Here is a bad idea chasing a real problem.
I understand the reality here is that homeless people have nowhere to relieve themselves. It is a severe problem but this is a terrible solution.
We are the richest nation on earth. In GDP terms, the United States is the richest nation in HISTORY. So let's look at the solutions that are totally possible and easy:
1. Perhaps we actually house the homeless. In a country where billionaires pay no taxes, we cannot afford to temporarily house the homeless? Before we talk about giveaways here, let them stay in tiny homes. Build tiny home communities on public land or in abandoned big box stores.
People would be housed, but no one would be incentivized to stop working to live for free in a housing space that is 12 x 12 with a working toilet.
2. Is providing the fundamental amenities too much for you? Provide public toilets. Sure, you may have to pay someone to make sure they aren't abused, but it would be worth it not to step in actual shit in the streets. New York has 1 or 2 of these, left over from the time of1910 - 1930s when public facilities weren't controversial, and which are actually used and not disgusting.
In a country where the top 9 rich people have over $1 Trillion. That is $1,000,000,000,000.00. If we have a surcharge for people worth over $100 Billion dollars or 0.001 ( or 1/100 of 1% of their worth), it would raise $ 100 million per year. That would be enough to create housing for every homeless person in the United States. After that first charge, you could drop it to 1/100th of 1% and still have enough to keep the facilities all up to snuff.
Instead, we are changing laws to let them defecate in public. So the FULL COST of this shit will be born by the American not rich people (i.e. us); we have to live with street-level filth. AND the homeless (including women) must to piss and shit in public. As much as we hate it, imagine how awful this be for them too. You can bet your sweet ass that no one worth over $ 100 Million isn't anywhere near those streets.
We have a law like this in New York, and the results are every bit as bad as you imagine.
How are they going to determine who is and who is not homeless? And couldn't that create a public health crisis? I don't even like to see people spit in the street. Horrible idea.
ReplyDeleteThey won't determine that. Everyone get to pee in the street.
DeleteI was just having a conversation with a friend from Seattle about how I thought Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates needed to come up with the solution to homelessness in the region since they were partially responsible for creating an economy with put reasonable housing out of reach for so many. And since they are big "idea" guys, it should be easy for them. SVH
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