6 ms·

San Francisco tech worker: 'I don't want to see homeless riff-raff'

75 points by frostmatthew 11y ago

fweespeech 11y ago
http://justink.svbtle.com/open-letter-to-mayor-ed-lee-and-greg-suhr-police-chief http://justink.svbtle.com/open-letter-to-mayor-ed-lee-and-gr... I think this would be a better link than the OP as the OP is an interpretation of the original work. While its clearly a shitty blog post, it seems like his concern is largely stemming from the number of altercations he personally experienced and the Guardian is interpreting it much harsher than is truly necessary. Shitty blog posts happen but private blogs shouldn't be attacked by a news publication so blatantly.
- pmiller2 11y ago
  > I think this would be a better link than the OP as the OP is an interpretation of the original work. Maybe so, but how much do you want to bet that blog post comes down within the next few days?
  - fweespeech 11y ago
    http://archive.is/3uny8 http://archive.is/3uny8 Better?
- dudul 11y ago
  > Shitty blog posts happen but private blogs shouldn't be attacked by a news publication so blatantly. yeah, the post is not great, but writing a news article about it is a bit petty. Plus, he has a point regarding what happened during the Super Bowl.
- rhizome 11y ago
  The thing at the Kabuki literally never happens, especially there, and the Tadich Grill incident sounds like a nice call to EMS would be an adult reaction to get somebody some help who obviously needs it. The car thing, though, that was probably a set up, but "GTFO" goes a long way when navigating life in the city.
  - orangethrowaway 11y ago
    What do you mean "set up"?
    - rhizome 11y ago
      I should say, "could have been." Cause a commotion, person goes over to nice-guy express concern or something as it escalates, and they both turn on you. It's a thing, related to the child-driven pickpocket team, but I dunno if it was a thing here. Also, if it hasn't been posted elsewhere: https://medium.com/@jimatdeltaco/open-letter-to-a-guy-who-wrote-an-open-letter-to-the-mayor-of-san-francisco-about-homelessness-ccb5438c4784#.1ek5o7vnk https://medium.com/@jimatdeltaco/open-letter-to-a-guy-who-wr...
tptacek 11y ago
How important to us is it to watch some random doofus set fire to his own reputation?
- MCRed 11y ago
  To be honest, I'm at a loss for why articles from this publication, and other similar ones whose primary output is.. spin and politics... are on the front page here. Not news, not for hackers, not tech, not startups. This article is purely about trying to perpetuate class warfare.
  - tptacek 11y ago
    I'm mostly on The Guardian's side regarding class warfare (though not on some other issues), but I agree: important stories for which The Guardian is the best possible source for HN are rare. I think if you had played your political cards closer and left out that last sentence, you wouldn't have gotten downvoted so quickly; as it stands, you allowed your comment to be a proxy vote for whether inequality is an important issue.
    - DrScump 11y ago
      <I'm mostly on The Guardian's side regarding class warfare> If only they were more concerned with class warfare within the British Isles than mocking the rest of the world's politics.
goodJobWalrus 11y ago
This cannot be real. It must be some kind of avant-garde performance, I am not able to understand.
brotherjerky 11y ago
What a clickbait-y headline, makes the original author sound insensitive when he's trying to shame public officials into action to help the homeless. (Not that the messaging or content is perfect, but the title is definitely trying to fit a narrative)
- yardie 11y ago
  Did you read his post. The headline was correct and "riff-raff" was one of the least offensive things he wrote.
yardie 11y ago
The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city. They went out, got an education, work hard, and earned it. I shouldn’t have to worry about being accosted. I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day. Wow, what a real piece of work this guy. He honestly believes the most offensive thing in his post is him calling them "riff-raff".
- belovedeagle 11y ago
  Which part of this quote is untrue? That it's not worded tastefully is a different matter.
  - yardie 11y ago
    He didn't earn the right to live there. You earn a salary, you earn a degree, you live in SF by choice. No one is entitled to live there. He also earned being called a nitwit.
  - moises_silva 11y ago
    The part where he says the wealthy earned it. Did they earn it? this is the part where I often disagree with people. We all love to think we've earned what we've got. Just crying out loud 'we worked hard! we earned it!' doesn't make it true. I'm at the top 10% income earners in a wealthy country and I don't feel think I've necessarily earned it more than the other 90% of the population. I lucked out. I had loving parents that guided me and pushed me to have an education. I don't suffer from any mental or physical disease. Seriously, going to school to get a degree and learning on my own how to build software systems, that's the easy part and wouldn't have been possible if I didn't have the luck of being born in the right social circumstances and with the right biology traits (health and smarts).
    - AjithAntony 11y ago
      I feel like there is a lot of disrespect for our ancestors when we try to apologize for our "luck" or "privilege". If one's own parents labored and suffered to create value and provide for their child, does that child not deserve to enjoy the fruits of that labor? If that child honors their parents by continuing a tradition of hard work, albeit more comfortably, why does he need to feel ashamed of his success? At which generation do we disinherit the sacrifices of those who came before us?
meddlepal 11y ago
I don't have a opinion on this situation, but there is going to be a point in time when tech workers need to stop thinking that there government is going to do what they want it to do and instead need to actively get into the political process, for example, by running for office. Politics has an effect on everything from poverty to transportation.
- HillRat 11y ago
  Ah, but it's so much easier for us to stand by the side of the road and complain that the emperor's clothes have the wrong fringe on the hem. Politics is boring, it's messy, it's tedious, and it demands compromise -- in other words, it takes a genuine and deep investment in time, effort and knowledge to shift any degree of change. (Me, I just comment on HN.) But, hey, Internet. Used to be you'd just write cranky letters that the Chronicle interns would auto-bin; today, you can catch the international media's attention, become the poster boy for clueless gentrification, and feed your startup's reputation into the dumpster fire, all in a few hours. Truly an age of miracles and wonders.
- pmiller2 11y ago
  Doing something about the problem isn't even as hard as running for office. Donate time or money to a local agency that actually tries to help some of these people.
mtimjones 11y ago
San Francisco is filled with liberals -- why do liberals hate the poor?
- tptacek 11y ago
  Rich people have better marbling, and a pleasant mineral-y flavor.
  - orangethrowaway 11y ago
    I also tend to see more homeless around universities in big cities than in other parts, must be the veal
  - patio11 11y ago
    Your average rich person is pumped full of chemicals and treated horribly, hemmed in every day with other rich people, stifling their ability to live a fulfilling rich-people life prior to being used. True connoisseurs of rich people source their rich people from ethical rich people providers, like universities or accelerator programs. This lets you know the rich person was treated properly in life, and is responsible for bringing out the full body in their body. After you've had accelerator-to-table rich person the Factory Office Industrial Rich People Processed Product you've had will never taste the same. Because that's not even rich people. That's a science experiment meant to evoke your association with rich people. Only a poor person could be content with that sort of rich people. Rich people eat real rich people.
pmiller2 11y ago
It always amazes me when people are stupid enough to post stuff like this in a public forum. I support Justin Keller's right to believe and say these things, but he has to know he's going to get crucified in the court of "teh internets." Here's the deal, Mr. Keller: I don't want to see homeless people in SF any more than you do. But, I'd rather we help them not be homeless rather than sweep them away like so much sidewalk trash. People become homeless for a variety of reasons: job loss, addiction, mental illness, criminal record, etc. Homelessness becomes a trap, because it's really hard to get a job, get sober, get competent medical care, etc. when you're homeless. These things can be done, but it takes a certain amount of skill to navigate the web of bureaucracy necessary to get any help. Some people don't want help, and that's sad, but we live in a society where we can't force these things on people. One of the tragedies of homelessness is that it's really, really damn difficult to help them-- even the ones who want help. I know this from experience. But, still, rants like this are nothing but counterproductive. If you want to see fewer homeless on the street, try helping instead of ranting.
- mylons 11y ago
  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spending-on-homeless-exceeds-many-5416839.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spendi... SF is 'trying' and isn't succeeding. Stop spending my unaccounted for tax dollars on this if it isn't going to solve the issue and is just going to make SF a mafia wife enabling the homeless.
GuiA 11y ago
Yeah, the way he phrased his blog post is terrible. The guy is clearly not a writer. But my parents are visiting me from abroad in a few months (I've lived in the Bay Area for about 5 years now), and I'm legitimately afraid something dumb will happen. I usually just walk fast around town, pre emptively avoiding people who seem to be in a universe of their own (and I'm a pretty tall/wide guy, so i've never had a problem fending off loud/obnoxious people when they confront me individually), but my parents will be in leisure visitor mode, and I don't want my mom to have to deal with a coked up naked guy yelling at her. Is that entitled? Yeah, maybe. But I'm not mad at the homeless people - I feel for them. I'm mad at the politicians of SF, who can't properly give a support network to the mentally ill in our streets. Other major world cities aren't in the state of disarray that SF is, so it seems like something that can largely be improved on.
- tptacek 11y ago
  The problem isn't that he's wrong about the San Francisco homeless problem. The problem is that the first half of his letter is lists legitimate concerns about the problem, and the second half is a temper tantrum about how he feels he's earned a station in life where he shouldn't have to be bothered with those problems. It's a terribly stupid letter. But it's also pretty silly that we're paying attention to it. It's self-evidently stupid.
- Johnny555 11y ago
  When my parents came to visit me shortly after I moved to SF, as we walked to dinner, I told them how safe the city was and how I felt comfortable walking around my neighborhood even at night. Then as we rounded a corner a few blocks from my apartment, we saw about 8 squad cars blocking the road with crime scene tape blocking the sidewalk. Mom asked the cop what was going on and he said "You can't go this way, we're investigating a multiple homicide". Oops. Mom still brings that up nearly 2 decades later.
grubles 11y ago
"Rich white entitled computer developer can't understand the less fortunate." Is this some news bulletin from Sim City?
- DrScump 11y ago
  I missed in the article where the author's race is mentioned. Do you know him personally?
  - grubles 11y ago
    It's pretty easy to google his name and come up with a picture.
deleted 11y ago
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teen 11y ago
I'm not sure it's possible to have a civil discussion about the homeless issue in SF. Many of the 'homeless' really enjoy their lifestyle- it never gets that cold, they can hang out all day and do drugs, and have lots of social services available to them if anything ever gets too bad. Mix those people in with people who are genuinely struggling to survive, and a bunch of wealthier residents, you get a perfect storm on the internet. Criticize one group, and you're instantly an asshole. Or maybe you were an asshole to begin with. The internet loves the drama though.
- tptacek 11y ago
  It's a storm in reality, not just on the Internet.
- pmiller2 11y ago
  > Many of the 'homeless' really enjoy their lifestyle- it never gets that cold, they can hang out all day and do drugs, and have lots of social services available to them if anything ever gets too bad. I don't see too much wrong with that. If someone's living on the streets because they like it, more power to 'em. As far as services go, it's almost a logical consequence of having them that a certain few are going to abuse them. I'd rather accept that than have people who truly need and want help not get it.
  - kelnos 11y ago
    I've gone back and forth on this, and I'm still not sure how I feel. On one hand, I do believe we should let people live how they want, as long as that doesn't negatively impact other people (simple Golden Rule type thing). But then that's it -- out of the homeless people who genuinely prefer that lifestyle, does that negatively impact other people? And it's hard to answer that, because I think a lot of the discomfort about homeless people surrounds people defecating on the sidewalk, people asking for money, and the mentally ill yelling obscenities and freaking people out... etc. So the the question becomes: if we could help the people who do not want to be homeless, including those who have mental health issues, and get them off the streets and into places where they can heal, what would be left? If the remainder is just people who like the homeless lifestyle, would that be ok? Would non-homeless people feel comfortable with that? I don't know the answer to that, even on a personal level.
kevcampb 11y ago
A far more erudite take on the situation http://programmingisterrible.com/post/50421878989/come-here-and-work-on-hard-problems-except-the http://programmingisterrible.com/post/50421878989/come-here-...
cubano 11y ago
I've been on so many sides of this issue it really almost sounds like bullshit. You see, I was addicted to heroin, and basically homeless, for three years living in Vegas after my mom passed and I divorced. My beautiful co-junkie girlfriend ODed and died, literally in my arms, in a room at the MGM Grand the first time she ever shot up. I thought she was doing meth like she always did. She was such an amazing soul and I still cry when I think of her and that horrible night. I allowed a bunch of homeless "friends" to stay with me as I was blowing through my money. I fed them all the time; gave them money for dope sometimes. Several of them ended up robbing me for money, clothes, computers etc etc. I ended up in the Tunnels for about 6 months before I could finally get out of town. I finally kicked cold-turkey on the floor of a county jail medical cell back here in Florida as I had missed court dates and had warrants. This was 5 years ago and I have worked hard to pull my life back together. Before this, my 5yo daughter was physically grabbed by a homeless person in the streets of downtown Chicago, off Michigan Ave., and to this day she still talks of the fear she felt that day. Who knows what could have happened if I wasn't 6'3" and prison-hardened from the 22 months I did for selling MDMA in 2001? So I feel I see all sides of this situation from real experience. It's hard writing this because I try not to remember all that garbage and pain. I think this guy has the right to express himself and his fears without being knee-jerk dogpiled by the offense mobs, but that's just me. [edits]
- JabavuAdams 11y ago
  Keep it up, man. Does it get easier? I look at what I need to do to fix my broken mind and sometimes I think I'd rather lie down in the snow than keep climbing. Do you ever get to stop climbing?
  - evincarofautumn 11y ago
    As someone who has dealt with addiction, I would say it’s similar to exercise. It doesn’t exactly get easier, but you do get stronger—that is, better practiced at dealing with cravings, coping with stress, managing your mental health, and so on. You’re never really out of the woods, but you get better at finding your way out and choosing not to venture too deep.
  - 11y ago
pjdemers 11y ago
http://www.glide.org/feedthehungry http://www.glide.org/feedthehungry
- PavlovsCat 11y ago
  Not to knock you or that wonderful project, I actually upvoted your post, but I still have to add this: > "Charity is the drowning of rights in the shithole of mercy." -- Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi People have the right to a fair shot at life. When that is achieved, we will not have "done good", we will merely have ceased to do atrocious evil. By which I don't mean to knock generosity and volunteering at all, I really hope my reply doesn't come across that way. Of course it does a lot of good, for all involved parties, and every life saved and every meal or even smile given counts. I still would call it a workaround rather than a solution, in the context of "mercy vs. rights", but it's a workaround that doesn't keep us from looking into long-term fixing of things, so I don't mean it as a "yes, but", but really as an addition.
deleted 11y ago
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plcancel 11y ago
I was wondering why the headline refers specifically to "tech worker". It seems like the motivation for the article is to call attention to a stereotypical "tech bro". Is "tech bro" in common usage? I guess I didn't realize that appending "bro" to create a pejorative term has become so common.
- alexandercrohde 11y ago
  I agree. I'd even go so far as saying it's appealing to the audience's basest desire: to perpetuate an iconic enemy. You could do the same thing by changing "Tech Worker" to "White Man," that is: pick some group he belongs to and try to blame the whole for his callous delivery.
obrero 11y ago
And people like this wonder why people are flocking to Bernie Sanders and blocking Google buses.. > I am telling you, there is going to be a revolution. There is, and this parasite will be one of the first ones up against the wall.
- PhantomGremlin 11y ago
  There is, and this parasite will be one of the first ones up against the wall. Probably not, because the rednecks are the ones with the guns. And they won't be doing your dirty work for you on this issue.
mappu 11y ago
>Madeleine McCann, 27, had some more pointed words for tech bros who disapprove of her. McCann has been living in a tent under the highway for about a month, ever since her van was towed, leaving her without a roof. This name surprised me. I assume it's a fake name for the reporter, or at least, unrelated to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McC... .
- cballard 11y ago
  Some people have the same name as other people.
tga_d 11y ago
As someone who was raised in the bay area, the idea that these experiences meant that homelessness was at an all-time high in the city struck me as the thoughts of someone whose rose tint was fading from their glasses. One of my earliest memories is of a grizzled homeless man on Market asking me if I'd seen his spaceship anywhere, and I can't remember ever spending more than a few hours in the downtown area without seeing some sort of display of intoxication, mental disability, or both. So I looked it up, and indeed, crime and homeless rates within the city have stayed relatively consistent over the past decade, both in terms of sheltered and unsheltered homeless (crime is up slightly, but still well below what it was in the 90s). Just in case anyone was wondering.
Jach 11y ago
Move to Redmond.
alexandercrohde 11y ago
It's unfortunate that such a callous performance has to become the icon for his case. Living in SF, I agree there is a problem. In fact there are two. 1) There are the schizophrenics who need some help (but nobody knows exactly what or how). 2) And there is the unfortunate reality of downtown: - smells of piss - no public bathrooms (because they become campsites) - escalators break on public transportation often because people excrement on them - trashcans get dumped out so people can find cans for recycling - people walking across certain busy streets ignoring traffic - various campsites especially in soma I don't think this has to be an either-or issue. Helping the homeless is not an opposite of keeping downtown clean. I seem to notice people giving up on the latter though because they assume that the only way to do so is to blame the former, which is a no-no.
- mylons 11y ago
  3) SF has spent more than 30k per homeless person per year in the city to do 'something' about it. It's typically unaccounted for money and an area ripe/putrid for corruption.
  - raddad 11y ago
    Maybe put that $30K into a cheap dwelling for said homeless person and problem solved, no longer homeless.
    - mylons 11y ago
      don't disagree at all. I admire what salt lake city is doing and think it should be a model for SF
slmyers 11y ago
While he sounds reasonable, his assertions of superiority are tone-deaf and quite irritating. Sure he's been exposed to some obscene behavior and perhaps mentally unstable homeless people, but I don't think he has considered that there is undoubtedly thousands of otherwise normal people in very unfortunate circumstances that don't deserve to be lumped with "those people".
deleted 11y ago
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vacri 11y ago
Pity - this is the first I've heard of commando.io, and it looks like I could have used this tool as my current setup is a touch unwieldy. I would have at least tried it out, and likely would have bought it. Oh well, they can do without my $100/mo.
- pmiller2 11y ago
  Yep. Scratch one startup off the list of "companies I'll ever work for," too.
stillsut 11y ago
One person heard a racial slur yelled from a pickup truck on the UMissouri campus? The president of the school has to go. Psychotic and not uncommonly violent people are attacking citizens apparently everyday for the past decade? Suck it up!

75 points by frostmatthew 11y ago

http://justink.svbtle.com/open-letter-to-mayor-ed-lee-and-greg-suhr-police-chief http://justink.svbtle.com/open-letter-to-mayor-ed-lee-and-gr... I think this would be a better link than the OP as the OP is an interpretation of the original work. While its clearly a shitty blog post, it seems like his concern is largely stemming from the number of altercations he personally experienced and the Guardian is interpreting it much harsher than is truly necessary. Shitty blog posts happen but private blogs shouldn't be attacked by a news publication so blatantly.

pmiller2 11y ago
> I think this would be a better link than the OP as the OP is an interpretation of the original work. Maybe so, but how much do you want to bet that blog post comes down within the next few days?
- fweespeech 11y ago
  http://archive.is/3uny8 http://archive.is/3uny8 Better?
dudul 11y ago
> Shitty blog posts happen but private blogs shouldn't be attacked by a news publication so blatantly. yeah, the post is not great, but writing a news article about it is a bit petty. Plus, he has a point regarding what happened during the Super Bowl.
rhizome 11y ago
The thing at the Kabuki literally never happens, especially there, and the Tadich Grill incident sounds like a nice call to EMS would be an adult reaction to get somebody some help who obviously needs it. The car thing, though, that was probably a set up, but "GTFO" goes a long way when navigating life in the city.
- orangethrowaway 11y ago
  What do you mean "set up"?
  - rhizome 11y ago
    I should say, "could have been." Cause a commotion, person goes over to nice-guy express concern or something as it escalates, and they both turn on you. It's a thing, related to the child-driven pickpocket team, but I dunno if it was a thing here. Also, if it hasn't been posted elsewhere: https://medium.com/@jimatdeltaco/open-letter-to-a-guy-who-wrote-an-open-letter-to-the-mayor-of-san-francisco-about-homelessness-ccb5438c4784#.1ek5o7vnk https://medium.com/@jimatdeltaco/open-letter-to-a-guy-who-wr...

tptacek 11y ago

How important to us is it to watch some random doofus set fire to his own reputation?

MCRed 11y ago
To be honest, I'm at a loss for why articles from this publication, and other similar ones whose primary output is.. spin and politics... are on the front page here. Not news, not for hackers, not tech, not startups. This article is purely about trying to perpetuate class warfare.
- tptacek 11y ago
  I'm mostly on The Guardian's side regarding class warfare (though not on some other issues), but I agree: important stories for which The Guardian is the best possible source for HN are rare. I think if you had played your political cards closer and left out that last sentence, you wouldn't have gotten downvoted so quickly; as it stands, you allowed your comment to be a proxy vote for whether inequality is an important issue.
  - DrScump 11y ago
    <I'm mostly on The Guardian's side regarding class warfare> If only they were more concerned with class warfare within the British Isles than mocking the rest of the world's politics.

goodJobWalrus 11y ago

This cannot be real. It must be some kind of avant-garde performance, I am not able to understand.

brotherjerky 11y ago

What a clickbait-y headline, makes the original author sound insensitive when he's trying to shame public officials into action to help the homeless. (Not that the messaging or content is perfect, but the title is definitely trying to fit a narrative)

yardie 11y ago
Did you read his post. The headline was correct and "riff-raff" was one of the least offensive things he wrote.

yardie 11y ago

The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city. They went out, got an education, work hard, and earned it. I shouldn’t have to worry about being accosted. I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day. Wow, what a real piece of work this guy. He honestly believes the most offensive thing in his post is him calling them "riff-raff".

belovedeagle 11y ago
Which part of this quote is untrue? That it's not worded tastefully is a different matter.
- yardie 11y ago
  He didn't earn the right to live there. You earn a salary, you earn a degree, you live in SF by choice. No one is entitled to live there. He also earned being called a nitwit.
- moises_silva 11y ago
  The part where he says the wealthy earned it. Did they earn it? this is the part where I often disagree with people. We all love to think we've earned what we've got. Just crying out loud 'we worked hard! we earned it!' doesn't make it true. I'm at the top 10% income earners in a wealthy country and I don't feel think I've necessarily earned it more than the other 90% of the population. I lucked out. I had loving parents that guided me and pushed me to have an education. I don't suffer from any mental or physical disease. Seriously, going to school to get a degree and learning on my own how to build software systems, that's the easy part and wouldn't have been possible if I didn't have the luck of being born in the right social circumstances and with the right biology traits (health and smarts).
  - AjithAntony 11y ago
    I feel like there is a lot of disrespect for our ancestors when we try to apologize for our "luck" or "privilege". If one's own parents labored and suffered to create value and provide for their child, does that child not deserve to enjoy the fruits of that labor? If that child honors their parents by continuing a tradition of hard work, albeit more comfortably, why does he need to feel ashamed of his success? At which generation do we disinherit the sacrifices of those who came before us?

meddlepal 11y ago

I don't have a opinion on this situation, but there is going to be a point in time when tech workers need to stop thinking that there government is going to do what they want it to do and instead need to actively get into the political process, for example, by running for office. Politics has an effect on everything from poverty to transportation.

HillRat 11y ago
Ah, but it's so much easier for us to stand by the side of the road and complain that the emperor's clothes have the wrong fringe on the hem. Politics is boring, it's messy, it's tedious, and it demands compromise -- in other words, it takes a genuine and deep investment in time, effort and knowledge to shift any degree of change. (Me, I just comment on HN.) But, hey, Internet. Used to be you'd just write cranky letters that the Chronicle interns would auto-bin; today, you can catch the international media's attention, become the poster boy for clueless gentrification, and feed your startup's reputation into the dumpster fire, all in a few hours. Truly an age of miracles and wonders.
pmiller2 11y ago
Doing something about the problem isn't even as hard as running for office. Donate time or money to a local agency that actually tries to help some of these people.

mtimjones 11y ago

San Francisco is filled with liberals -- why do liberals hate the poor?

tptacek 11y ago
Rich people have better marbling, and a pleasant mineral-y flavor.
- orangethrowaway 11y ago
  I also tend to see more homeless around universities in big cities than in other parts, must be the veal
- patio11 11y ago
  Your average rich person is pumped full of chemicals and treated horribly, hemmed in every day with other rich people, stifling their ability to live a fulfilling rich-people life prior to being used. True connoisseurs of rich people source their rich people from ethical rich people providers, like universities or accelerator programs. This lets you know the rich person was treated properly in life, and is responsible for bringing out the full body in their body. After you've had accelerator-to-table rich person the Factory Office Industrial Rich People Processed Product you've had will never taste the same. Because that's not even rich people. That's a science experiment meant to evoke your association with rich people. Only a poor person could be content with that sort of rich people. Rich people eat real rich people.

pmiller2 11y ago

It always amazes me when people are stupid enough to post stuff like this in a public forum. I support Justin Keller's right to believe and say these things, but he has to know he's going to get crucified in the court of "teh internets." Here's the deal, Mr. Keller: I don't want to see homeless people in SF any more than you do. But, I'd rather we help them not be homeless rather than sweep them away like so much sidewalk trash. People become homeless for a variety of reasons: job loss, addiction, mental illness, criminal record, etc. Homelessness becomes a trap, because it's really hard to get a job, get sober, get competent medical care, etc. when you're homeless. These things can be done, but it takes a certain amount of skill to navigate the web of bureaucracy necessary to get any help. Some people don't want help, and that's sad, but we live in a society where we can't force these things on people. One of the tragedies of homelessness is that it's really, really damn difficult to help them-- even the ones who want help. I know this from experience. But, still, rants like this are nothing but counterproductive. If you want to see fewer homeless on the street, try helping instead of ranting.

mylons 11y ago
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spending-on-homeless-exceeds-many-5416839.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/S-F-spendi... SF is 'trying' and isn't succeeding. Stop spending my unaccounted for tax dollars on this if it isn't going to solve the issue and is just going to make SF a mafia wife enabling the homeless.

GuiA 11y ago

Yeah, the way he phrased his blog post is terrible. The guy is clearly not a writer. But my parents are visiting me from abroad in a few months (I've lived in the Bay Area for about 5 years now), and I'm legitimately afraid something dumb will happen. I usually just walk fast around town, pre emptively avoiding people who seem to be in a universe of their own (and I'm a pretty tall/wide guy, so i've never had a problem fending off loud/obnoxious people when they confront me individually), but my parents will be in leisure visitor mode, and I don't want my mom to have to deal with a coked up naked guy yelling at her. Is that entitled? Yeah, maybe. But I'm not mad at the homeless people - I feel for them. I'm mad at the politicians of SF, who can't properly give a support network to the mentally ill in our streets. Other major world cities aren't in the state of disarray that SF is, so it seems like something that can largely be improved on.

tptacek 11y ago
The problem isn't that he's wrong about the San Francisco homeless problem. The problem is that the first half of his letter is lists legitimate concerns about the problem, and the second half is a temper tantrum about how he feels he's earned a station in life where he shouldn't have to be bothered with those problems. It's a terribly stupid letter. But it's also pretty silly that we're paying attention to it. It's self-evidently stupid.
Johnny555 11y ago
When my parents came to visit me shortly after I moved to SF, as we walked to dinner, I told them how safe the city was and how I felt comfortable walking around my neighborhood even at night. Then as we rounded a corner a few blocks from my apartment, we saw about 8 squad cars blocking the road with crime scene tape blocking the sidewalk. Mom asked the cop what was going on and he said "You can't go this way, we're investigating a multiple homicide". Oops. Mom still brings that up nearly 2 decades later.

grubles 11y ago

"Rich white entitled computer developer can't understand the less fortunate." Is this some news bulletin from Sim City?

DrScump 11y ago
I missed in the article where the author's race is mentioned. Do you know him personally?
- grubles 11y ago
  It's pretty easy to google his name and come up with a picture.

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teen 11y ago

I'm not sure it's possible to have a civil discussion about the homeless issue in SF. Many of the 'homeless' really enjoy their lifestyle- it never gets that cold, they can hang out all day and do drugs, and have lots of social services available to them if anything ever gets too bad. Mix those people in with people who are genuinely struggling to survive, and a bunch of wealthier residents, you get a perfect storm on the internet. Criticize one group, and you're instantly an asshole. Or maybe you were an asshole to begin with. The internet loves the drama though.

tptacek 11y ago
It's a storm in reality, not just on the Internet.
pmiller2 11y ago
> Many of the 'homeless' really enjoy their lifestyle- it never gets that cold, they can hang out all day and do drugs, and have lots of social services available to them if anything ever gets too bad. I don't see too much wrong with that. If someone's living on the streets because they like it, more power to 'em. As far as services go, it's almost a logical consequence of having them that a certain few are going to abuse them. I'd rather accept that than have people who truly need and want help not get it.
- kelnos 11y ago
  I've gone back and forth on this, and I'm still not sure how I feel. On one hand, I do believe we should let people live how they want, as long as that doesn't negatively impact other people (simple Golden Rule type thing). But then that's it -- out of the homeless people who genuinely prefer that lifestyle, does that negatively impact other people? And it's hard to answer that, because I think a lot of the discomfort about homeless people surrounds people defecating on the sidewalk, people asking for money, and the mentally ill yelling obscenities and freaking people out... etc. So the the question becomes: if we could help the people who do not want to be homeless, including those who have mental health issues, and get them off the streets and into places where they can heal, what would be left? If the remainder is just people who like the homeless lifestyle, would that be ok? Would non-homeless people feel comfortable with that? I don't know the answer to that, even on a personal level.

kevcampb 11y ago

A far more erudite take on the situation http://programmingisterrible.com/post/50421878989/come-here-and-work-on-hard-problems-except-the http://programmingisterrible.com/post/50421878989/come-here-...

cubano 11y ago

I've been on so many sides of this issue it really almost sounds like bullshit. You see, I was addicted to heroin, and basically homeless, for three years living in Vegas after my mom passed and I divorced. My beautiful co-junkie girlfriend ODed and died, literally in my arms, in a room at the MGM Grand the first time she ever shot up. I thought she was doing meth like she always did. She was such an amazing soul and I still cry when I think of her and that horrible night. I allowed a bunch of homeless "friends" to stay with me as I was blowing through my money. I fed them all the time; gave them money for dope sometimes. Several of them ended up robbing me for money, clothes, computers etc etc. I ended up in the Tunnels for about 6 months before I could finally get out of town. I finally kicked cold-turkey on the floor of a county jail medical cell back here in Florida as I had missed court dates and had warrants. This was 5 years ago and I have worked hard to pull my life back together. Before this, my 5yo daughter was physically grabbed by a homeless person in the streets of downtown Chicago, off Michigan Ave., and to this day she still talks of the fear she felt that day. Who knows what could have happened if I wasn't 6'3" and prison-hardened from the 22 months I did for selling MDMA in 2001? So I feel I see all sides of this situation from real experience. It's hard writing this because I try not to remember all that garbage and pain. I think this guy has the right to express himself and his fears without being knee-jerk dogpiled by the offense mobs, but that's just me. [edits]

JabavuAdams 11y ago
Keep it up, man. Does it get easier? I look at what I need to do to fix my broken mind and sometimes I think I'd rather lie down in the snow than keep climbing. Do you ever get to stop climbing?
- evincarofautumn 11y ago
  As someone who has dealt with addiction, I would say it’s similar to exercise. It doesn’t exactly get easier, but you do get stronger—that is, better practiced at dealing with cravings, coping with stress, managing your mental health, and so on. You’re never really out of the woods, but you get better at finding your way out and choosing not to venture too deep.
- 11y ago

pjdemers 11y ago

http://www.glide.org/feedthehungry http://www.glide.org/feedthehungry

PavlovsCat 11y ago
Not to knock you or that wonderful project, I actually upvoted your post, but I still have to add this: > "Charity is the drowning of rights in the shithole of mercy." -- Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi People have the right to a fair shot at life. When that is achieved, we will not have "done good", we will merely have ceased to do atrocious evil. By which I don't mean to knock generosity and volunteering at all, I really hope my reply doesn't come across that way. Of course it does a lot of good, for all involved parties, and every life saved and every meal or even smile given counts. I still would call it a workaround rather than a solution, in the context of "mercy vs. rights", but it's a workaround that doesn't keep us from looking into long-term fixing of things, so I don't mean it as a "yes, but", but really as an addition.

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plcancel 11y ago

I was wondering why the headline refers specifically to "tech worker". It seems like the motivation for the article is to call attention to a stereotypical "tech bro". Is "tech bro" in common usage? I guess I didn't realize that appending "bro" to create a pejorative term has become so common.

alexandercrohde 11y ago
I agree. I'd even go so far as saying it's appealing to the audience's basest desire: to perpetuate an iconic enemy. You could do the same thing by changing "Tech Worker" to "White Man," that is: pick some group he belongs to and try to blame the whole for his callous delivery.

obrero 11y ago

And people like this wonder why people are flocking to Bernie Sanders and blocking Google buses.. > I am telling you, there is going to be a revolution. There is, and this parasite will be one of the first ones up against the wall.

PhantomGremlin 11y ago
There is, and this parasite will be one of the first ones up against the wall. Probably not, because the rednecks are the ones with the guns. And they won't be doing your dirty work for you on this issue.

mappu 11y ago

>Madeleine McCann, 27, had some more pointed words for tech bros who disapprove of her. McCann has been living in a tent under the highway for about a month, ever since her van was towed, leaving her without a roof. This name surprised me. I assume it's a fake name for the reporter, or at least, unrelated to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McC... .

cballard 11y ago
Some people have the same name as other people.

tga_d 11y ago

As someone who was raised in the bay area, the idea that these experiences meant that homelessness was at an all-time high in the city struck me as the thoughts of someone whose rose tint was fading from their glasses. One of my earliest memories is of a grizzled homeless man on Market asking me if I'd seen his spaceship anywhere, and I can't remember ever spending more than a few hours in the downtown area without seeing some sort of display of intoxication, mental disability, or both. So I looked it up, and indeed, crime and homeless rates within the city have stayed relatively consistent over the past decade, both in terms of sheltered and unsheltered homeless (crime is up slightly, but still well below what it was in the 90s). Just in case anyone was wondering.

Jach 11y ago

Move to Redmond.

alexandercrohde 11y ago

It's unfortunate that such a callous performance has to become the icon for his case. Living in SF, I agree there is a problem. In fact there are two. 1) There are the schizophrenics who need some help (but nobody knows exactly what or how). 2) And there is the unfortunate reality of downtown: - smells of piss - no public bathrooms (because they become campsites) - escalators break on public transportation often because people excrement on them - trashcans get dumped out so people can find cans for recycling - people walking across certain busy streets ignoring traffic - various campsites especially in soma I don't think this has to be an either-or issue. Helping the homeless is not an opposite of keeping downtown clean. I seem to notice people giving up on the latter though because they assume that the only way to do so is to blame the former, which is a no-no.

mylons 11y ago
3) SF has spent more than 30k per homeless person per year in the city to do 'something' about it. It's typically unaccounted for money and an area ripe/putrid for corruption.
- raddad 11y ago
  Maybe put that $30K into a cheap dwelling for said homeless person and problem solved, no longer homeless.
  - mylons 11y ago
    don't disagree at all. I admire what salt lake city is doing and think it should be a model for SF

slmyers 11y ago

While he sounds reasonable, his assertions of superiority are tone-deaf and quite irritating. Sure he's been exposed to some obscene behavior and perhaps mentally unstable homeless people, but I don't think he has considered that there is undoubtedly thousands of otherwise normal people in very unfortunate circumstances that don't deserve to be lumped with "those people".

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vacri 11y ago

Pity - this is the first I've heard of commando.io, and it looks like I could have used this tool as my current setup is a touch unwieldy. I would have at least tried it out, and likely would have bought it. Oh well, they can do without my $100/mo.

pmiller2 11y ago
Yep. Scratch one startup off the list of "companies I'll ever work for," too.

stillsut 11y ago

One person heard a racial slur yelled from a pickup truck on the UMissouri campus? The president of the school has to go. Psychotic and not uncommonly violent people are attacking citizens apparently everyday for the past decade? Suck it up!