Stolen from here: https://social.marxist.network/@yogthos/113583918563324620
If I had the superpower of summoning tungsten blocks, I would use it for this. And bike lane barriers.
Homeless people be like, "a'ight I'll sleep on the floor".
Cops be like, "a'ight makes it easier to kick you".
Just for transparency's sake before I go into this, my wife is second from the top at the library.
The library here really did have to remove benches outside in a couple of places (in part) because of homeless people. Not because they were sleeping on them, there are other places outside the library where the homeless can sleep and the library does what it can to help the local homeless community.
Unfortunately, some (far, far from most) of the local homeless around the library were either very publicly using drugs or getting so fucked up on those drugs (or possibly just having a really bad mental illness episode) that they were harassing people and scaring kids. So when it came time to replace all of the benches since they got too old, they decided that they would not replace some of them.
There was definitely a big outcry about how the library was being anti-homeless, but it was nuts because there were people on the other side still complaining about how the library always stinks because they let the homeless people in there. I may be biased because of my wife, but I'm also a regular patron and I'm pretty much on their side on this one. It was becoming a huge issue and they really didn't want to keep getting the cops involved because they rightfully don't trust what the cops might do with the homeless and only end up calling them as a last resort.
Society has absolutely failed those people though. There is no question about that. But at some point, the library had to draw a line at how accommodating they could be.
the local homeless around the library were either very publicly using drugs
Biggest drug dealers in America - the Sackler family - weren't worth our time to punish. So some guy who washed out on Percocets and can only afford Fentanyl shouldn't have a place to sit.
There was definitely a big outcry about how the library was being anti-homeless, but it was nuts because there were people on the other side still complaining about how the library always stinks because they let the homeless people in there.
In America you have two options -
The very idea of housing, treatment, and rehabilitation is too socialist to consider.
Biggest drug dealers in America - the Sackler family - weren’t worth our time to punish. So some guy who washed out on Percocets and can only afford Fentanyl shouldn’t have a place to sit.
I didn't say being publicly intoxicated, I said publicly using drugs. As in they were shooting up while kids were being taken to storytime past them on the way to the library.
The library allows homeless people to be inside it from open to close. They give them free internet. They give them free help filling out necessary government forms. They hang around just to chat. They allow homeless people to sleep outside all around the building. They are literally building a shower and a washer/dryer facility in the new auxiliary library free for anyone to use.
In America, your local public library does more to help homeless people than anything you have probably done yourself, but I guess since they haven't personally solved the problem, they're the worst of the oppressors.
I didn’t say being publicly intoxicated, I said publicly using drugs. As in they were shooting up while kids were being taken to storytime past them on the way to the library.
We have a solution for this as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervised_injection_site
Proven highly effective for reducing crime, mitigating the need for emergency response, curtailing disease spread, and channeling addicts to rehabilitation clinics
But because it comes off as permissive and benevolent, rather than punitive and prohibitionary it remains Haram in much of the US.
In America, your local public library does more to help homeless people than anything you have probably done yourself
It's a public service staffed with dozens of people. Of course a single person isn't going to do more in spare time than a team of people doing the work professionally.
But that doesn't excuse the rest of the state for tearing out local infrastructure as a means of tormenting the homeless.
"I did two good things so I have permission to do one bad thing" isn't sounds public policy.
From my initial post:
Society has absolutely failed those people though. There is no question about that. But at some point, the library had to draw a line at how accommodating they could be.
This is so old that even the date had to be blurred out.
Ah yes, this must be from the great "wear a mask" trend of 2010. I remember those times well.
Let homeless people have benches and public restroom access, it's the absolute bare minimum we can do.
Can we though? Are you thinking of the shareholders at all?!? Someone's going to have a tough time having only 4 holiday homes to choose from... 😬
JUST 4? ARE YOU INSANE?
First of all two of those are under a cold front right now, and one of them is having maintenance done in the West courtyard (noisy from 3pm-3:30pm if you are within 6 bedrooms of it, which I assure you, we won't be) and the fourth one we were just at 2 years ago so it's a little much to vacation there again that soon.
Please think before you speak.
Right, because homeless people won't just sleep on the floor. Bitch they'll sleep anywhere with a roof where they won't be bothered, let alone a place with walls and basic heating/AC. Filthy liars! Why the fuck is America so hostile towards its citizens and why do they just take it?
where they won't be bothered
so you're saying we need to employ people to specifically bother them. thanks for your suggestion, and please feel free to use our suggestion box if you have more ideas.
As someone who has had to confront homeless people with questionable mental health and/or sobriety; it's fucking hard. You want a safe space for them but then quickly that space becomes unsafe for everyone around. But also... it isn't hard just fucking talk to them. I have many times Don't stop being smart but stop being afraid. Fear of the other breeds so much hate and misery
Oh if it isn't obvious I support benches in public spaces and heavily condemn anti-houseless architecture/city planning
Hey so you know, "condone" is to allow or accept a practice otherwise considered bad or unacceptable which I think is not what you meant here. It sounds like you want to say something like "condemn anti-houseless architecture/city planning" unless I've misinterpreted your meaning.
Thank you for your gentle correction, you got my meaning correct
We have the solution and it's not very hard. Have social workers maintain these areas. It's really not that expensive, employs people, builds important social vibe and allows you to have your benches.
It's a solved problem.
Totally fucked up and i hope someone in NY with a mobility issue files an ADA complaint with this easy online form
Give them homes and bring back the benches. Problem solved.
Yeah, but what about Joe Boomer who is bitter about working a dead end job for 40 years? He can't just sit back and do nothing as other people receive things that he didn't!
He's stuck in a shit mortgage, so that means you need to be too. Otherwise you live under a bridge.
I saw a homeless guy verbally harass a woman on the subway until she cried. Then the guy started a fight with a black guy.
Most people are just fed up with crazies on public transportation. We don't give a shit about the reasons, we want a solution that doesn't take decades to solve.
Not sure how getting rid of benches stops people from fighting.
The point is that the problem you're looking for an instant solution for, was decades in the making and has to do with a structural neglect of mental health care, housing problems and war on drugs.
You say you don't give a shit about the reasons, but it's much like ignoring every warning light and than complaining it's expensive to fix the car.
Being an asshole is not related to whether or not you have a home.
Won't homeless people just sleep on the ground now?
You seem to assume that any logic or reason was used in the decision making that led to this action. But I assure you, as soon as racism, classism, or any other form of bigotry enters the process, any reason left jumps out of the window.
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