The Homeless crisis

[Warhead14]

I am an Orange County native, and have lived in Los Angeles for years at a time before. I left Ca. like millions of others because of the absurd politics. Los Angeles is Mexico City North. Face it, there is nothing that can be done to stop the 3rd Worldization of America. 99.9% of the homeless are addicts, and the fentanyl flows as freely as cold beer. I speak spanish and have tons of friends and from all over South America, but he great replacement is real. Pack your country with 2nd &3rd world people and you become a 3rd world nation. More easily subjugated, exploited and dependent. Perfect for the global elites. None of this is by accident.

 

[Pig Vomit]

A good solution would be to make drug/alcohol rehab available at no cost to all who want it. There are AA and NA meetings in pretty much every city, almost every hour, in So Cal, which is very helpful, but not the same as full blown lockdown rehab, which is criminally expensive. That having been said...people have to want sobriety for it to work, and many will say they do, but really don't, as they can't even get to a free AA/NA meeting.

There is someone who was my best friend in my late teens and 20's. He's a homeless meth addict and alcoholic. Has been for around 35 years now. Horrific dysfunctional relationship with a woman he has three kids with. She OD'd a few years ago.

One of his kids became an alcoholic (of course he did, with all the dysfunction and addiction with his parents). That kid embraced AA, and recognizing that his father was a trigger, told his father he didn't want to be around him unless dad also got sober. Dad chose to continue using.

Another of his kids, because it was also an abusive household, a few years ago he attacked one of his acquaintances with a skateboard to steal a cell phone, left the victim with brain damage. Got out after a few years, and within two months, attacked an elderly parking lot cleanup worker for no reason whatsoever (he had immediately gone back to alcohol and drugs after his release from prison). Left the worker with a coma and brain damage. He was arrested, then murdered his cellie when he found out he was in for failing to register as a sex offender (that was because the jail didn't classify and house inmates properly.....you don't EVER house a sex offender with someone who has done hard time for a violent crime). He's going away for a long time, I think his first parole eligibility date is 2035 (honestly, he should NEVER get out).

Third kid seems to be doing fairly well, but has no relationship with dad.

All dad has to do to re-establish relationships with his kids is to get sober, but he won't do it. I last saw him about two years ago....and I was horrified to see that he had absolutely no teeth left whatsoever (ain't meth great?). I offered to get him into rehab (I know people), sober housing, and even told him I would look up a local AA meeting and I'd go with him right then, even though I've never had an alcohol/substance problem. He actually got angry, and went off on a rant about how his one son abandoned him for his new AA family. BTW....that same son who embraced sobriety was homeless but entered the Cal State University system and just graduated with a degree in psychology. He is now housed and has a good job.

So....a good start would be to get as many people into rehab as possible. Nobody who wants to get sober should be denied the gift of rehab because they can't afford it. By the same token, those who commit crimes need to have some form of a hammer hanging over them, and right now in California, there's not. Before the change in drug laws the threat of jail time was good incentive to steer people into rehab....there were a lot of people I arrested who returned a couple years later specifically to thank me for arresting them (there was almost always a heartful talk about rehab options with me whenever I arrested an addict). With no jail hammer hanging over them, there is no incentive for them to stop using and committing minor crimes to support their drug/alcohol habit.

 

[Kluso]

A good solution would be to make drug/alcohol rehab available at no cost to all who want it. There are AA and NA meetings in pretty much every city, almost every hour, in So Cal, which is very helpful, but not the same as full blown lockdown rehab, which is criminally expensive. That having been said...people have to want sobriety for it to work, and many will say they do, but really don't, as they can't even get to a free AA/NA meeting.

There is someone who was my best friend in my late teens and 20's. He's a homeless meth addict and alcoholic. Has been for around 35 years now. Horrific dysfunctional relationship with a woman he has three kids with. She OD'd a few years ago.

One of his kids became an alcoholic (of course he did, with all the dysfunction and addiction with his parents). That kid embraced AA, and recognizing that his father was a trigger, told his father he didn't want to be around him unless dad also got sober. Dad chose to continue using.

Another of his kids, because it was also an abusive household, a few years ago he attacked one of his acquaintances with a skateboard to steal a cell phone, left the victim with brain damage. Got out after a few years, and within two months, attacked an elderly parking lot cleanup worker for no reason whatsoever (he had immediately gone back to alcohol and drugs after his release from prison). Left the worker with a coma and brain damage. He was arrested, then murdered his cellie when he found out he was in for failing to register as a sex offender (that was because the jail didn't classify and house inmates properly.....you don't EVER house a sex offender with someone who has done hard time for a violent crime). He's going away for a long time, I think his first parole eligibility date is 2035 (honestly, he should NEVER get out).

Third kid seems to be doing fairly well, but has no relationship with dad.

All dad has to do to re-establish relationships with his kids is to get sober, but he won't do it. I last saw him about two years ago....and I was horrified to see that he had absolutely no teeth left whatsoever (ain't meth great?). I offered to get him into rehab (I know people), sober housing, and even told him I would look up a local AA meeting and I'd go with him right then, even though I've never had an alcohol/substance problem. He actually got angry, and went off on a rant about how his one son abandoned him for his new AA family. BTW....that same son who embraced sobriety was homeless but entered the Cal State University system and just graduated with a degree in psychology. He is now housed and has a good job.

So....a good start would be to get as many people into rehab as possible. Nobody who wants to get sober should be denied the gift of rehab because they can't afford it. By the same token, those who commit crimes need to have some form of a hammer hanging over them, and right now in California, there's not. Before the change in drug laws the threat of jail time was good incentive to steer people into rehab....there were a lot of people I arrested who returned a couple years later specifically to thank me for arresting them (there was almost always a heartful talk about rehab options with me whenever I arrested an addict). With no jail hammer hanging over them, there is no incentive for them to stop using and committing minor crimes to support their drug/alcohol habit.

I got sober by spending 6 months in jail. Saved my life! And my family!

 

[gbagh]

I got sober by spending 6 months in jail. Saved my life! And my family!

I have a brother in law that drinks a 30 pack every night, smokes cigs, smokes weed...smh.

He pulled 180 days to burn up his paper on a misdemeanor probation case he had caught and violated years prior.

Anyway, he came out of the clink after 6 months and went right back to drinking and shit. I thought, WHY mother fucker? Why would you do this to yourself? You had the shit beat. You already did the suffering. Why would you go back to the booze?

 

[Pig Vomit]

I have a brother in law that drinks a 30 pack every night, smokes cigs, smokes weed...smh.

He pulled 180 days to burn up his paper on a misdemeanor probation case he had caught and violated years prior.

Anyway, he came out of the clink after 6 months and went right back to drinking and shit. I thought, WHY mother fucker? Why would you do this to yourself? You had the shit beat. You already did the suffering. Why would you go back to the booze?

It's because he DIDN'T have that shit beat. Stopping drugging and drinking in jail is great to get sober, but there aren't enough programs available to treat the underlying cause. There is ALWAYS an underlying cause. Until someone figures out why they are so angry (that's me), figures out their triggers (I have a lot), and the underlying causes of that stuff, they're always more prone to go back to their numbing behavior. The numbing behavior for a lot of people is alcohol and drugs. For me it was doom scrolling on the internet all day, which on the surface was innocuous, but it kept flashbacks and anger at bay because it kept me from thinking about....well, pretty much everything and at the end of the day it was an addiction nonetheless. The gym is numbing behavior for a lot of us, me included, but it's hard to spend the entire day in the gym but it works for a couple hours everyday. For some it's video games and porn. They are all forms of addiction and numbing behavior because it keeps the demons at bay, but not very well. So he went back to the booze because he never identified and dealt with the underlying cause. Jails are horrible places for people with addiction and mental issues they haven't dealt with, because all they think about in jail is "I wanna use" and they aren't treating that stuff in jail, which needs to change.

 

[Kluso]

I have a brother in law that drinks a 30 pack every night, smokes cigs, smokes weed...smh.

He pulled 180 days to burn up his paper on a misdemeanor probation case he had caught and violated years prior.

Anyway, he came out of the clink after 6 months and went right back to drinking and shit. I thought, WHY mother fucker? Why would you do this to yourself? You had the shit beat. You already did the suffering. Why would you go back to the booze?

It’s tough man! My brother same thing. He’s been in and out more times I can count the past 5 years. With the new laws they just let him out because it’s not a violent crime. If only they would keep him in longer maybe just maybe he will hit his rock bottom. I think I had more to lose. I had a family with three little ones at home. I was a functioning addict. Always had a job but it always caused problems with me and the old lady and this was the last straw for her. I thought it was over between us and honestly didn’t think we would get back together this time but she seen me change. And now we are happier than we ever have been. But yeah, I thought my brother hit his “rock bottom” a few times already but he puts himself in situations where he thinks it’s his only option. Until they hit their rock bottom it’s not going to happen unfortunately. And hopefully before they kill themselves I hate to say. I feel lucky. I could have ODed so many times being an opiate addict. And definitely came close a few times. I’m just glad I got out before this whole fentanyl epidemic started. I surely would be dead by now.

 

[Kluso]

It's because he DIDN'T have that shit beat. Stopping drugging and drinking in jail is great to get sober, but there aren't enough programs available to treat the underlying cause. There is ALWAYS an underlying cause. Until someone figures out why they are so angry (that's me), figures out their triggers (I have a lot), and the underlying causes of that stuff, they're always more prone to go back to their numbing behavior. The numbing behavior for a lot of people is alcohol and drugs. For me it was doom scrolling on the internet all day, which on the surface was innocuous, but it kept flashbacks and anger at bay because it kept me from thinking about....well, pretty much everything and at the end of the day it was an addiction nonetheless. The gym is numbing behavior for a lot of us, me included, but it's hard to spend the entire day in the gym but it works for a couple hours everyday. For some it's video games and porn. They are all forms of addiction and numbing behavior because it keeps the demons at bay, but not very well. So he went back to the booze because he never identified and dealt with the underlying cause. Jails are horrible places for people with addiction and mental issues they haven't dealt with, because all they think about in jail is "I wanna use" and they aren't treating that stuff in jail, which needs to change.

100%! The gym and bodybuilding definitely helped me a whole lot! I’m addicted to BB now. But at least it’s a semi good addition.

 

[HardManifest]

 

[Massive G]

I think this is a great thread I only have my opinion since I live in a small town.
My opinion is that a great portion of people on the steets are there that want to just do drugs and withdraw from society

I have seen those videos it literally looks like a plague or better yet the walking dead. Most of the people on the streets in this country WANT to be there. Total Anarchy want to live off the grid. Sad to see most are younger kids. There are outliers like those in extreme poverty many still there from the recession and pandemic and more coming when the market finally crashes to where they can't cover it up with the media.

 

[testboner]

The general overall belief about the homeless population isn’t accurate — it genuinely isn’t. I understand why the common belief exists, but I don’t understand why it persists.
The demographic of people on the streets is highly diverse.
Yes, there is a lot of substance abuse among the population — But that also is true among the general (non homeless) population as well. Many on the streets did not wind up there as a result of substance use, but began after a time on the streets as a self medicating, escape from reality, from depression and despair.
Many were among the employed, had common lives, and didn’t expect to be homeless nor want to be. Once your circumstances are so deep, there is typically a withdrawal process that worsens, and numerous disorders / ill thinking and function increases — you give up and forget what caring feels like — it’s a survival defense mechanism. Eventually, there are pathological changes.
There are fewer cases of true mental illness being the cause of homelessness, than the onset of mental illness developing as a result of homelessness.
It is a “What came first, the chicken or the egg” controversy.
Much fault is a result of the economic system, and this is a significant factor that many of us don’t want to / can’t wrap our heads around understanding. Our system’s construct is also a strong factor for the prevalence of theft and violence in our society as well.
These are deep subjects, and require exposure/ access to a lot of studies and research in order to begin understanding and to alter our common knee-jerk perceptions.
The underlying causes of these societal maladies involve a variety of common difficulties most all of us experience to some degree. For instance, a current economic related poll states that 63% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and even 1/3 of those who earn $250k (4x the supposed avg income) annually are struggling to pay bills on time.
These factors are not isolated nor difficult to grasp struggles that are breaking an ever increasing number of the public’s will and ability to maintain, or achieve some degree of success and stability.

 

[Littleguy]

Kill the motherfuckers off and STOP promoting booze and dope.
Make it actually illegal to bring drugs into the USA again,
Sounds harsh to some but in most civilizations prior to this if you are not contributing then you are a goner.
Where did they all spring up from in the last few years the population seems to have multiplied beyond belief, we know it is nit the economy or a "housing shortage" lol
Crazy and ugly I see em staggering around and laying on the sidewalks spazzing out in the 110 degree sun sometimes in bigger cities.
Put the poor fuckers out of their misery.
The only humane thing to do.

 

[hawkeye]

What's messed up is there is funding and assistance for the homeless in my state. I was shocked when i toured one of the homeless shelters in my city. State of the art computer lab. Clothing provided for interviews and etc. A good portion of the food is donated by several restaurants along with goods to make meals. They have a cell phone provider that provides phones that can be reloaded with minutes every month as long as they check in monthly.

Granted the housing accommodations are not the best, but they are out of the cold. They do have a 90 day limit on one's stay and they have to be out. I'm always baffled when I see people "time out" and it's cold. You would think that they would be out and about in the warmer months and utilize their 90 days in the colder months. Of course, in extreme weather, they waive it anyway.

Not that it is ideal. But I do say there are many measures taken to help the homeless better themselves. I think sometimes it's more of a choice than we are lead to believe. So, that tends for me to have a bit more of cynical stance on the homeless. Although, I've seen people fall on hard times too.