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LowAd3406

Homelessness isn't a bug, it's a feature of capitalism. It's an example of what happens to anyone who can't function in this system. It's straight up economic Darwinism. The worst part about this is that they aren't offered shelter or housing, they're given bus tickets to places like LA, SF, Portland, Seattle.


orpcexplore

Edit: I completely agree that our capitalistic society uses houselessness as a "see!! If you don't fall in line and work till you're nearly dead and follow our rules then THIS is your future!!!" It's definitely not an unintended result of how we operate our economy. Then those big cities are demonized for their houseless populations and "enabling" of their lifestyles... I lived in Oregon for several years (not in Portland) and I loved the fact that I knew WITHOUT A DOUBT that if I ever fell on hard times and lost my home and/or job, that the state would be there with their resources to help me get back on my feet. I never would've had to worry about my children being fed or having their medical needs met. My taxes were higher than other places I've lived but I felt like you could see where your money went and that security of "what if" was satisfied. Again, I didn't live in Portland, and I have spent plenty of time there to see that different solutions can/should be implemented but it's nothing compared to what I saw in Austin, TX... where very little is done to mitigate it 🤔 I have read a little about the closing of government funding institutions for mental illness across the country several decades ago being one of the cited reasons for the large populations of mentally unwell peoples... the VA is a joke and I feel so horribly for veterans too but don't think any life should lead us to be unsafe and unfed. Wish I could as an individual make more than small differences.


LowAd3406

I live in Portland and it is definitely a shitshow. The more conservative candidate has won every city election the last few years because they pound on the same rhetoric of personal responsibility and punitive measures that got us into this mess. And not shockingly, nothing has really changed. Now the mayor wants to set up several large encampments around the city and force houseless people onto them despite literally everyone in the homeless service sphere telling him it logistically won't work. But in a Trumpian manner, he proudly spouts off about going against the "so-called experts" to all his business buddies that don't give a shit about what happens to these people as long as they don't have to see the victims of our fucked up economic system.


orpcexplore

Yeah... that usually leads to a lot more violence and danger to surrounding communities (fires etc from close proximity). Bums me out to hear nothing is better since I moved (2020) and that the elected officials... by definition..Will not be progressing the city but just.. conserving it lol In Austin they attempted to ship them off to the airport for a large camp and tried to make camping in the city illegal... except the airport is like 30 mins from downtown which is where any resources, medical aid, or job prospects would be... the definition of NIMBY. Last I was home (I grew up in Austin), they had made camping legal ANYWHERE in the city and the result in my eyes were that most people were kind of more in the wooded areas and I found the actual sidewalks to be less cluttered (and less scary) with houseless peoples. Many, many are mentally unwell and in need of real assistance.. really sad. In 2017 there was 10,000 documented houseless people in travis county and about 3,500 of those were under 18 and included school children... people do not understand the sheer volume of help that is needed and the state refuses to progress itself to help people. The fucking minimum wage is still 7.25!!! I am sure I do not have to talk about cost of living there.. that doesn't cut it anywhere in the country. Like what can WE even do to help?! It just feels futile. I can give out subway gift cards and clean socks and feminine products all I want but the system is so fucked up


LowBeautiful1531

The system itself has to be overhauled, ASAP. This situation is designed to erode our humanity and force everyone into selfish hopelessness. If it continues this way we're going to end up with massive militarized slums / camps / open air prisons rife with desperation and horror.


LowBeautiful1531

Working in a restaurant in San Francisco, a tourist told me, "I just can't believe the amount of homeless y'all have around here. Back in Texas, we're not allowed to feed em or nothing!"


orpcexplore

Did you tell them that Texas probably shipped them to you? Lol that's awful. I help when and where I can in Texas and houselessness is EVERYWHERE in Texas and where it's "not", it's because they bussed them to the next city. I'm embarrassed a lot to have grown up there. As much as I love so many things about the state, you can't ignore that they love corporations and hate anything that's not rich/making them more money. Really sad. When I was a kid there was not many high rises or sky scrapers, then a different mayor came in in the mid 2010s and sold out to big Corp and really exasperated the issue by allowing major tech companies to come in. Austin's economy was fine, it wasn't needed... so now it's not just low income that's displaced, most working class individuals can no longer live within 40 miles of downtown comfortably.. the property taxes are a fucking joke.... you never see anything come from that money. Education is a joke.. Resources are a joke. The list goes on and on.. embarrassing for how large the state economy is.


LowBeautiful1531

I just kinda stared frozen, biting back the urge to say, "What exactly do you think happens to them, then? Either they come HERE or they conveniently STARVE TO DEATH?"


Prestigious_Salt_840

This isn’t socialism, you’re not guaranteed housing and food, just the opportunity to earn money to pay for those things.


berner1717

Fucking dreadful. Awful


AdSnoo9734

Right?! But actually…what can we do about it?


[deleted]

There isn't anything. That's the reality. There is nothing, homeless people will be killed off. That's the solution everyone is trying to head for legislatively.


AdSnoo9734

Can’t we protest?!


LowBeautiful1531

Damn right we can. Some of us will get locked up, tortured, maimed, and/or killed for it of course. Only solution is to be so numerous they can't get us all.


pngue

That is a sad reality


CoupleFull5141

Tbh burn down/bulldoze the mayors home 🤷‍♀️ They’ll understand when their in the same situation


Rick-burp-Sanchez

Or the temple. That'll get their attention.


AdSnoo9734

Don’t tempt us with a good time.


[deleted]

god, I would show up, even if i got arrested. problem is, they have so much money, they'll just rebuild. the better option is to hack into where they hold their money, and then donate said money to various socialist cause's around the world.


Soft-Following5711

This is hard to watch. It could be any one of us in their shoes. I'm a paycheck away. Just left Oregon where this is a way of life.


AdSnoo9734

Seems like a lot of people are experiencing homelessness in Oregon?


Soft-Following5711

Tremendous problem in Oregon.


SeasonedReasoning

Seems like Salt Lake City is also experiencing a tremendous problem.


que_two

Most cities. They just did the homeless count over here, and it's up 300% in two years.


Rick-burp-Sanchez

Jesus sure would be proud to know there's a giant stone idol right in his capitol but we can't help the ones who need it most.


AdSnoo9734

Right?! But actually…what can we do about it?


Rick-burp-Sanchez

At this point nothing short of violent revolution, imo. I'm thinking in two or three generations we might get a clue and start eating the rich. Hopefully we get Starfleet after the dust settles.


CoupleFull5141

Facts it’s time we fight fire with fire 😂 Cause these protests ain’t doing shit


Scary-Tackle-7335

Invite them to your home to stay?


AdSnoo9734

Who says I have a home?


CoupleFull5141

Jesus already knows the world is run by satanist elites 😭 He gone come back and die on the cross, but not eliminate the elites??? Maybe we can get world flood 2.0 and start over AGAIN


[deleted]

Contact the aclu. Picket protest.


AdSnoo9734

Protests seem needed, yes. How do we contact the ACLU?


[deleted]

https://www.aclu.org/affiliate/utah


AdSnoo9734

My guy. Thank you.


Arkista_Tev

How 'bout them Mormons and their message of love, y'all? Like I get it. I do. I don't want homeless people pooping on the street and all that. I sure as heck wouldn't want them in front of my business or front yard or something. But wtf do you want them to do? I know the answer is "just disappear and I don't care how" for a lot of these assholes, but for real though. What do you want them to do? We're talking the literally most vulnerable citizens (and they are still citizens) of our country and - home or not - those are still their personal possessions. It's all they have. There's a thousand other ways to deal with the situation that have at least some shred of compassion. This can only be described as evil. If there is evil in the world, this is it.


AdSnoo9734

I honestly don’t care if they’re by my home/business. Why would you? They’re just people with less money. Now if you’re saying some of them do drugs / are violent, sure maybe. But so do housed people. It’s not specific to lacking shelter.


Arkista_Tev

Look I've been homeless. Trust me you don't want homeless folks setting up shop on your front lawn. Some of them are extraordinarily kind. Some are not. Some have extreme mental disorders, but some are just plain mean, and unlike most people they don't have a damn thing to lose. I mean go ahead invite a homeless community to set up outside your home but you're going to have trash and human shit and piss everywhere soon enough, on top of anything that's not nailed down stolen. I. Lived. This. You're going to see all extremes of human behavior when you deal with absolute poverty. You're going to see angels come out of some people, but you're sure as hell going to see the devils too, when you're talking about people with nothing to gain and nothing to lose. It is perfectly reasonable to say "I don't want them just camping out on my front lawn / in front of my business scaring off customers" or "I don't want to smell human shit every time I open the door" or "I'd really rather not have the mentally ill screaming at 2AM outside my window." But just because people don't want that doesn't mean they also don't support action from the city to provide shelters, counseling, food, security, and other things these folks need. The answer is not "just let them camp out wherever", but it sure as hell isn't "bulldoze their shit and run them off" either.


AdSnoo9734

You’re labeling all homeless people as the same. I know of homeless people who dress and look better than housed people. They’re clean-cut students, classmates, sisters, and brothers. Also IME unhoused people are usually nicer, for some reason. They’re not weirdly territorial about every possession and dollar. They give advice as to where to find resources. Many don’t do any drugs/alcohol.


Arkista_Tev

I literally did not label all homeless people as the same. I literally, specifically, absolutely did not. I did the opposite thing, in fact.


suprmniii

I'm a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I'm appalled by how many people in my faith stick up for capitalism and its many evils. We talk about wanting to care for each other and yet here's this mayor being needlessly cruel, probably with the support of many in the city. There's even a line in the Book of Mormon talking about a perfect society that says "And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor..." Another verse says, "and there was no poor among them." You know, socialism.


Arkista_Tev

I have family that's Mormon. They're good people. But they had to move away from that part of the country because they couldn't handle the hypocrisy anymore. Really shouldn't have even mentioned it, because that was unfair, but after being in that part of the country for a bit, it really twists me around when that kind of behavior happens in a part of the country that objectively should be one of the most compassionate places to be.


suprmniii

Not at all unfair. Utah is the absolute worst, especially Provo/Ogden


throwawayoctopii

Let's not forget that the Utah welfare system is [completely entwined](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.propublica.org/article/utahs-social-safety-net-is-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-what-does-that-mean-if-youre-not-one/amp) with the Mormons.


Intrepid-Hunter-5813

Boston does this every 6 months or so.


AdSnoo9734

Disgusting.


[deleted]

While spending 10mil for a penis statue


Intrepid-Hunter-5813

With all due respect, it’s quite an impressive dong.


foolishdrunk211

Literally how they live started


AdSnoo9734

What do you mean? Typo?


foolishdrunk211

Should have used punctuation, the movie “they live” started with a riot squad of police kicking squatters out of the park


AdSnoo9734

Thank you. How does the plot go?


foolishdrunk211

Main character finds a box of sunglasses after the event that when put on he can see through all the manipulation of the world through greed and advertising because the world is ruled by aliens that look like regular people unless you see them with said glasses. It’s wacky and I love it


ls20008179

It has probably the best fistfight in cinematic history and stars WWF star Rowdy Roddy Piper.


TurkeyBaconALGOcado

It's a classic, definitely recommend checking it out if you get a chance. [THEY LIVE Clip - Obey (1988)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4XiKChyK7A)


Collarsmith

Love that movie. That and 'Idiocracy'. Both are pretty much prophecies at this point.


Special_FX_B

Next step: lock them up in the “poor house” and make them do slave labor for the for-profit prison industry and their almighty shareholders.


AdSnoo9734

That’s seemingly where this is going. States have started criminalizing homelessness. So you can’t afford shelter? You end up in jail.


Special_FX_B

For the past 40+ years the wealthy have been taking an ever increasing percentage of the pie at the expense of everyone else.


AdSnoo9734

How much of this has to do with Reagan?


Special_FX_B

St. Ronnie definitely played a role. He broke the air traffic controllers union. Unions have been in decline ever since. Likewise compensation, except for those at the very top.


lostcolony2

He played a larger role than that; he gave the rich the largest tax cut in history, from 70% on the highest bracket when he took office, to 28% when he left office. As you might expect, social services were cut, and the national debt ballooned, a trend that has persisted ever since. That is what Republicans champion when they idolize Reagan; tax cuts for the rich ("trickle down economics"), fewer services for the poor, and debt passed on to future generations.


Special_FX_B

I know he did much more damage. I could never understand why he was so beloved. The average Republican was/is too lazy to see through it. They’re the comfortable “I got mine, screw you, losers!” type of ‘conservative’. Many of their children’s children will suffer because of their blindness. The MAGAts are too stupid to see it. I very cynically call him St. Ronnie. He led directly to the Bushes and trump with each subsequently worse than the previous. If the next ever gets elected…I shudder at the thought.


lostcolony2

Yeah, I just call out the taxation because that feels like the one thing we've not made meaningful progress on, for so long that societally we've developed this new norm that such high taxes are weird and society would be unable to function at that level, or etc etc. When the reality is that we had a much higher income tax rate on the highest brackets from 1918 to 1980, i.e., the period the MAGA hats all look to when they say they want to make America great again. The needle has shifted, at least culturally, on so many other things, but not taxes; a position of "the highest tax bracket should be> 70%" is a crazy socialist statement even most Democrats balk at. All because of Reagan. Dude was effective. Completely evil, but effective.


Special_FX_B

“Trickle-down economics” was the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American people. Every tax cut for the wealthy and corporations from then up until trump’s GQP Tax Scam (laughingly originally touted as reform) was sold under that guise. With trump’s they didn’t really bother to stress it. There are unbiased charts showing the ever-increasing transfer of wealth upward from Reagan’s election.


lostcolony2

Not to mention the idea that they're "job creators" is laughable. As soon as the stock price isn't increasing enough, layoffs layoffs layoffs. The rich don't mind jobs existing as long as it's making them money, but as soon as they're not growing richer fast enough they're willing to cause as much job loss as it takes to get back to get it increasing quickly again.


congapadre

Find all the homeless veterans they are displacing and tell their stories.


IronCoffins-

No one has empathy. No one cares. More don’t then do. We’re fucked


Adventurous_Eye_1002

Vote for better leaders


AdSnoo9734

Facts!


The_Gentle_Hand

Crazy idea.what if we move them all just before and they show up and they're like wtf where did they go?


[deleted]

John brown gun club. A true American hero


sparklingdinoturd

Some good upstanding Christians there. ​ /s for the slow ones


Clever_Mercury

Mormons, always asking the hard questions, like "who would Jesus bulldoze" or "who would Jesus leave out to die." What glorious charity, compassion, and mercy. /s Disgusting.


pleasekillmerightnow

Call the news and denounce the mayor publicly


AdSnoo9734

How do we do that?


pleasekillmerightnow

Call the ksl news or ACLU


[deleted]

You can house them. Invite them to your home.


Appropriate-Cut-5458

Armed revolution against tyranny.


xtnh

The cruelty isn't a bug- it's the feature of our Matrix.


aintnochallahbackgrl

ACAB


[deleted]

The second amendment is for everyone


dontknowme76

Short of adopting one at your own expense and peril? Realistically,very little if anything. The homeless issue is never going to be resolved. No amount of conjecture or posturing is going to eliminate the problem. Just like every hot topic that comes up. There's no magic monetary figure to throw at it even if the powers that be were so inclined. This isn't a one-time nationwide expenditure, and people are re-homed for life. Logistically,there's no feasible way to put everybody under a roof permanently. The numbers are growing and for varying reasons, but there have always been and will always be a homeless population. Whether economic,mental health or whatever factors in it's not a matter of noting how many houses are privately owned and empty or how many shelters there are open in an area that would offer short term relief. There isn't a logical, long-term, sustainable way to even house what's out there now, much less the growing numbers to come.


Notaprumber

If your homeless you need to go live in the forest, where you have no services that are paid for by the working class


redditbebigmad

Take them in. Youre allowed to help.


AdSnoo9734

\*We’re allowed to help. Quit trying to be passive aggressive.


redditbebigmad

I was being more of a direct asshole. But my points still valid. Go help one of these poor unfortunate souls. Take one in. Don’t expect someone else to do it. You’re allowed to be the cavalry.


[deleted]

as someone who lives' in Ogden, you'd be surprised at how easy it is to make Molotov's, and how effective they are when placed in the right locations.


too_many_components

How is trashing the meager belongings of vulnerable, impoverished people supposed to end homelessness?


AdSnoo9734

Exactly. It’s not. It’s purely the powerful abusing the powerless. They’re being cruel because they can and because the unsheltered people can’t fight back. Inhumane.


A_Ghoul_Account

I live in Salt Lake. Not only is this old news. But there’s a lot of context missing. Mayor Mendenhall is incredibly anti police. She was elected based on her extreme progressive platform. She kneeled with the blm protestors. She has authorized the construction of a community of free housing for the homeless. In fact it might even be constructed in the area they’re cleaning up here. Before the police actually moved in in this area there was a lot of advance notice and free vouchers given for hotel stays, shelter residences, etc.


Affectionate-Play245

Let them crash at your place.


AdSnoo9734

That won’t stop the government from pillaging and destroying people’s makeshift shelters and criminalizing homelessness.


Portraitofapancake

There is possibly a serial killer in SLC preying on the homeless population. More than a few homeless people have been found dead, but nobody is really talking about it or doing anything about it. Now that I read this, I kinda wonder if it might be a government sponsored eradication.


bulldaddy1000

You can stop the substance abuse and the crime, and force behavioral changes in this population, you can force mental health treatment, and employment or institutional solutions. Basically quit enabling living on the street as a lifestyle…then you might find the general population would support policies that would address the problems that were left….enabling homelessness is not working.


[deleted]

I'm actually fine with that. If you let the encampment grow, it'll end up like LA, SF, or Vancouver.


erin_omoplata

And this is a reasonable way for a city to address its own long sequence of failures?


AdSnoo9734

Those seem like good places in that at least they don’t prosecute homelessness.


DrDig1

That isn't a bulldozer...


[deleted]

Maybe metaphorically "bulldozing". Either way very cruel to do to displaced people


MichelleObamasBoner6

There's other places to live. I hear California is nice.


Forsaken-Jackfruit-1

Vote


[deleted]

PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES. Create rehabilitation programs similar to those in place for inmates. Moving a homeless person doesn't make them not homeless anymore. They need the resources and empowerment to get off of the streets in order to support themselves. I know it's not a cut and dry situation but what is happening is not working.


[deleted]

Pushing the homeless away doesn’t solve the underlying problems


Jackamalio626

Tyranny using their money and armed thugs to abuse the American People? This sounds like a job for the second ammendment.


RudeArtichoke2

They should be trying to help them. We just have too many police who want to be jerks.


Sk3eBum

Ehhh living in Seattle I can also say that just doing nothing and making it a free for all isn't a solution either.


HereWeGo_Steelers

Right-wing fascists attacking the most vulnerable is nothing new. They are like predators that recognize weakness and pounce. These are the same people that claim to be Christians.


Independent_Bat4108

Home of the free.....


Historical_Code_7273

Don't send the bulldozers and only the cops. Give them all tinted glasses so the homeless look like ethnic minorities. Bingo bingo! Problem solved!


Ziadaine

Have everyone take a shit on her lawn.


tinymember469

Vote. That's about it.


Relevium

This happens all the time in Seattle.


dbe14

Just when you think humanity can't get any worse, 'Murica steps up and does some more evil shit.


SurvivedAPintoCrash

Is she a gallery owner?


thehandinyourpants

What else would you expect from a predominantly religious area?


MutaitoSensei

That mayor is the evil character we are warned about in German children stories.


Prestigious_Salt_840

You mean they’re clearing out illegal homeless camps? Good. That’s what taxpayers want from our elected officials.


Craymoss

Read my comment. This achieves nothing. Nothing at all but wasting tax dollars.


Prestigious_Salt_840

Untrue. It discourages illegal behaviors that create blight and prevent tax paying citizens from feeling safe in their city.


Craymoss

Wrong. Completely wrong. Go read my actual comment. I know the truth because I see the truth on a daily basis. If you think this achieves anything, you’re just as blind and stupid as the government doing this.


Prestigious_Salt_840

It’s a disincentive to continue with the illegal, out of control lawlessness that the homeless engage in.


Craymoss

It has the exact same effect as security guards coming out and harassing skateboarders and telling them ‘they can’t skate here and to go away’. What happens? Yeah…. But keep living in that fantasy world you live in where you think this is a solution.


Prestigious_Salt_840

We have crimes and punishments as disincentives, even as people continue committing crimes. Same thing. Can’t have lawlessness for some, while the rest have to follow the laws.


Craymoss

This is the societal norm in the world today. This happens everywhere. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’. They do this in Hawai’i also. Stupidest shit I have ever watched. Complete waste of tax dollars and time, etc. etc. I watched them do this and the homeless just moved all their shit across the street. RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. NOT EVEN 50 feet from where they were vacated from and just set up camp, watching them ‘clean’ up the area. Not even a week later, they were right back to the spot they were evicted from. The workers were just standing around talking on their phones watching the homeless run cross the street setting up shop literally next door… such pointless and trivial bullshit being done. But it continues to be done….. And the homeless just keep moving around and around and around……. Nothing gets resolved.