In April, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a major case that could reshape how cities manage homelessness. The legal issue is whether they can fine or arrest people for sleeping outside if there’s no shelter available. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has deemed this cruel and unusual punishment, and this case is a pivotal challenge to that ruling.
The high court declined to take up a similar case in 2019. But since then, homelessness rates have climbed relentlessly. Street encampments have grown larger and have expanded to new places, igniting intense backlash from residents and businesses. Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing that’s helping to drive it have become key issues for many voters.
The case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, could have dramatic implications for the record number of people living in tents and cars across the United States.
I can absolutely believe that, but driving people out of wherever they settle isn’t going to achieve that either. It seems like they think as long as they treat homeless people like shit, the problem will solve itself, despite that having been shown to be demonstrably untrue for, oh, I don’t know… centuries?
They just don’t care. As far as they’re concerned the problem cannot be solved. If it’s existed for centuries then it’s because it doesn’t have an answer, right? They’re looking for the cheapest solution at this point because they “know” they’ll have to do it forever anyway so find the most cost effective solution.
There are two.
The first is to get them out of your city. Typically this is just done with a bus ticket. Relatively cheap but a lot get sent back or there ends up being problems with the other towns.
The second is to kill them. There’s no one to pay out the money to most of the time and the cost of a paupers grave is considerably cheaper than housing or prison.
It’s just purely financial. To people making these decisions, our lives are not worth the financial cost of sustaining them. It’s considered a drain on resources. It’s a complete depersonalization which is accepted by most of society because most of society depersonalize homeless people themselves either out of fear of unwarranted and random attack (which is rare as FUCK) or because it’s a reminder that their own lives could go very badly. Then there’s the propaganda people buy into and say that they either put themselves in this position with drugs or are dangerous.
To the vast majority of society we are not even considered human beings. To businesses and the government we aren’t considered human beings. We’re just a statistic.
To the vast majority of society we are not even considered human beings. To businesses and the government we aren’t considered human beings. We’re just a statistic.
I read the news a lot, especially local news. My city has seen unprecedented levels of homelessness in the past few years.
Who does the local media interview the most about this? Homeless people? Non-profits organizations trying to help despite lack of resources? Homeless shelters? Addiction services?
Nope; the local chamber of commerce. The focus is always on “oh no the poor people are affecting our businesses!” and never on the people literally dying on our streets. It’s disgusting.
Who does the local media interview the most about this? Homeless people? Non-profits organizations trying to help despite lack of resources? Homeless shelters? Addiction services? Nope; the local chamber of commerce.
This is the most telling part of what I said in that we aren’t considered people. The News reporting on it affecting everyone other than the people it affects because the news is for people, not for disgusting animals. Unless you can water ski and are a dog.
