(01-22-2022, 07:46 PM)copycat Wrote:

(01-22-2022, 04:11 PM)mikesez Wrote: I like discussions.  They're a tool to challenge and expand your worldview. But what you want is not discussion.  You just want your worldview confirmed by others. I only post factual info.  If you were here to discuss sincerely, you would accept those facts and integrate them into your worldview.  You still might not agree with my conclusions, and you might say there are other facts I'm ignoring, but you'd engage on that level.  That's what discussion is.  Instead, you reject facts and attack me instead.

No you don’t.  If you did you would discuss what YOU actually think and believe.  Instead you post DNC talking points and quotes from Wikipedia.  You have already admitted that you realize THIS conversation is about the chronically homeless and yet you continue to insert the situationally homeless and provide statistics that back up that.  Everyone here empathises and sympathises with unfortunate people you continue to interject into THIS conversation but they are not who we are talking about. The discussion here is about the mentality ill and drug users living on the streets that are committing a majority of the crimes we  are seeing on the nightly news and what to do about them.  The documentary Americus posted was an excellent starting point to meaningful conversation and YOU chose to tell everyone that actually watched it that they were manipulated and YOU dismissed it all the while posting your view of “facts” as gospel.  

Finally, for the record I would love to have an actual discussion with you Mike but all we ever see is Mr. Sez.

I believe what I post.  I don't believe everything on wikipedia, but what I link to, I believe.  I don't read DNC talking points.  Do you? I guess you must, if you know what they say.  It's a coincidence if you see similarities, because I don't read them or watch them.  But so what if I did? Are you saying you would never have a discussion with a DNC member?  Why?

I guess I just don't see as hard of a line between the "chronic" and "situational" homeless as you.  For one thing, when someone has recently become homeless, it's not yet clear which category they fall into. 

I agree with you that percentage of homeless people, everywhere, are there because they did drugs, and continue to do them.  Getting them appropriate and empathetic treatment for whatever they're addicted to is part of the solution, undoubtedly.  But think it through.  Are you going to drug test every homeless person every day? Of course not.  You usually can't make someone take a drug test.  How will you convince them to take one?  Regardless, I do agree with you that addiction has increased and society as a whole needs more and better drug treatment, and governments need to be spending more money in this area, sad as that is.

However both videos posted here focused on the West Coast, where a higher percentage of people are homeless, when compared to the East Coast.  Homelessness on the East Coast is bad.  On the West Coast it's so much worse.  Drugs aren't driving that difference.  Housing affordability and transit affordability are driving it.

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