Dealing with Homelessness

One of our friends in Arizona was having a bird problem. Arizona itself is a bird paradise with over 500 species. The problem seemed to be that all but a half dozen of the birds showed up at his house virtually everyday. (I exaggerate here for purposes for emphasis.) They littered his patio with droppings, nested in his eaves at night, stood sentinel on his roof line during the day and squawked away unceasingly twenty-four hours every day. Added to that were the entrails and offal of birds killed by raptors, coyotes and the occasional bobcat. In other words, his beautiful home on the golf course overlooking the Estrella Mountains and the eastern sunrise had become a smelly, malignant garbage dump.

He spent considerable amounts trying to ameliorate the problem. He had screening put up around alcoves, wires put across the high points of his roof and cleaners to remove the hundreds of pounds of bird dropping from his roof, gutters and patio in general. He called the homeowners association but they told him that it wasn’t their problem and that he would have to deal with it himself. About this time he noticed his new neighbor throwing bird seed out in the morning. He asked her to stop doing it noting all of the problems the birds were causing. She said she would but she did nothing. He complained again to her and she told him she was sure the birds would starve if she stopped feeding them. He complained to the homeowners association again and they talked to the woman who gave them assurances but did nothing. Finally, out of frustration he talked to his other neighbors who were having some of the same problems but not nearly to the degree he was experiencing them. They, in turn, complained to the woman. They ostracized her from social engagements and they inundated the homeowners association with complaints which, in turn, began to escalate the responses from it to the offending neighbor. At last she quit feeding the birds. Our friend increased activities to chase the birds away whenever they gathered – loud noises, movement, etc. They made the environment for the birds hostile instead of welcoming. The problem abated to a manageable level. The birds did not die of starvation.

Most of you by now are realizing that this isn’t so much a true story (although it is) as it is an allegory for major problems facing the United States currently. (For those of you forced to endure a teachers union led education in the Portland Public Schools an allegory is a lightly disguised story with an underlying moral or political meaning.)

According the last census in 2020 there were 582,462 people experiencing homelessness in America. The raw numbers continue to increase. Not surprisingly the states that provide the most significant benefits to the homeless have seen the greatest increases in the raw numbers – New York, Washington, Oregon, California and Maryland. These states are spending millions to feed, clothe, shelter and provide medical care for these homeless. Their police forces have become social workers at the expense of protecting its citizens. It has, in essence, become a cottage industry for public employee unions and non-profits and mostly funded by taxpayer dollars. The cost per individual varies from state to state but suffice it to say that those spending the most have experienced the greatest concentration of homeless. Some of these states (i.e. California and Oregon) are now contemplating providing a $1,000 monthly cash benefit in addition to all of the other benefits.

Are you seeing the allegory yet?

But in the least expected place in America – California – a small city has seized upon a new solution. (I have italicized the new solution because it really isn’t new. Rather it is the solution that has been applied historically but has gone unrecognized by the woke politicians currently in charge of our major cities.) It is a recognition that you will always make a bad situation worse if you encourage its behavior. It is coupled with a recognition of civic duty to care for those who cannot care for themselves.

Mayor Richard Bailey of Coronado, California, (population 20,000) has made national news for applying common sense in a state that encourages decisions by emotion rather than facts or logic. Mr. Bailey and his city council looked at the problem of homelessness. The traditional statistics relating to homelessness remain the same – about sixty-five percent of the homeless are drug or alcohol addicted, twenty five percent suffer severe mental or psychological problems and ten percent are people in transition who are temporarily without income. They realized that most of those who are addicted want to be on the streets because that is where the drugs are. That those who suffer from mental or psychological problems have limited abilities to make rational decisions and remain on the street because that is all they know. And that those who are in transition will resolve their homelessness with a little help toward re-employment and self sufficiency. So Mayor Bailey and his city council made the logical analysis. They divided the homeless into two categories – those who wanted help (including those who knew not what they wanted but responded positively to help) versus those who did not want help. And by help I mean recovering from their state of homelessness.

Then they focused their efforts on those who wanted help. They provided clean and safe shelters, nutritional food, warm clothing and medical care (including care for addiction). Those who wanted help got it. And those who did not – well, the city simultaneously implemented a zero tolerance policy for encampments. In other words they created a hostile environment for those seeking drugs and vandalism – get them up and get them moving.

That is what we should be doing universally to protect our citizens. Service those in need who want help and impose zero tolerance on the others.

The same thing is true with virtually every other problem being suffered in our major cities. You cannot address drug addiction by providing the paraphernalia used for administering drugs, or by providing “safe houses” to use drugs, or by decriminalizing drugs. When you make abhorrent behavior easier you just encourage a growth in abhorrent behavior. How difficult is it for these morons running our major cities to understand this?

You cannot address illegal immigration by throwing open the borders, by providing free food, shelter, clothing, health services and transportation to those who enter illegally, or by releasing them with a vague requirement that they appear some time in the distant future for a deportation hearing. When you make illegal entry easier, you get more illegal entry. How difficult is it for these morons running our country to understand this?

You cannot address rising crime rates in our major cities by reducing the police forces, by refusing to prosecute, by allowing offenders back on the streets without bail or restrictions, or by prosecuting their victims for defending themselves. How difficult is it for these morons running our major cities to understand this?

You cannot address gun violence by removing guns from law abiding citizens. A person intent on committing a felony won’t blink at violating gun restrictions. It’s the moral equivalent of removing candy from the store shelves because your child is diabetic or putting menstrual products in boys bathrooms because less than five men in our nations history have claimed to have been pregnant. According to Medical News Today:

“A person who was born male and is living as a man cannot get pregnant. However, some transgender men and nonbinary people can.

“In most cases, including cis-men who have sex with men, male pregnancy is not possible. New research in uterine transplants may mean that male pregnancy could be a possibility in the future, though.”

Not a single instance referenced above required infinite studies, changing terminology, or twisted logic. They are all based on common sense and easily understood by any child unless they have been subjected to the twisted logic imposed by the teachers unions and other woke institutions.

But to end this madness requires that we, including you, stand up and publicly call out bulls**t when you see it or hear it.