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The issue is nobody leaning left politically is going to run with the truth that homelessness is caused by lax policies in regards to crime and drug abuse. Cali

The issue is nobody leaning left politically is going to run with the truth that homelessness is caused by lax policies in regards to crime and drug abuse. California still sells the lie that homelessness is caused by lack of housing/affordability.

rootusrootus 4y ago
It can be both. I'd like to see numbers, though. Used to be mental health and drug abuse were by far the dominant cause of rough homelessness. Did the pandemic change that? The homeless population has exploded in many cities in the last couple years. All from crime and drugs? I could believe that the non-rough sleeping homeless (couch surfers, as it were) are much more likely to be people who cannot afford a place to live. Also, politically conservative areas still have homeless problems of their own, so it might be premature to declare it a left leaning policy problem.
tchaffee 4y ago
> homelessness is caused by lax policies in regards to crime and drug abuse You don't even have correlation let alone causation. California is slightly below average with its incarceration rate so not really lax at all compared to the 20+ states with lower incarceration rates. Alaska has an above average incarceration rate and ranks high on homelessness rate. Nevada has a high incarceration rate and ranks high on homelessness rate. > and drug abuse California doesn't even make the top 20 list for states with drug abuse problems. Not surprisingly some conservative states are on that list - thanks most likely to widely available and cheap meth. You want a reductive answer to a complex problem in order to make an ideological point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_incarceration_and_correctional_supervision_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... https://www.statista.com/statistics/727847/homelessness-rate-in-the-us-by-state/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/727847/homelessness-rate... https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/care-coordination/20-states-with-the-most-drug-abuse-and-5-more-statistics.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/care-coordination/20-s...

rootusrootus 4y ago

It can be both. I'd like to see numbers, though. Used to be mental health and drug abuse were by far the dominant cause of rough homelessness. Did the pandemic change that? The homeless population has exploded in many cities in the last couple years. All from crime and drugs? I could believe that the non-rough sleeping homeless (couch surfers, as it were) are much more likely to be people who cannot afford a place to live. Also, politically conservative areas still have homeless problems of their own, so it might be premature to declare it a left leaning policy problem.

tchaffee 4y ago

> homelessness is caused by lax policies in regards to crime and drug abuse You don't even have correlation let alone causation. California is slightly below average with its incarceration rate so not really lax at all compared to the 20+ states with lower incarceration rates. Alaska has an above average incarceration rate and ranks high on homelessness rate. Nevada has a high incarceration rate and ranks high on homelessness rate. > and drug abuse California doesn't even make the top 20 list for states with drug abuse problems. Not surprisingly some conservative states are on that list - thanks most likely to widely available and cheap meth. You want a reductive answer to a complex problem in order to make an ideological point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_incarceration_and_correctional_supervision_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territ... https://www.statista.com/statistics/727847/homelessness-rate-in-the-us-by-state/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/727847/homelessness-rate... https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/care-coordination/20-states-with-the-most-drug-abuse-and-5-more-statistics.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/care-coordination/20-s...