The Left seems to collectively envision a future in which everyone is fully dependent on the government to survive. I suspect efforts like this drug deregulation are a means to that end. There's some threshold of homelessness, say 50% or 60% of the city's population, above which they'll step in and say "enough is enough, we need public housing for everyone." At that point they'll enact civil forfeiture to seize all private housing, and the entire city population can be housed in tenement "projects". Boom, homeless problem solved. And as a bonus, they have 100% of the population voting Democrat if they're sober enough to vote. With everyone in public housing, they can run it like a prison, with metal detectors and strip searches to prohibit gun ownership. Municipal wifi can prohibit access to "far-right extremist" news sources. Public meal programs can ensure that nobody eats meat, and everyone gets their shots. Basically paradise on earth, and Portland is leading our progress.
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That's some serious conspiracy theory territory.
So, a non-exhaustive list of things that seem very odd to me in this comment:
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"The Left" is an incredibly vague term that groups together a lot of different groups that have hugely different ideologies and perspectives
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Decriminalization has proven to work extremely well in some contexts. Not all decriminalization is created equal. Portugal's system has proven amazingly successful at dropping rates of illegal drug use. Mandatory rehab and access to psychological help instead of prison time has proven to work very well. Not got a great idea about the specific attempt in Oregon, but it's not some deep conspiracy: it's attempts (some better, some worse) at finding ways to address drug abuse problems in society.
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If homelessness is at 50%, that basically means the entire housing market has completely failed. That's not "a homelessness problem", that's a housing market that has failed in such fundamental ways that I don't see how that could even happen in a country that isn't trying intentionally to increase the homeless population. California, the state with the highest homeless population (and it is a real problem!) has a homeless population of 0.44% of the total population. 50% feels like such an arbitrary ass-pull number. Even 5% would be considered a complete collapse of the housing market.
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Automatically assuming that those trying to restart their lives are brainless alcoholics is so reductive I don't even know where to start. The most effective and proven way to reduce the number of homeless people is to focus on a housing first approach. You house them, you provide them professionals to help sort out their issues, get them into a job and have them start paying off the house. This is an internationally proven approach.
The rest just goes into full dystopian future fan fiction, so I'll stop there.
“The Left” is an incredibly vague term that groups together a lot of different groups that have hugely different ideologies and perspectives
Absolutely true, just like the Right. They're both coalitions, and many of us are guilty of treating them both as a hive mind, especially when we're on the opposing side.
Still, there's some truth to the generalization. Of course it's not true of every single person on the Left, but it's generally true of the Left's collective efforts.
Decriminalization […] Portugal’s system
You can't rightfully compare the US to any other country. As soon as you try to, you fundamentally misunderstand what makes us the greatest country on Earth. There are so many differences that make any attempt at comparison doomed to failure from the outset. To name just a few, our several States differ from other countries because:
- We're predominantly Christian (and Christian values are thoroughly baked into the founding documents that give us our identity)
- Our culture is based around natural rights
- Our general attitude in most matters tends to be "liberty or death"
- Geographically we're vastly enormous
- We're heterogeneous, combining European cultures, specifically from the type of people who fled Europe for freedom — mostly from religious persecution.
So whatever works well in Portugal is 100% irrelevant to Portland, although they do have similar names.
but it’s not some deep conspiracy: it’s attempts (some better, some worse) at finding ways to address drug abuse problems in society.
The solution is clear if we actually wanted to solve the problem:
- Anyone caught in possession of an illegal drug gets one chance to renounce it forever, or else they get deported.
- Build the wall.
- Close borders to all traffic, including international flights and international shipments. You can leave but you can't return.
- Audit the entire population: Everyone living on US soil presents a valid proof of descent from documented legal immigration, or else gets deported.
- Bomb the drug cartels out of existence.
- Bomb every government harboring drug cartels out of existence.
Few people actually want to take these steps, but they'd solve the problem fully and quickly.
If homelessness is at 50%, that basically means the entire housing market has completely failed.
Agreed, but that's the goal as I contend. Communists don't trust markets.
California, the state with the highest homeless population (and it is a real problem!) has a homeless population of 0.44% of the total population.
No way that's accurate. You look at any recent video of California and every street is lined with tents. It looks like 99% of the population, and I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks, but there's no way it's 0.44% either. I'm sure it's hard to survey the homeless, but that figure is unbelievable. Especially because almost any Californian who could afford to moved out of California in the last five to ten years.
Automatically assuming that those trying to restart their lives are brainless alcoholics is so reductive I don’t even know where to start. The most effective and proven way to reduce the number of homeless people is to focus on a housing first approach. You house them, you provide them professionals to help sort out their issues, get them into a job and have them start paying off the house. This is an internationally proven approach.
"Internationally proven" means offensively un-American. As far as Americans are concerned, the only proven means to kick a drug habit is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That has a 100% success rate, far above any other approach. Anyone who'd rather not do that is unfit to live in the US anyway. As long as druggies have a genuine chance to repent and be reborn, anyone who prefers to side with Satan can get deported.
As soon as you try to, you fundamentally misunderstand what makes us the greatest country on Earth.
Is it the number of children shot in schools? Or is it the wealth inequality? Or maybe our disregard for the environment? Or were you referring to our incarceration rate? Or obesity? Our homicide rate? Or is it the amount we spend on healthcare?
Few people actually want to take these steps, but they’d solve the problem fully and quickly.
Nobody wants to take those steps because studies have already shown that they are not the solution.
As far as Americans are concerned, the only proven means to kick a drug habit is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That has a 100% success rate, far above any other approach
That simply isn't true.