4 ms·

> You can take the bums off the street (and put them in shelters) There's your problem, I think. In the US, at least, the elements of our polity that favor "ta

> You can take the bums off the street (and put them in shelters) There's your problem, I think. In the US, at least, the elements of our polity that favor "taking the bums off the street" are mostly unwilling to pay for things like shelters and mental hospitals.

throwaway894345 4y ago
I'm a moderate liberal and I would love for my tax dollars to go to pay for shelters and mental hospitals.
germinalphrase 4y ago
The dearth of mental health institutions is not (directly) because “elements of our polity” don’t want to pay for them. It’s a legacy of actively closing them in the 70’s-80’s due to inhumane conditions and civil libertarian concerns around institutionalizing people against their will. Now - we certainly aren’t having a very productive public conversations about the obvious negative outcomes of that policy shift.
- xhevahir 4y ago
  "With President Reagan and the Republicans taking over, the Mental Health Systems Act was discarded before the ink had dried and the CMHC funds were simply block granted to the states." https://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_legacy_violence_the_homeless_mental_illness/ https://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_leg... I don't see how anyone can claim that austerity and a deep cynicism toward the very idea of mental treatment didn't play major roles.
  - germinalphrase 4y ago
    No, of course that is a large part of the story, but things like the Willowbrook expose also caused left-wing politicians (in that case Robert Kennedy) to also attack institutions.
  - throwaway894345 4y ago
    Maybe that’s true, but it’s not like Salon would ever pass up an opportunity to blame Republicans for something.
- lthornberry 4y ago
  It's a result of not funding appropriate community-based supports after deinstitutionalization. Deinstiutionalization could have worked out very, very differently, if we'd been willing to pay for the alternatives.

throwaway894345 4y ago

I'm a moderate liberal and I would love for my tax dollars to go to pay for shelters and mental hospitals.

germinalphrase 4y ago

The dearth of mental health institutions is not (directly) because “elements of our polity” don’t want to pay for them. It’s a legacy of actively closing them in the 70’s-80’s due to inhumane conditions and civil libertarian concerns around institutionalizing people against their will. Now - we certainly aren’t having a very productive public conversations about the obvious negative outcomes of that policy shift.

xhevahir 4y ago
"With President Reagan and the Republicans taking over, the Mental Health Systems Act was discarded before the ink had dried and the CMHC funds were simply block granted to the states." https://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_legacy_violence_the_homeless_mental_illness/ https://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_leg... I don't see how anyone can claim that austerity and a deep cynicism toward the very idea of mental treatment didn't play major roles.
- germinalphrase 4y ago
  No, of course that is a large part of the story, but things like the Willowbrook expose also caused left-wing politicians (in that case Robert Kennedy) to also attack institutions.
- throwaway894345 4y ago
  Maybe that’s true, but it’s not like Salon would ever pass up an opportunity to blame Republicans for something.
lthornberry 4y ago
It's a result of not funding appropriate community-based supports after deinstitutionalization. Deinstiutionalization could have worked out very, very differently, if we'd been willing to pay for the alternatives.