this post was submitted on 12 May 2025
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Newsom Asks Cities to Ban Homeless Encampments, Escalating Crackdown (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 2 months ago by silence7@slrpnk.net to c/california@lemmy.world
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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I hate Gavin Newsom as much as the next guy, and I saw these headlines earlier and was pissed.

But...

...if you actually read the articles, he's following that with trying to appropriate 3 billion to address the problem of homelessness in a more practical way. And, that's the smart thing to do, because letting them live on the street and addressing it through policing and prisons is not only ineffective, but vastly more expensive.

Though, ideologically, I agree that criminalizing homelessness is a step backward.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 10 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

This is really the crux of it, pairing enforcement with housing, emergency shelter, and treatment is the way to go.

There's a genuine question to ask...if you've offered someone all the support you can muster to move into their own apartment, fully paid for with support staff on site, and that person says no, they'd rather live in a tent in the park, what options are left?

I totally understand turning down emergency shelters. They can be crowded, difficult places. But when you're offering people their own rooms and they say no, what do you do next?

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 20 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

they’d rather live in a tent in the park, what options are left?

Finland has, essentially, solved the problem of homelessness. They still have approximately 1000 willfully homeless people.

There is no perfect solution, but we can get really, really close, and that's what California (and the US) need to do.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 13 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Finland is a very different place than California. If you don't have your wits about you outdoors in Finland for at least 3 months of the year, you will die. The weather, in a way, forces solutions on people. Finland is more comparable to Minnesota in terms of weather, population, and size, and the issue of homelessness in Minnesota pales in comparison to California.

Finland also has universal healthcare, and it's hard to overstate how impactful easy access to competent mental health and substance use treatment is.

In California, you can wear shorts all year, and mental health and substance use treatment are difficult to access and largely administered by for-profit companies providing awful care.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I get that.

That's why I say there are no perfect solutions. We can only ever get most of the way there, which is what California and the US should shoot for.

[–] zabadoh@ani.social 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

In California, you can wear shorts all year.

What alternative universe California are you from? In this one where I live, anywhere except the Southern Cal coast, it's too cold in fall and winter because valley and desert weather are extreme.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 1 points 2 months ago

Clearly I'm exaggerating about wearing shorts all the time, but also I'm talking about where all the people live. It rarely if ever goes below freezing across almost the entire state, save the mountains and the deserts, where people don't live.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

They think all of Cali is IB, lol

[–] silence7@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

You figure out why they're saying no.

It's often stuff like forcing spouses to separate in order to get housing, concerns that the provided housing is unsafe, or mental illness which prevents sleeping inside.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I work in homeless services and can tell you first-hand it's not that simple

[–] silence7@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 months ago

Definitely not. But just force people isnt going to do anything but send people to jail.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 0 points 2 months ago

This is the correct answer, and it's sad it has any downvotes.

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 13 points 2 months ago

Not only does he not get the job done of getting more people in homes he then tries to punish people for his failure. This turds career needs to end here.

[–] CidVicious@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 months ago

This is one of those things where if you ask people, many of them will say that they don't want to criminalize homelessness and that we should have more empathy for homeless people etc. But if you look at how people actually act and vote...they very much do not want homeless encampments in their cities regardless of what words they say. A nimby problem basically.

[–] LonstedBrowryBased@lemm.ee -4 points 2 months ago

Good it’s out of control here