancy themselves as such. It’s those fanciers-that-just-don’t-quite-make-it that get left behind often because of drug/alcohol problems, mental health issues or lack of job skills. Maybe all three. They then find themselves on the street due to affordability issues. It’s incremental; occupying a spare room devolves to couch surfing which can devolve to the street. Let’s face it, housing in S F is very limited and more and more people with greater means only live there sporadically. This translates into even less housing affordability and availability. I think people hang on to the notion of living in SF because they find community on the streets and they can sustain the hope that this bastion of liberalism will provide for them eventually. However, more people would be better off moving to the the hinterlands where life is cheaper and they’d have a better chance at making a go at life. The expense of the Bay Area even chased me out and I’m a retired professional. I’m happy living in New Mexico now.
@@anthonyjames4247 Progressives throw money at a problem without determining if what they're doing is going to fix the problem or make it worse. I think we all want to help homeless people but the answer isn't to find new ways to enable their life choices.
Most people probably don't know that as of recent Sacramento, relative to its population, actually has far more homeless than SF. "Sacramento, which is separated by about 87 miles from San Francisco across the nearby bay, now has a staggering 952 homeless people per 100,000 citizens, versus 503 per 100,000 in San Francisco" - Daily Mail
Homelessness started to skyrocket when asylums & hospitals started to close during the Carter administration. They expanded and funded community services. Then Reagan came along & cut funding. That's about the time private prisons popped up
Half right. It was the ACLU that was the finally blow to get "Homeless" out of Hospitals so they can be "free" on the street. They sued California and shortly after Regan gave them their wish...the more truth you know, the more you see the issue.
The closing of asylums was a wild thing. Instead of fixing the system we had, they just tore it all down and let people live on the streets. I understand the intentions were good but they didn’t fix the problem
@@fredhall6525 You didn't read my comment, it was the ACLU that sued California to shut down the "inhumane" Mental hospitals so they could live "free" on the streets. Your biases are showing.
@@1pcfred exactly! or at the very least the only voice they will listen too because it offers them more control over the majority! i believe it was our crippling point from our greatest achievements. yes they were very poorly run but that could have been changed. releasing them created generational problems in mental health and poverty not to mention disease.
Hey guys, for district attorney for a city of millions, let's elect a guy who was raised his entire childhood by domestic terrorists. The poor fella was missing a mom and dad because they murdered two police officers during one of their bank robberies(the bank money was to be used to make larger bombs and buy full auto rifles) So the bank robber murdering terrorists asked fellow members, 2 mass bombers who hadn't been arrested yet, to raise their son, and raise him under the guise of revolutionary communism and the overthrow of the US government. So this guy, spent his entire formative experience absorbing the thoughts of murderers, anarchists, terrorists, black supremacists, armed robbers, and Maoist communists. Then, when he runs for office and all of this info about his deeply troubling upbringing, and his views regarding revolutionary terrorism are brought to light by the media...the strangest thing happened;THE PSYCHOPATHS IN SAN FRANCISCO FUCKING ELECTED HIM
I went to San Francisco in the 90s. I was out at a large park and noticed all these people had shopping carts full of their belongings. At the time I felt like it was in control. Boston homeless are usually found leaning against a building . They had very little and so homeless with shopping carts was strange to me
As a 47yo Native I can say from someone who has lived back and forth for almost 30 years the curbside camping only started with the Sanctuary City Designation less then 10 years ago before that Haight St was the only area homeless could hangout on the sidewalk.
You guys and the speaker are full of shit. The problem is the drug problem in America. Everything, including marijuana has been so "refined" that people can no longer "maintain" or have a habit & still somewhat have a normal life. Their addiction has become everything to them. I was raised around old school drug addicts that have heroine, pot, an alcohol issues and still took some steps to maintain their lives. Don't blame others or "politicians" for your problems. We have basically almost had to decriminalize drugs as so many addicts end up being a burden and incarcerated. Get real.
@@tzermonkey Not always but a lot of addicts are addicts because of bad parenting and child abuse and much more. These beings were never taught personal responsibility and much more and were treated less than dogs in their eyes for some and just stopped caring. As an adult you obviously need to get shit together in life but many drug addicts would not exist if not for parents who decided to have children instead of getting an abortion. Now this kid has mentally ill / drug addicted parents and the kid is mentally / physically sexually abused / not truly wanted and grows up to be angry and take it out on other innocent peoples lives. This is the reality and good and caring parenting will solve most all issues in society or just not having children at all to reduce population.
@Alberg Tell us more. Educate us on problems that you never had to see HERE first-hand by growing up your whole life in the environment. Tell us more personal opinion and label it as fact.
Most homeless dont want to really change. As a security guard, I got to the point where I would just ask these homeless/panhandlers "What are your plans to get up out of this lifestlye"? And 9 times out of 10 they would just look wide eyed at me like a deer in the headlights. Zero thought put into not panhandling anymore and getting up out of that way of living. They just wanna get their drug or alcohol fix, easy money, free food, and repeat. Dont give these people anything. They have plenty of help and resources, but those same resources are for people who arent on drugs thats why they dont pursue them. You think you can get high at a shelter? NOPE.
