Very true, especially on a worldwide scale: we could allocate resources much more efficiently to take care of a lot of people who are suffering around the whole

Very true, especially on a worldwide scale: we could allocate resources much more efficiently to take care of a lot of people who are suffering around the whole world. Within the microcosm of SF? I would make the basic argument that SF's population has grown and its tax rate has increased over the past 20 years, yet there are now orders of magnitude more people suffering in the city from high rent, homelessness, and other affordability issues. It's hard to point to any specific numbers but I recall a much nicer city back in 2005, and even as recently as 2015. Of course you're also very correct that no city is an island so there could be a lot of suffering people coming to the city because in SF they can access social programs that aren't available elsewhere.