Editor,
My compliments to the Daily Journal on the headlines on Wednesday about the homeless “‘We gotta be somewhere’” and Thursday “$20B housing bond pulled.” It makes no sense to me that San Mateo County has chosen to punish the homeless by making their survival efforts crimes, despite the huge lack of affordable housing and the snails pace of providing it.
Personally, I believe that the true problem is that over the last two decades, policies have shifted one-quarter to one-third of our national wealth to the top 1% and that has left inadequate resources for the rest of us. The middle class certainly feels pressured and the lower class feels panicked.
I wish San Mateo County would adopt policies that seek to cure homelessness by encouraging affordable housing (including things like rooming houses, tiny houses and the like), dealing with the side problems (e.g., adequate trash and sanitary facilities for encampments until housing exists), and not punishing the people who happen to be homeless. We are such an innovative nation, this is a problem we can solve. Thank you for your attention.
Tasha Levinson
Half Moon Bay
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(12) comments
Homelessness is not a result of unaffordable housing, but rather mental disorders caused by drug use and or alcoholism, or poor decision making (i.e. Bearing two or three children when making minimum wage). The state of California Democrat party has thrown over $20 billion at the problem, and nothing has changed. The money is used as a Band-Aid, free needles, monthly stipends, free shoplifting sprees, get out of jail cards etc..
I understand it is comforting to remain in a world view that blames the unhoused, however your statements have no basis in the real world. No matter how many times you repeat them, they don't become any truer. Also, I find it interesting how you bundle things up tidily so that mental illness is the fault of the person suffering from it because they chose to use drugs or alcohol. And addiction is the fault of the person suffering from it. (Spoiler alert--that is not how mental illness or addiction works).
You, of course, are comfortable and relatively wealthy because you are a superior person who made superior choices.
What would Jesus say?
I understand that Jesus was a couch surfer.
Yes indeed, a bed and a meal for words of wisdom seems reasonable.
Nice catchy phrases excusing people who make bad decisions. Did you know that if a boy and girl are dating and they do not have not have sex that the girl cannot get pregnant? Did you know that if someone does not try cocaine or whatever the drug of the day is they cannot become addicted? Does "my body, my choice" ring a bell? That catchy jingle works both ways and one reaps what one sows, that's what Jesus would say... And what did Mitt Romney say? If a child graduates from high school, goes to college or a trade school, and obtains a job prior to getting married and or bearing children there is a 90% chance that the child who is now an adult will never live in poverty. If one of the elements is missing then there is a 70% chance they will live in poverty. Quit with your excuses, your way of thinking is the problem and my way of thinking provides a path and a solution.
A commonality of patients with major psychiatric disorders is their propensity to make poor decisions, which is intimately related to poor real-life outcomes.
But I do understand that it is important to blame them and ensure that they suffer, and to blame and punish pregnant people for the crime of having sex (or being raped).
Matthew 16: 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."
So Westy, no opinion on Not So Common’s fact regarding Dems blowing $20 billion on the problem with nothing changing? Although I would add that the number of homeless is increasing, so something is changing, but in the wrong direction. BTW, other than finding fault in another’s opinion, how many unhoused people have you opened your house to? Or is your only complaint regarding Not So Common’s opinion on the homeless (sorry, Not So Common doesn't say unhoused) but you’re okay with leaving folks "unhoused" regardless of what got them there? What would Westy say? Or is Westy only happy to say, which costs nothing, but is unwilling to act?
It's like the chicken before the egg. Some people are born with a physical or mental disability and society does indeed, and should take care of them. The individual that abuses drugs, alcohol, sex ( see Hunter Biden) and then become addicted, mentally incapacitated, or schizophrenic only have themselves to blame.
There are many causes of major mental illness:
- Your genes and family history
- Your life experiences, such as stress or a history of abuse, especially if they happen in childhood.
- Biological factors such as chemical imbalances in the brain
- A traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Prenatal (before birth) exposure to viruses, toxic chemicals, or other substances such as alcohol and drugs
- Use of alcohol or recreational drugs
- Having a serious medical condition like cancer
- Having few friends, and feeling lonely or isolated
While addiction is one of the root causes of homelessness in a majority of cases, there are many other causes and factors: domestic violence, medical bankruptcy and/or loss of job due to caregiving or grief, unemployment, physical disability, foreclosure, teens aging out of foster care or escaping abusive homes.
So Westy, still scared of attempting to address Not So Common’s fact regarding Dems blowing $20 billion on the problem with nothing changing? I appreciate your subpar attempts at distraction but the bottom line is it doesn’t really matter how folks get to be homeless. Obviously California doesn’t care since they’re more interested in funding the homeless industrial complex than helping the homeless.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.