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I lived in San Franciso for a few years (2010 to 2015) and hung around with some of the "low class" people, and this theft spike doesn't surprise me at all. It
by kstenerud 5y ago
I lived in San Franciso for a few years (2010 to 2015) and hung around with some of the "low class" people, and this theft spike doesn't surprise me at all. It was already astronomical while I was there.
San Francisco is a strange place, where the only places you're allowed to be poor are in the tenderloin, 6th and market, or the projects. It's the only place I've lived where I regularly had to dodge human excrement on the sidewalks, car windows are all smashed, deodorant is locked down in the stores etc.
The poor don't consider themselves of the same people as the rich. The infrastructure is not for the poor, the police are not for the poor, the parks and sidewalks and houses and cars are not for the poor. Hell, while I lived there the poor weren't even allowed to sit or lie down! So why should they feel any civic pride or duty or identification at all? It's like some sort of Elysium and Deponia. The Elysians are so far removed from reality that crimes against them are hardly crimes at all as far as the poor are concerned. They'll never taste of the good things Elysium has, so why even care? Better to just grab whatever you can from them and try to eke out whatever existence you're able to. It's similar in many ways to the bandit camps and highwaymen of the Roman era.
I've traveled and lived in many places, and this sort of behavior only happens when there's massive inequality, tempered a small amount by the severity of the law.
I know this will get downvoted to hell because almost everyone on HN is rich, so they're blind to this. For you, the answer is better policing and stronger laws, because those are the only things that can help keep you separated from the rest unless you're rich enough to afford private security.
- b9a2cab5 5y agoThis doesn't happen in wealthy cities like Irvine, or even large cities like Boston or NYC. This is an SF phenomenon.
- wfhbata 5y agoYou can’t really compare it to Irvine, which is almost completely suburban and has 1/15th the population.
- b9a2cab5 5y agoWhich is why I included other large cities as an example. Although I would argue the density in SF is not that much higher than some parts of Irvine due to restrictive zoning in SF.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- wfhbata 5y agoYes, it’s a bit like saying, “My favorite colors are blue, green, and a potato”. But a potato is not a color! “Which is why I included blue and green.”
- systemvoltage 5y agoAdd Seattle and Portland to the list. This is a west coast phenomenon largely driven by IMO west coast policies.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoSome of it is also due to west coast weather being temperate.
- baby 5y agoSymptoms of a national issue. I used to live in Chicago and homelessness was through the roof as well.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- 01100011 5y agoOh, right, because poor people outside SF feel like they're one step away from living the good life. It's only in SF that people feel forever locked out of the pleasure dome. IDK, I think it's because SF was heavily influenced by freak culture in the 60s and while that mode of thinking died out in the rest of the world it found refuge in NorCal. NorCal has, since the 60s, been a bastion of drugs and freakiness. The culture behind that tolerated a crime society because of the disdain for law and order, with its authoritarian, conservative, anti-drug values. They were more naive than, say, New York liberals who knew you couldn't just let people do whatever they wanted.
- haram_masala 5y agoOnce upon a time, when friends or acquaintances would complain about judgementalism, I’d tell them that to judge is normal and natural, that we as human beings are equipped with judgement for a very good reason, and that they truly would not want to live in a judgement-free society. Today, they can live in San Francisco.
- Dma54rhs 5y agoDoesn't cut for me. Because other people have more doesn't mean you can act anti social, just like I don't tolerate incel tier thoughts, despite understanding for some people it very well might be impossible to meet partners.
- kstenerud 5y agoAnd that's precisely the attitude that perpetuates the system.
- randompwd 5y agoWow, so every single poor person would go out and rob? Each of them had their morals eroded by poverty? Every single one of them? Your comment comes across as that of an apologist.
- kstenerud 5y agoWow, you expertly decoded the secret Q meaning of my message! Well done!