The unfortunate fact is, city leaders in a lot of cities, including San Francisco, plus state and federal leaders, don’t want to solve the homeless problem. They just want it to dissapear, to make being homeless a crime and shove the homeless into prison or a morgue.

It’s a no brainer, really, and Gopman actually had the right approach: the one, single, most effective solution to homelessness is HOUSING. Not sleezy, crowded shelters, not soup kitchens, not a patchwork of agencies without enough money to make a dent, but a goddamn place to live that is dry and warm. The domes thing, the tiny houses for homeless people, all of those are saying “If you can’t afford a real apartment, maybe we can at least give you shelter and a place to park it”. It would be a fixed address, and thus a place from which to rebuild, or at least exist in peace.

But no, city leaders like those in SF and LA literally rob the homeless by force of law, destroy what little shelter they have, destroy their possessions including medical devices, and then have the gall to call the homeless criminal for having anything at all. It’s disgusting. If you didn’t have mental issues when you became homeless, you would develop them just from the systematic abuse and trauma.

I almost ended up homeless several years ago. Unlike some, I have never forgotten how desperate and trapped I felt. So I do what I realistically can, personally, to address the problem. But I’m nobody, and I’m not rich or powerful.

Until everyone in Silicon Valley and San Francisco realizes that they are only a few missed paychecks or stock market crashes away from being on the street themselves, and puts their political muscle behind a long term, healthy solution, we will keep having this kind of thing come up.