4 ms·

The Homeless Industrial Complex is as responsible for maintaining the conditions in SF as Chesa and his hands-off enforcement policies are. A lot of strife in

The Homeless Industrial Complex is as responsible for maintaining the conditions in SF as Chesa and his hands-off enforcement policies are. A lot of strife in our society today can be attributed to non-profits being incentivized to keep their raison d'être continuing in perpetuity.

b9a2cab5 5y ago
It's easy to blame the system instead of making people take personal responsibility for their actions.
- seehafer 5y ago
  When “the system” refuses to prosecute dealers of fentanyl because “they’re victims themselves” [1], you’re damn right I’m going to blame the system. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-trial-of-chesa-boudin https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-trial-o...
- StanislavPetrov 5y ago
  It's also easy to blame the system when the system has failed miserably. There is plenty of blame to go around.
jmspring 5y ago
I spent many years involved in politics at the city level in Santa Cruz. The Homeless Industrial Complex is a thing. There isn’t a desire to make things better as that will lead to lost jobs. Their insincerity becomes very obvious when you start pushing for accountability - like status reports / reports on progress and effectiveness - when entities get public funds. Another fun one is asking for a reduction in overlap when you have 2, 3, and 4 entities doing the same thing and all of them want public funds.
- nuerow 5y ago
  > Their insincerity becomes very obvious when you start pushing for accountability - like status reports / reports on progress and effectiveness - when entities get public funds. I'm not sure what point you tried to make. I mean, this discussion is about identifying the root causes of a problem in order to actually fix it, but your comment focuses exclusively in organizations which, at worse, only work to mitigate it's impact while the problem is perpetuated. Let's put it this way: homeless shelters do not fabricate homeless people out of thin air, nor do they spend their budget hiring extras or crisis actors to pretend there are homeless people in the city. At most, you're putting up a strawman to attack organizations that exist to take the edge off this problem. What exactly do you believe would happen if suddenly all homeless shelters disappeared from the face of the earth? Do you believe homelessness would go away with that too?
  - jmspring 5y ago
    If you are taking public money and come back the following year wanting more, there should be a plan and data showing why you deserve money. Specifically the effectiveness of what you are trying to do. Most of them want money without any accountability. Most times when you apply for a grant, there is a proposal with a plan and expected outcome.
    - nuerow 5y ago
      > If you are taking public money and come back the following year wanting more, there should be a plan and data showing why you deserve money. Specifically the effectiveness of what you are trying to do. Do you understand that you are talking about funding homeless shelters? The job of a homeless shelter is to provide homeless people with temporary shelter instead of having them living on the streets. It is not in their job description or responsibilities or power to mitigate or eliminate the socio-economic problems that lead people to become homeless. That requires local government to put in place policies that addresses the root causes, such as ensuring housing is affordable, or those struggling with mental problems can receive help.
      - jmspring 5y ago

b9a2cab5 5y ago

It's easy to blame the system instead of making people take personal responsibility for their actions.

seehafer 5y ago
When “the system” refuses to prosecute dealers of fentanyl because “they’re victims themselves” [1], you’re damn right I’m going to blame the system. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-trial-of-chesa-boudin https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-inquiry/the-trial-o...
StanislavPetrov 5y ago
It's also easy to blame the system when the system has failed miserably. There is plenty of blame to go around.

jmspring 5y ago

I spent many years involved in politics at the city level in Santa Cruz. The Homeless Industrial Complex is a thing. There isn’t a desire to make things better as that will lead to lost jobs. Their insincerity becomes very obvious when you start pushing for accountability - like status reports / reports on progress and effectiveness - when entities get public funds. Another fun one is asking for a reduction in overlap when you have 2, 3, and 4 entities doing the same thing and all of them want public funds.

nuerow 5y ago
> Their insincerity becomes very obvious when you start pushing for accountability - like status reports / reports on progress and effectiveness - when entities get public funds. I'm not sure what point you tried to make. I mean, this discussion is about identifying the root causes of a problem in order to actually fix it, but your comment focuses exclusively in organizations which, at worse, only work to mitigate it's impact while the problem is perpetuated. Let's put it this way: homeless shelters do not fabricate homeless people out of thin air, nor do they spend their budget hiring extras or crisis actors to pretend there are homeless people in the city. At most, you're putting up a strawman to attack organizations that exist to take the edge off this problem. What exactly do you believe would happen if suddenly all homeless shelters disappeared from the face of the earth? Do you believe homelessness would go away with that too?
- jmspring 5y ago
  If you are taking public money and come back the following year wanting more, there should be a plan and data showing why you deserve money. Specifically the effectiveness of what you are trying to do. Most of them want money without any accountability. Most times when you apply for a grant, there is a proposal with a plan and expected outcome.
  - nuerow 5y ago
    > If you are taking public money and come back the following year wanting more, there should be a plan and data showing why you deserve money. Specifically the effectiveness of what you are trying to do. Do you understand that you are talking about funding homeless shelters? The job of a homeless shelter is to provide homeless people with temporary shelter instead of having them living on the streets. It is not in their job description or responsibilities or power to mitigate or eliminate the socio-economic problems that lead people to become homeless. That requires local government to put in place policies that addresses the root causes, such as ensuring housing is affordable, or those struggling with mental problems can receive help.
    - jmspring 5y ago