A growing problem

[rjthehunter]

An additional component is the breakdown/absence of the traditional family structure.

i agree, drugs and overly generous handouts are certainly big contributors. Here in the Puget sound area they are housing the homeless drug addicts and mentally ill in hotels. Create demand, great! until you run out of rooms- and other peoples money.

A solution? Zero tolerance. Either get treatment in a supervised facility, or go to jail.

Then we pay for their housing and food in jail though. I know police officers, and there's homeless people who will do things in order to go to jail.

 

[Green Hunter]

Then we pay for their housing and food in jail though. I know police officers, and there's homeless people who will do things in order to go to jail.

Why unhoused people in the US are choosing to go to jail: ‘I kept reoffending’

People on the street who are resistant to shelters face a cruel choice: living rough in the cold or spending time behind barsThis story is co-published with InvestigateWest

www.theguardian.com

Something reminds me of a Ebenezer Scrooge quote - are there no poor houses or jails?

 

[rjthehunter]

Why unhoused people in the US are choosing to go to jail: ‘I kept reoffending’

People on the street who are resistant to shelters face a cruel choice: living rough in the cold or spending time behind barsThis story is co-published with InvestigateWest

www.theguardian.com

Something reminds me of a Ebenezer Scrooge quote - are there no poor houses or jails?

It's sad that some people think jail is better than getting a job and living their life.

 

[Clam]

Then we pay for their housing and food in jail though. I know police officers, and there's homeless people who will do things in order to go to jail.

I have to agree, putting them in jail isn’t optimal, However, what about the cost to society and the economy overall? The graffiti, trash, pooping all over the place, theft, hard drugs, etc.? What about the fixed income and lower income law abiding people that have no choice but to live in the awful areas that are affected? How is it fair to them? That is what bothers me most.

 

[shb]

If I'm homeless I'm thumbing my way to Corpus Christi. Eff MT.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

 

[Stocker]

If I'm homeless I'm thumbing my way to Corpus Christi. Eff MT.

I was thinking the same thing. Wander down to Honduras, fish and live on the beach.



Actually being homeless doesn’t sound bad…..

 

[David58]

I have to agree, putting them in jail isn’t optimal, However, what about the cost to society and the economy overall? The graffiti, trash, pooping all over the place, theft, hard drugs, etc.? What about the fixed income and lower income law abiding people that have no choice but to live in the awful areas that are affected? How is it fair to them? That is what bothers me most.

Incarceration is an unpopular, uncompassionate approach. Ultimately, it is the solution.

The drugs being used today, particularly the meth coming from Mexico, is wrecking the brains of the folks on the streets who are using it - and the large majority of the homeless are addicted.
It takes months to restore the operation of the brain to near normalcy with the way the meth alters its chemistry. Paranoid, addicted folks do not willingly go to treatment - the only way to get them there is to incarcerate them, "dry them out", and once they are in their right mind present to them the need for treatment.

Anything else has not been shown to work, where in the counties in WV and KY and others have shown that it does. But the folks in charge must have the spine to take action.

You would find it interesting to see the communities surrounding Portland, OR. No "camping", no needles in the parks, because they are welcomed and accomodated in Portland but not in those surrounding communities. Making "safe" campsites is doing nothing but perpetuating the problem.

And, damn China! Where do the cartels get the chemicals to cook this stuff? Why are we letting CHINA kill our kids - and their leaders know EXACTLY what they are doing.

David
NM

 

[millerkiller77]

This one is in my wheelhouse. I live in CA, I'm an expert on this and avocados. Ask me about the best guacamole recipe or what happens when homelessness is allowed to grow and "help" only encourages more and more.
If you're community wants to "help" the homeless, use all the resources to get them off the streets. Literally, do not allow it period. Pass ordinances against vagrancy, illegal camping, creek pollution, park use hours and enforce it vigorously.
Help those who want help to leave this lifestyle but don't allow living/camping in parks etc. The sad reality is towns that just give money and no enforcement of laws are a destination for homeless.
Hand it out and they will come.

Diced Persian cucumbers in the guacamole? Yeah, or nay?

 

[millerkiller77]

I have ZERO compassion for the homeless plague. Any private citizens giving money to or in any other way encouraging homeless behaviors should be fined, repeat or gross offenders should be imprisoned. Every homeless person should be in a prison, mental institution , or a rehabilitation program. If option three fails, it's automatically into option one or two.
I'm glad the city I live in keeps that shit off the streets by bussing them to other cities, homelessness has been turned into a political tool.

 

[DouglasR]

If I'm homeless I'm thumbing my way to Corpus Christi. Eff MT.

@noharleyyet i work the rigs from 3 to midnight...

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Every homeless person should be in a prison, mental institution , or a rehabilitation program.

Welkom to Amerikka…

 

[longbow51]

@noharleyyet i work the rigs from 3 to midnight...

Then get rid of your #&^$ pronouns. You're a real man now.

 

[DouglasR]

Would y’all go 5’x8’ or 6’x10?
I’m bout to get me some of that homelessness.
#****vail. idc what they’re paying, I’m not selling out my mountain.

 

[DouglasR]

Then get rid of your #&^$ pronouns. You're a real man now.

I’m in no way man enough to do that, but I love to REK.
All time banger:

 

[DouglasR]

Guys who carry their bows over their shoulders get money from their parents for the down payment on their first Airbnb.

 

[Foxtrot1]

I venture it's a pretty rare case that an employed person, with a vehicle, making 50K is choosing to be homeless over commuting or finding another job/place to live. Maybe your homeless are different in Bozeman.

I'm sure there are lots of examples that go both ways. I had a timber sale last year right outside of Atlanta. We had to clear a homeless camp before starting. 1 middle aged woman we removed was a victim of domestic abuse. She lived in a tent, showering in the campground, and worked a full time job at a local convenience store. She just didn't have many options when rent in the area is $1500-2000/month. It was heartbreaking to see her situation. Dealing with that has definitely made me think about the trajectory we are on.

 

[noharleyyet]

“…like a thousand tiny diamonds in the lights of loving county”

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

@noharleyyet i work the rigs from 3 to midnight...

 

[Stocker]

I'm sure there are lots of examples that go both ways. I had a timber sale last year right outside of Atlanta. We had to clear a homeless camp before starting. 1 middle aged woman we removed was a victim of domestic abuse. She lived in a tent, showering in the campground, and worked a full time job at a local convenience store. She just didn't have many options when rent in the area is $1500-2000/month. It was heartbreaking to see her situation. Dealing with that has definitely made me think about the trajectory we are on.

I think it’s a mindset too. I wouldn’t stay there. Don’t care if I have to hitchhike, etc I’m going somewhere that I can get a foothold. There’s vast expanses of the Midwest that are dying. Small towns getting smaller, houses almost given away, people desperate for anyone to work. Cost of living is minimal. So if they’ve made the choice that being homeless living on the fringes of society is better than moving to Stapleton Nebraska to run the scale at an elevator or ride pens and have a small house in town, then I don’t know what to say.

It’s a demand problem more than a want problem. Nobody is clamoring to move to Russell KS or Miller SD. If you found the right person they’d let you live in a house for nothing if you’d work for them and pay you a living wage on top of it. Us out here in the boonies get lost on the living wage deal. We can get by without much. $20 an hour here a person can live fairy well on. $20 in LA and you might as well not work.


My point is people aren’t migrating anymore and that’s for a reason. Most of them make that choice and that’s where I lose a little bit of empathy for them.