^ This right here is the fundamental problem in American politics. Because what you are missing is that society is like a house. If you don't maintain your house, eventually the roof caves in. There are people who believe that they can starve government - cut taxes back to nothing, better if we get rid of all the bureaucrats, better if Congress / state legislatures are stuck not able to do anything, who cares if I vote.
That's the equivalent of letting the house fall down around you. Plenty of voters will say they don't care - they think they can somehow protect themselves. But they don't get that sooner or later, chaos reigns and it comes for all of us. Homelessness and depravity like we see in Seattle isn't the root disease - it's a symptom of the disease.