Homeless Folks

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by MrFun
In other words, a contemporary version of sunset towns?

What is a sunset town?

[Asher]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/dec2001/can-d22.shtml

Canada: Alberta Premier berates homeless in visit to shelter
By Lee Parsons
22 December 2001

Ralph Klein, the premier of Alberta and darling of Canada’s right, made a disgusting display of his contempt for the poor in a drunken, midnight visit to a homeless shelter in Edmonton last week.

At around 1am December 12, a visibly intoxicated Klein had his chauffeur drive him to the Herb Jamieson Centre, a government-supported shelter for homeless men. Witnesses say that soon after entering the 249-bed Centre, Klein began shouting and swearing at a number of the homeless. Slurring his words, the Tory premier yelled repeatedly at them to get jobs, then threw money on the lobby floor and stormed out.

Tammy Tuttle, a woman who happened to be at the shelter at the time with her boyfriend reported that Klein “put them down like they’re worthless. They do what they can to help themselves and maybe if he’d help them a little instead of cutting back on everything, they wouldn’t be here.”

Mark Shea, who recently moved to Alberta from Nova Scotia, told the Edmonton Journal, that he walked into the confrontation after finishing a work-shift at a gas station. “Lo and behold, there he [Klein] was in the middle of six or seven guys, yelling at them at the top of his lungs.”

“I don’t drink or do drugs and he’s telling me to get a job when I already have one. If I wouldn’t have gotten arrested, I would have slugged him.”

Initially, the premier’s office made a feeble attempt to gloss over the incident, offering its own implausible version of events. Klein’s chief of staff, Peter Elzinga, said the Premier was not drunk and “out of the goodness of his heart” had stopped at the shelter on his way home from a private dinner. Elzinga added that Klein had merely asked the men if they had jobs, then handed out some $70 to them.

Later Klein made a public apology for the “commotion” he caused at the shelter, but denied he had been drunk. He said his interest had been piqued by recent reports of a rise in the number of homeless in Edmonton. (Alberta’s capital has a vacancy rate of less than 1 percent and many of the homeless are people who have jobs, but cannot find accommodation.)

“The purpose of my visit,” claimed Klein, “was to chat with residents and find out what their situations are like. During my time in politics, I have periodically made such unscheduled visits because they give me the opportunity to chat privately and honestly with people from different walks of life.”

Klein’s bizarre and callous behaviour was at first treated by the media as little more than an embarrassment, and one that might even enhance the premier’s reputation as a straight shooter. This attitude is itself politically significant, for it reveals the extent to which the establishment now accepts homelessness as inevitable and views the abuse of the poor with indifference. “It’s hard not to have at least a sneaking admiration for Alberta Premier Ralph Klein,” began a Globe and Mail piece on Klein’s escapade. Opined another journalist in the country’s largest national daily, “When the dust settles... the now-infamous trip seems destined to become the stuff of political legend in the province rather than scorn.”

And what would have happened had the roles been reversed? Had a drunken homeless man invaded the premier’s home late at night and verbally abused Klein, he would in all likelihood have been set upon by police and at the very least now face home invasion charges.

With Klein making a public confession that he does indeed have a drinking problem at a press conference this past Tuesday, the media focus has again shifted. Any discussion of what happened at the shelter and what it says about Klein and the politics of his government has been dropped. Klein is now being praised for having the “courage to confront his demons.” Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien and several provincial premiers have reportedly phoned Klein to voice their support. According to the Alberta Premier, Chretien told him to “keep your chin up, hang in there, and gave” him “words of encouragement.”

The truth is Klein’s verbal tirade against the clients of the Jamieson Centre was only a cruder rendition of the anti-working class politics his government delivers on a daily basis. Oil-rich Alberta is Canada’s wealthiest province, but the Klein Tory government has spearheaded the downsizing of public and social services across Canada, winning praise from the likes of the Wall Street Journal. Under Klein, Alberta became the first province to drastically cut welfare rates and embark on a systematic campaign to drive people off welfare. In a 16-month period in 1993-94, the province’s welfare rolls were cut almost in half. One tactic used was to offer recipients a one-way bus ticket to leave Alberta. During the course of the 1990s, the province’s housing budget was reduced by some two-thirds. Having made Alberta the first jurisdiction in North America to replace a progressive income tax with a flat tax, Klein is now pushing for the dismantling of Medicare, the universal public health insurance scheme.

Klein’s actions at the Jamieson shelter are a measure of the man. What the big business media has passed off as Klein’s popular touch is demagogy, anti-intellectualism, and an appeal to people’s baser instincts. What the media has characterized as his strong leadership is his craven adherence to the reactionary agenda of big business and penchant for bullying the poor and the vulnerable.

Alberta has the right idea -- now to propagate this strategy outside of our borders.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by General Ludd
This is all assuming that every homeless person is a drug addict, which is simply not true...

Please keep up. We already discused short term vs long term homelessness and the prevolence of mental disorders or addiction as the root cause of long term homelessness. Links were provided.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Oerdin
At least at the Catholic Charities shelter here in Diego (and there are two others but the Catholic one is the only one open year round) you can stay during the day but only if you are taking part in one of their rehabilitation programs. It's really a good system.

I'm sure it is if you need rehab. It's a good thing those missions are there.

BTW Ventura's housing prices are very moderate compared to Santa Barbara's prices and the area is mainly concerned with stopping urban sprawl so they don't become another LA. That does limit development which does drive up prices but the reason for it is leftist "save the enviroment; plant a tree" type thinking not evil conservatives who want to keep the poor poor.

Just my $0.02 from living in the area for 4 years.

You're probably right about some liberals wanting to stop urban sprawl, causing some of the problem. A lot of them are in their own little world, concerned with their own lives.

[Dinner]

I guess Klein is what is known as a functional alcoholic; i.e. someone who's very much addicted but still manages to get all of his daytime work done before he starts drinking. I believe the majority of alcoholics are functional acoholics but that still leaves them as alcoholics.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I guess Klein is what is known as a functional alcoholic; i.e. someone who's very much addicted but still manages to get all of his daytime work done before he starts drinking. I believe the majority of alcoholics are functional acoholics but that still leaves them as alcoholics.

He's apparently sober these days. He looks a lot less red anyway.

The important part of the article is that he berates homeless people and offers them a one-way ticket out of Alberta, which is key.

[MosesPresley]

If I am not mistaken, the reason there are a great many mentally ill roaming the streets is because of the "deinstitutionalization" Ronald Reagan started in California durint the 70's. I seem to remember him doing something similarly nationally as president, but I have been unsuccessful in finding a link thus far.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Please keep up. We already discused short term vs long term homelessness and the prevolence of mental disorders or addiction as the root cause of long term homelessness. Links were provided.

oh, links?


Not all homeless people, long-term or short-term, are addicts.


And you didn't answer why poorer addicts should be given a hard time where other's are not. It's alright for somone with a house to spend all his money on booze, but not for a street person to - why?

[Dinner]

Kid,

The "**** the poor" conservatives live in Montecito & Hope Ranch just across the Ventura/Santa Barbara county line. Those are the people with the 5 acre ocean front estates and a new Rolls in every garage.

Montecito is the type of place John Kennedy decided to honeymoon with Jacky when they got married. Filthy rich people like Bob Hope set up their ocean front ranchettes in the same area. When I was learning to fly I buzzed Oprah's house in Hope Ranch. It was fun to see security try to chase after our plane in their little golf carts.

[DanS]

I'm sympathetic to Oerdin's view as the only way to get rid of this kind of homelessness, but for me it comes down to the fact that the homeless have just as much right to the street as I do. Obviously, if somebody's doing the equivalent of pitching a tent, then that's another kettle of fish. Further, if there are legitimate public health issues, then that can override the right of the homeless. Also, aggressive panhandling is not OK.

But I've taken a nap in a park from time to time and to me there's no difference between me doing that and a homeless person sleeping in the park.

Please note that I am impacted by this every day, so it's not a hypothetical situation to me. DC is filled with parks. Every park near my apartment is filled with homeless people. It makes the neighborhood less pleasant, the city overrun with litter, the streets less safe, and my real estate much less valuable. Lastly, it takes a toll on the conscience. All of those one way bus tickets that Asher talks about are destination Washington, D.C.

The parks near the national mall that are run by the Park Service do not have homeless people there. They feel and are safe 24-7-365 despite poor lighting and despite being right in the middle of the city. I assume that homeless people are heavily discouraged from vagrancy there by the Park Police, but I don't know for sure.

[DanS]

Originally posted by MosesPresley
If I am not mistaken, the reason there are a great many mentally ill roaming the streets is because of the "deinstitutionalization" Ronald Reagan started in California durint the 70's. I seem to remember him doing something similarly nationally as president, but I have been unsuccessful in finding a link thus far.

That was what che was talking about. The courts said you couldn't compel these people to stay in an asylum if they weren't violent. So they were dumped on the street.

[Dinner]

Wasn't there also big cuts to medical programs so that facilities had to close and the patients just released?

[DanS]

As I recall (hazily), che is right that the cuts happened at roughly the same time as the court decision. Obviously, if people are leaving your asylum, then your asylum will be shut down.

[Vesayen]

Some of you are neglecting the fact that SANE people have the right to be homeless, if they wish to be.

How do you distinguish between people who are homeless and not mentally deficient?

On the BRIGHT SIDE the first person locked up who is fine, will no longer be homless after they get a few mil from the goverment in a wrongfull arest lawsuit(and media rights to their story!)

[DanS]

Insane people have a right to be homeless too.