Do you ever wonder why so many things that the American Left does - often with the help of the reach-across-the-aisle elected cowards in the squishy Boehner/Ryan/McCarthy scotch fueled middle - doesn't ever fix anything? The War On Poverty is well over 50 years old and we have even more poverty. The War On Drugs - which I think our elected officials all chose to let quietly slip into the good night - appears to have given us even more drugs. And...the War On Homelessness....well, you know.
I thought about this the last time I was in Santa Cruz, CA...my adopted hometown. Depending on when you do the counting, and who is counting, the town of under 60,000 people has 3500-5000 homeless people enjoying all there is to offer. The first time I lived there - in the mid-80s - everyone knew that there was a homeless circuit left over from the halcyon days of Ken Kesey's "Further" bus that went up and down the coast. For the lifestyle homeless, they'd winter in Mexico or San Diego...then, with the approach of Spring...would start migrating North stopping at all the towns that would feed, shower, and serve them. Eventually, the truly ambitious would find themselves in BC by August.
Nothing ever changes because somewhere along the line, homelessness became big business. A really big business. I did the math and Santa Cruz could actually give every homeless person around 64,000.00 and simply close down the department. It would stay closed if they would enforce laws...which, of course, would be mean. And, likely misogynistically reinforcing of patriarchal hierarchies while causing repeated use of terribly dull needles - at least until the needle exchange opens at 10 a.m.
My pet "big business" theory was reinforced today...in an article out of L.A. The City of Angels just opened a beautiful new homeless high rise to further service the downtrodden. There are 278 units in the 19-story development known as the Weingart Tower. It’s intended to help people currently without shelter. The building will have an entire floor of offices for government social service workers and a gym, art room, music room, computer room and library. Each of the 278 units cost $600,000 to build.
Obviously, it's not nearly as adventurous and freewheeling as Kesey's acid fueled bus...but, life is a series of compromises. If they don't allow dogs I'm out. Just sayin...man.