I hate the homeless

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

The Duke of Wellington described His redcoats as the "Scum of the Earth" but they defeated Napoleon's Marshals ,One after the other in the Peninsular.

By that time you had national citizen armies mainly composed of conscripts. (The poor who couldn't avoid it and the nasties who got enlistment bonuses and liked doing bad stuff to others.) These armies had instituted harsh discipline and military training. The medieval armies were mercenaries, often recruiting robbers, convicts, and the guys that are our hardcore homeless. There were no constraints on harming civilians, supplies were obtained by foraging aka robbing peasants, and a bonus system based on looting. They also contained younger sons of the nobility who were trained daily in the arts of war from boyhood, would inherit no landed estates, and sally forth to earn their fortunes as mercenaries. Good money could be made from ransoming nobles and looting towns and cities.

Some medieval mercenary outfits like the Welsh archers and Italian crossbowmen were disciplined professionals. Both groups found employment in the wars between small principalities, especially in Italy, the Hundred Years War, and other conflicts. The discharged mercenaries who turned to banditry in France and Germany were hunted down by the nobility and their retainers and exterminated.

It is often forgotten that beyond the economic casualties and mental patients, there is the traditional homeless group. The guys that used to be called "bums," "tramps," or "vagrants." No amount of money can lure them into mainstream society. Rogerbh can assure you that compassion for these folks is misplaced.

[diamelsx]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

Now that is the solution the politicians use Diam. Pass a bond and put it on the property taxes, pass some measure that needs funding? hell property owners will gladly have it put on their taxes, etc. I am personally sick of it. Yes I do won property but my thought islet every one pay by raising the area sales tax. When people who have rentals and these measures get passed, usually IMO because those without real property think it cost them, where does the tax increase really go???? Ha Ha Ha in raised rents.

I say sales tax is a bad idea because I say that shifting tax burden to the people who can least afford it doesn't make much sense. Also may have left out that rent control should also be implemented. Now the property taxes I propose is not on primary properties but secondary ones, if you are receiving income from those properties then yeah you should be paying the taxes.

[ShutUpLutz!]

Originally Posted by Brian249x

It is often forgotten that beyond the economic casualties and mental patients, there is the traditional homeless group. The guys that used to be called "bums," "tramps," or "vagrants." No amount of money can lure them into mainstream society. Rogerbh can assure you that compassion for these folks is misplaced.

The "traditional homeless group?"

I can't think of anyone who isn't mentally disturbed/ill that wants to spend their entire life without a permanent roof over their head, depending on the kindness of strangers/panhandling, eating out of dumpsters and soup kitchens and sleeping on cardboard mattresses or in a shelter maybe once or twice a week.

I defy you to show me anyone without mental illness who has chosen that lifestyle.

And no, people living 'off the grid in communes' don't count.

[Rogerbh]

I have only had problems with the mentally ill or drug using homeless (based on the needles I have cleaned up) - but the traditional homeless are the once known as Hobos/tramps that were know for riding in trains decades ago. The ones who use to live by a creek decades ago when I was a kid hiking seemed to drink based on the bottles that littered their camp sites.

Various drug users have refused to stay in shelters because of the "rules". Not sure if that meets your definition of mentally illness.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by Rogerbh

Various drug users have refused to stay in shelters because of the "rules". Not sure if that meets your definition of mentally illness.

I tend to lump them in the the traditional vagabonds. They are probably mentally ill, but totally unwilling to change their ways. I have known a few who did get help and cleaned up their acts. The still tended to have a lot of asshole about them and could be very rough to be around.

[deepsepia]

Crazy stat:

Portland has about 4,000 on the streets on any given day; astonishingly, those 4,000 people (less than %1 of the city's population) account for more than half of the arrests.

I've personally seen stuff that I never saw before-- people taking a dump and shooting up in a public park, just crazy. If you're in any green space where homeless gather, you have to look carefully for needles.

San Fran, Portland and Seattle are all very progressive cities, generous to the homeless, but folks are getting plenty pissed off. Stepping in dog shit is unpleasant, stepping in human shit is revolting, and having your kid find a needle is the breaking point. The cities are spending huge amounts of money, and not solving the problem.

[Reclaimedwg]

Those are all Democrats ran cities with their current Mayors and previous Mayors all Democrats.

Democrats' solutions to any social problem is to throw money at the bad and not provide any long terms solutions.

It's like instead of teaching someone to fish so they can eat another day by catching a fish on their own, the Democrats' solution is to just hand them money and fishes every day, day after day.

Democrats also think that government coffers are bottomless.

Look at many of Democrats governed cities across the countries that went bankrupt like Detroit and Baltimore and Cleveland and Chicago and so on.

History has proven that GOP ran cities with low taxes prosper and Democrat ran cities with high taxes go bankrupt.

https://www.investors.com/politics/e...ns-trump-2019/

https://www.investors.com/politics/c...c-study-finds/

Plus poor people prefer to elect Democrats and poor people do not have much income and they don't pay much taxes because lower income equal low taxes or no taxes.

Poverty also creates higher crime. Most of the Democrats ran cities have higher crime rate.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by wildtig2013

Those are all Democrats ran cities with their current Mayors and previous Mayors all Democrats.

Democrats' solutions to any social problem is to throw money at the bad and not provide any long terms solutions.

That's partly true, but mostly not.

First of all, Red states provide _no_ solutions. Folks come to LA, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle because we actually have social services. We do figure out how to house most folks, the ones without the worst problems.

Its true that Mayors and city councils are stumped a growing population of homeless who are often both mentally ill and substance abusers. Its hard to identify any obvious solution that's been overlooked. A lot of places just ship them to another town, "bus ticket" is a common policy, but that just makes it someone else's problem.

[SanteeFats]

Originally Posted by deepsepia

San Fran, Portland and Seattle are all very progressive cities, generous to the homeless, but folks are getting plenty pissed off. Stepping in dog shit is unpleasant, stepping in human shit is revolting, and having your kid find a needle is the breaking point. The cities are spending huge amounts of money, and not solving the problem.

Well San Francisco does have Alcatraz and the other two could use one of the Farallon Islands.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

Well San Francisco does have Alcatraz and the other two could use one of the Farallon Islands.

Washington State does actually use an island to house sex offenders-- McNeil Island. Its _very_ expensive.