Now do the same for the constructive dismissals of Starbucks union organizers.
Go towards Pioneer Square and the London Plane Coffee Shop there is closing permanently this month, leaving that block of Occidental mostly devoid of foot traffic.
This apparent contradiction is easy to explain.
Forcing people into rehab is considered inhumane. Tweakers are deemed to be victims of society, and therefore the 'correct' solution is to have more tolerance for tweakers. More tweakers out on the street is evidence that the tweakers feel tolerated, which must mean that it's working.
This won't change until you vote out the local politicians who believe these premises: that forcing people into rehab is inhumane. That tweakers are victims of society's intolerance, and that tweakers wouldn't be a problem if we had more tolerance for them.
Then we get all the suburbs dumping their druggies in Pioneer Square and Chinatown. It's a neverending pipeline of addicts the Eastside and south end is dumping on us.
We need to start tracking all non-city LEOs entering Seattle and turn them around if they are giving courtesy rides. Called 911 on one from Bothell yesterday and started filming the occupant and cop. They raced off right quick but I still filed a complaint with Bothell PD.
How is that happening?
Everett has made a huge effort with their rehabilitation and detox programs, but they have the same shitty situation of being the dumping ground for Snohomish County.
They are nowhere near immobile, while metro and sound transit doesn’t even try to collect fares anymore. Bellevue doesn’t need to transport anyone to Seattle, they just send out 5 officers 5 minutes after someone lays down on a park bench. Surely Mill Creek does the same forcing people to Everett. (Lynwood probably has a problem just as bad as Everett)
Hardly, the number of tweakers they throw into rehab is nothing compared to the number of tweakers on the streets. A small percent of tweakers being thrown into rehab isn't going to solve the problem if most of them aren't thrown into rehab.
> suburbs dumping
Local politicians always love to blame others. It's never their fault, of course, and the blame casting always comes with fantasy solutions that will never be implemented, like your idea to "track all non-city LEOs". And each year the problem gets worse. The city is filled with people who think as you do, elect ineffectual politicians who think as you do, and so the city gets what it deserves.
I think willfully stupid people should suffer the consequences of their willful stupidity. It's a bummer I cannot move away from them right now, but I do see how this is totally fair to the stupid people.
Rehab isn't magic - it requires you to really, really, really not want to use drugs anymore.
But you’re right, these individuals certainly are getting disincentives.
How is it otherwise? Or do we just forget other people's freedom when they do things you don't like?
> Tweakers are deemed to be victims of society, and therefore the 'correct' solution is to have more tolerance for tweakers. More tweakers out on the street is evidence that the tweakers feel tolerated, which must mean that it's working.
Instead of strawpeople and rants, how about trying to find solutions that help everyone?
So what? Do we do nothing at all in life, because it cannot be done perfectly? And I'm not sure you are correct; we probably could help at least the vast majority. Why aren't we? Why stand around debating it. Let's act!
> it’s unfair to expect those living normal lives to suffer because drug addicts exist.
It's life, it's the world you are born into - none other ever has existed. Let's raise ourselves up, and especially abandon the absurd trend - is there a more vicious and dangerous one? - of lacking empathy. I understand disruption; it's a tool; what are we trying to accomplish by eliminating empathy?
You and I need empathy too; we give it, in great volume, and maybe in life we get a little back. We live in the real world, not on an island, and this is very much part of the world. We're expected to do these things - it's necessary, basic life and responsibility, along with being humane and responsible. You weren't born into a pain-free, suffering-free world. Civilization, society, your community runs on these efforts, whether you realize it or not - if not, you are sitting back while others do the hard work. And you cause your share too (including trying to take away others' freedom and dignity) and so do I. These are vulnerable people; they need help and support; they might not be nice, and God knows who is deserving. I'm not throwing any stones.
Yes, we do this all the time.
You should strongly consider that these suppositions are fundamentally wrong. I suggest you read Sanfransicko, written by a longtime progressive democrat activist who had the vanishingly rare intellectual honesty to examine in hindsight the results of the drug and homeless policies he himself fought for. He found that they were disastrous!
IIRC their grants and ability to tax local businesses came through under Jenny Durkan's reign, same for the Uptown Alliance covering Queen Anne and Belltown. Jenny Durkan's reign of rainbow colored tear gas was truly awful, but this (and further roads investments) were bright spots.
"It's gotten so much worse since Bruce Harrell has gotten into office."
Bruce Harrell was sworn in at the start of 2022. Here's the crime statisitic from the SAPD
Type,2022,2021, year over year change %
Homicide 51,51 0.0%
Rape 215,205 4.9%
Robbery 2184,2053 6.4%
Assault 2375,2185 8.7%
Buglary 5292,6709 -21.1%
MV Theft 5664,5446 4.0%
Arson 273,308 -11.4%
Larceny Theft 31814,28459 11.8%
I see mixed results but more importantly for the specific type of crime that has gone up it's been mostly single digit year over year.
https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crim...
From Seattle
Type, 2021, 2022
Homicide 42, 46 Rape 300,261 Robbery 1751,1534 Assault 3319,3015 Arson 227,167 Burglary 9821,7361 Larceny-theft 27161,24121 Motor Theft 5329,5591
All categories are down except for Motor Vehicle Theft which is up 5% and murder which was 42 people in 2021 and 46 in 2022.
Source: https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/crime-da... [Note I switched positions for years]
Yes, that's exactly what they say! "It's not my fault I'm addicted to fent, its your fault!"
> The housing first strategy only works of a critical mass of communities participate.
It works for people whose main problem is lack of housing. It doesn't work with people who have other serious problems, all that happens is the house gets burned out and has to be constantly refurbished (so costs are around $100k/year per hard case housed).
I wouldn't. Would you?
Neither would anyone who's at, above, or even slightly below that station in life.
That's the thing right, obviously this logic fails once you have a job, friends and some level of comfort. This is what we should actually be investing in.
No, but I’ve encountered many people across the spectrum from lower class to upper middle class who for some reason have no problem with stealing from businesses. Even less reticent if it’s a big chain.
> Neither would anyone who's at, above, or even slightly below that station in life.
Your model of people is incorrect. This is even touched on in an episode of Seinfeld where the parents casually mention “only stealing necessities like batteries”.
What does this have to do with moving across the country to live in a tiny house with a bunch of homeless people? Do you know anyone who would do that? Personally I don't. I also don't personally know anyone who shoplifts once they turned 20.
> Your model of people is incorrect.
Thanks, gonna disagree, although your citing a comedy TV series that ended in the 90s did nearly sway me.
If you don't have better options, why not?
Great Falls Montana isn't a great place to be homeless, especially when winter hits.
This is exactly my point. Our goal as a society should be to make sure that nobody's in a position where moving to Seattle and living in a tiny house stealing from a Walgreens is a better situation.
This is what I meant when I said: "That's the thing right, obviously this logic fails once you have a job, friends and some level of comfort. This is what we should actually be investing in."
“I’m gonna bury my head in the sand for no reason.”
> citing a comedy TV series that ended in the 90s
Your appeal to absurdity isn’t helping here. Shoplifting hasn’t changed since then and it was on the show precisely because of the weird social divide around it.
Let me help you out with some Wikipedia since you’re shooting from the gut on this one:
> Economists say shoplifting is common because it is a relatively unskilled crime with low entry barriers that can be fitted into a normal lifestyle. People of every nation, race, ethnicity, gender and social class shoplift. Originally, analysis of data about apprehended shoplifters and interviews with store detectives suggested that females were almost twice as likely as males to shoplift. However, since 1980, the data suggest that males are equally or more likely to shoplift than females. The average shoplifter first did it at the age of ten: shoplifting tends to peak in adolescence then steadily declines thereafter. People of all races shoplift equally, and poor people shoplift only slightly more than rich people.[8]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoplifting#Economist_perspect...
I think you're also demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of what stops crime... It's not prosecuting crime.
Even so, there is nothing illegal about shutting down a store because you would rather have no store than work with a union.
The obligation is to 1) not interfere with union votes 2) listen to union demands
You can still fire them all at the end of the day if the union refuses your terms or close the shop down.
Regarding the weak evidence, you brought up two other valid considerations.
It is really hard to get public support for a union busting narrative when things are in bad shape.