With crime here on the rise. Rents at a ridiculous high. Street drug use. And homeless camps everywhere. This is what I wake up to.
"Fetus with umbilical cord attached left near trash can at South El Monte park."
https://www.foxla.com/news/south-el-monte-infant-death-investigation.amp
Killings, road rage, gang killings. These things are in the news everyday. I couldn't even bring myself to read this article. Just the headline.
This is undoubtedly a homeless, drug addicted person, probably with a mental illness. That has been displaced by our lack of psychiatric hospital space. And no real answer for drug addiction or homelessness.
Everywhere you go there are homeless encampments. All along the sides of the freeways. And anywhere parking is not used or regularly enforced.
There is a relatively new wetlands park near here. With a long street running it's length. It's filled end to end with various motorhomes and vehicles of every size. Housing the homeless. Tents, lean tos, and every manner of shelter and debri. Cars half taken apart. Just one long messed up encampment of people with obvious mental health issues. Or addictions or both.
I think a major population of homeless people flock to California. Or become homeless once moving here. The reasons are many. Many come for jobs that seemed high paying. But once you get here you realize the cost of living is untenable. Rent inparticular is the biggest contributor to homelessness imho. Behind mental illness and drug addiction.
You can also get $800 or more a month in benefits here in CA. And an EBT card for food. With no questions asked. In San Francisco its even higher.
I've studied this issue alot. The problem is once you couple a mental illness, no matter it's seriousness (we're not just talking schizophrenics), with long term drug addition - long term drug use. A persons ability to get back what has been damaged in the brain is almost impossible.
You watch interviews with people that have spent a long time on skid row talking to these people, befriending them and following up on their situations. They almost never make it out.
Almost everyone admits we don't have a solution for it.
If rents continue the way they are. Which you never hear mentioned seriously in this debate. And early access to serious mental health services and drug treatment. As well as better enforcement of the international drug trade. Specifically chemicals from China being manufactured into fentanyl and other drugs in Mexico and being transported across the border. I don't see this changing anytime soon.
It's like an apocalypse here in alot of areas. And these are just the people you see. And the camps you see. The majority are surely hidden from plain site.
I was also pondering much of which you speak just last light. Again.
Sounds like the 80s all over again. Not as bad as the 70s or late 60s but it's getting there.
As a confirmed cynic I believe this problem will more or less solve itself. Drug overdose deaths have increased 400% in the last 20 years, first with the drug company pill mills and now with the unrestricted access to hard powerful synthetic drugs. Many states will not prosecute for drug crimes anymore, some won't even make arrests. There are well over 100K overdose deaths in the US every year with double digit percentage increases every year.
Living in downtown seattle 10 years ago for about 5-6 years I got to know a LOT of homeless people. Every single one I talked to came from out of state usually AZ/NM/NV most had a similar story homeless after 2008, then got addicted to whatever because street living sucks. Big a kid were mental health issues, in fact the vast majority weren't. But I believe overtime you develop perhaps a PTSD from the streets or from long term food instability mixed with addiction.
But driving around it's everywhere, and I agree rent/home prices are probably the major reason for it. And even id they did want to "get a job" most places require a stable address, transportation, and a cell phone. When a studio apartment in the I5 corridor from Everett to past Olympia which is about 100 miles is 1200+ a month. That's simply unaffordable on even minimum wage.
Minimum wage in Seattle is $18.69/ hr or $3239 a month. Even with taxes I don't see how someone couldn't afford $1200 a month for an apartment. But why? It would be much more likely to share a 2 or 3 bedroom that would be a bit cheaper.
Homeless people can't work because the overwhelming majority either have a serious mental illness, are on drugs most of the time or both. Nobody is going to hire a person who is crazy and or high all the time.
Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on May 02, 2023, 11:15:06 PMMinimum wage in Seattle is $18.69/ hr or $3239 a month. Even with taxes I don't see how someone couldn't afford $1200 a month for an apartment. But why? It would be much more likely to share a 2 or 3 bedroom that would be a bit cheaper.
Homeless people can't work because the overwhelming majority either have a serious mental illness, are on drugs most of the time or both. Nobody is going to hire a person who is crazy and or high all the time.
Okay...most landlords (especially in the area mentioned) require first month, last month and a deposit. Even on minimum wage, that's going to take a while to save up. And where do you live while you save up?
I agree, sharing a larger apt./house would make sense, but again, you have to save up....again, where do live while you save up?
One trend I have seen is landlords asking for proof that prospective tenants make 3 times the rent. That's an *oof* moment for a lot of folks with everyone living on the edge these days.
As far as mental illness/drugs.
I was homeless. Lived in a tent, worked my way out of that. While homeless, I started a nonprofit for the homeless in the area.
A couple things I saw....many homeless did not have issues
initially . After 3 to 6 months the issues started. Drinking, drugs to numb the anxiety. Homeless women getting sexually assaulted, sometimes repeatedly. Homeless men being sexually or physically assaulted. They spiral. And without housing, they spiral fast and hard.
I was lucky as I had the survival mindset. I found a safe, secluded place to put my tent. I had a couple of basic weapons (no firearms) just in case. And I had the mindset that I
knew I could find a way out of my situation if I persevered. And I did.
Unfortunately, many people do not have a similar mindset. They mentally defeat themselves pretty quickly.
Quote from: Lambykins on May 03, 2023, 06:48:03 AMAs far as mental illness/drugs.
I was homeless. Lived in a tent, worked my way out of that. While homeless, I started a nonprofit for the homeless in the area.
A couple things I saw....many homeless did not have issues initially . After 3 to 6 months the issues started. Drinking, drugs to numb the anxiety. Homeless women getting sexually assaulted, sometimes repeatedly. Homeless men being sexually or physically assaulted. They spiral. And without housing, they spiral fast and hard.
I was lucky as I had the survival mindset. I found a safe, secluded place to put my tent. I had a couple of basic weapons (no firearms) just in case. And I had the mindset that I knew I could find a way out of my situation if I persevered. And I did.
Unfortunately, many people do not have a similar mindset. They mentally defeat themselves pretty quickly.
I interact with homeless people every day. What I see most often is people relapsing into a previous drug and/or mental problem that begins the downward spiral. Already operating at the margins, it is only a couple of steps down to the street. Often it is something they have kept hidden from friends and family. Some people simply have no social support system. No family, friends or involvement with organizations that may help provide some kind of support.
Placing yourself in a secluded spot likely helped you in ways other than keeping you safer. People with negative attitudes about life tend to spread them to anyone who will listen and try to drag them into their misery. Misery loves company is more than an old chestnut. Living in a particular society often sets the rules and boundaries for what is acceptable behavior. By maintaining a strong sense of self and not buying into the negativity you were able to work yourself out, a rarity.
Quote from: Uomo Senza Nome on May 03, 2023, 07:32:17 AMQuote from: Lambykins on May 03, 2023, 06:48:03 AMAs far as mental illness/drugs.
I was homeless. Lived in a tent, worked my way out of that. While homeless, I started a nonprofit for the homeless in the area.
A couple things I saw....many homeless did not have issues initially . After 3 to 6 months the issues started. Drinking, drugs to numb the anxiety. Homeless women getting sexually assaulted, sometimes repeatedly. Homeless men being sexually or physically assaulted. They spiral. And without housing, they spiral fast and hard.
I was lucky as I had the survival mindset. I found a safe, secluded place to put my tent. I had a couple of basic weapons (no firearms) just in case. And I had the mindset that I knew I could find a way out of my situation if I persevered. And I did.
Unfortunately, many people do not have a similar mindset. They mentally defeat themselves pretty quickly.
People with negative attitudes about life tend to spread them to anyone who will listen and try to drag them into their misery. Misery loves company is more than an old chestnut. Living in a particular society often sets the rules and boundaries for what is acceptable behavior.
THIS. So. Much. This.
I saw this on a daily basis. Hell, I
still see this on a daily basis! There's always that one person at work or that one person in a friend group that is ALWAYS negative. "The boss treats us unfairly/doesn't pay us enough/doesn't appreciate us/whatever." Anything to make your job sound worse than it is.
Ever notice how divorce is contagious? One person in a friend group divorces and suddenly all the couples are having issues. Couples suddenly find themselves no longer content with their spouses. Little problems that could be settled quickly in the past suddenly erupt into screaming matches.
Yes, negative attitudes are very contagious.