We know how not to do this. We don't have to go back to the kinds of institutions depicted in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - even though they were not all like that.
🧵 1/6
🧵 1/6
I stopped at a light the other night and there was a family begging on the street. Mom, dad and 8 or 9 year old daughter. Another vagrant approached the family and the dad and other man started shouting and pushing each other. Then the mother joined in.
The child looked terrified, the other drivers stopped at the light looked terrified - was someone going to pull a gun and start shooting? The man started to walk off, but kept coming back and yelling. Eventually the light changed and everyone went about their business. 2/6
The child looked terrified, the other drivers stopped at the light looked terrified - was someone going to pull a gun and start shooting? The man started to walk off, but kept coming back and yelling. Eventually the light changed and everyone went about their business. 2/6
No child should live in these conditions, and we have safeguards in place so they don't have to, but the parents chose that life for their daughter. That's criminal in my opinion. 3/6
Witnessing these scenarios regularly - the drug use, the homelessness, the abuse the women face daily, etc - is bad for society. When we are powerless to help these people we become immune to suffering - it's a coping strategy and we shouldn't let it happen. 4/6
I'm not sure how this will work - if someone doesn't want treatment, it's not likely to work - but I think we'll find a lot of these people do want the help, they do want off the streets. So it's important to offer incentives and a pathway to housing and stable employment, and community that supports these endeavors.
Whatever we do, it has to be better than what we are currently doing - which is nothing. 5/6
Whatever we do, it has to be better than what we are currently doing - which is nothing. 5/6
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