I think this looks good on the surface but I can’t help but think about how it will end up burying the problem deeper.
What if someone doesn’t want help? We shouldn’t be forcing anyone to do anything.
What if someone doesn’t want help? We shouldn’t be forcing anyone to do anything.
I don’t care. You can’t live in the park. That’s not a valid lifestyle choice.
We should expand systems to prevent homelessness in the first place but once that point is reached “no thanks” is no longer an acceptable response to offers for help.
> that point is reached “no thanks” is no longer an acceptable response to offers for help.
On this path lies a terrifying dystopia. For example, I find smoking and eating ultra-processed food an incredibly invalid lifestyle choice; doctors agree with me. Should we also mandate forced smoking addiction treatment and diet watching?
Try eating a sandwich for lunch in Pioneer Square, or in Denny Park.
That I don't feel safe traveling through my own city because it is overrun by mentally unstable people is unacceptable. Neither they nor I should live like this.
We have rules and norms in a civilization. When we ignore real problems like mental health everyone suffers and those norms break down. I am not in favor of adjusting our norms to include "well you can't use public spaces because we don't care about mental health".
Leaving the extremely mentally ill/drug addicts to essentially rot and die on the street is not a solution for anyone. I'm not saying all homeless people fall into this category, but this is the segment that is driving this change.