[Hoyadonis]

America is a land of extremes. We actually have relatively high standard of living thanks to extremely high wages, which allow us to live lives of relative luxury. We also have high wealth inequality and tolerate many horrors - some unfathomable to other developed countries (e.g. gun deaths).

[ronanyeah]

It is possible to tolerate wealth inequality, while not tolerating mentally ill drug addicts terrorising the public.

[somewhereoutth]

Arguably the latter is a symptom of the former. So there are broadly 2 approaches to tackle the problem - reduce inequality, or use draconian measures to control the people who got the wrong end of the inequality stick.

[moonchrome]

Plenty of drug addicts and drug related organized crime is the rise in western Europe, especially in major port hubs.

[amrocha]

It's possible to tolerate the cause without tolerating the consequences?

[prottog]

Wealth inequality causes drug addicts unleashing havoc on the public?

[amrocha]

Yes. Wealth inequality => poverty => homelessness => despair => substance abuse => "havoc"

It really doesn't seem that complicated to me. Countries that have affordable housing and jobs don't have this problem.

[prottog]

Nothing seems complicated if you wave away all the details. You made quite a leap even in the first link of the chain ("wealth inequality => poverty"). I don't see how poverty follows from wealth inequality. That there are people who earn more or have amassed more wealth than me, sometimes fantastically so, doesn't make me any poorer. In fact, often times my own life is enriched by the value created by those who ended up becoming wealthy. Of course, this is not to suggest that every rich person created value for others to get there, or that people who create value for others necessarily become rich.

The link between poverty and homelessness, as discussed elsewhere in the thread, is mostly due to policy choices local to SF and California as a whole that greatly disincentivize building more homes to keep up with demand. I come from a country where (with some exaggeration) it feels like an urban park might have higher population density than San Francisco. There's no reason why one of the most desired markets in the world should be that way, other than through artificially restricting the supply.

> Countries that have affordable housing and jobs don't have this problem.

Very few countries, whether housing is cheap or expensive and whether jobs pay well or poorly, have this problem of people strung about, high in public, engaging in antisocial behavior. Most countries don't turn a blind eye towards drug addiction from a personal liberty standpoint, which I think is quite a uniquely American concept. Most will imprison people for possessing or consuming any and punish with death those who traffic. There is broad cultural acceptance of behaving in this way.

[amrocha]

There's no leap, but we don't even need to have that conversation.

Poverty exists, which leads to homelessness.

This is not because of "local SF and California" policies. Homelessness is a problem in nearly every North American cities, from Vancouver to New York. Large cities in Europe also struggle with it, albeit to a lesser degree.

I'm not against building more housing, but no matter how much you build, not everyone will be able to afford it.

And I don't know where you got the idea that the USA is "turning a blind eye" to these problems. There's no blind eye. The US has the highest carceral population in the world. Cities already spent hundreds of millions on police. The problems are not being ignored, the solutions attempted just don't work.

[Jochim]

Places with lower wealth inequality seem to have fewer mentally ill drug addicts terrorising the public.

Putting aside arguments of social responsibility and taking a purely self-interested perspective, it's typically cheaper and more effective to provide for these people than it is to lock them up. When there's nothing to take away, enforcement doesn't provide any deterrent and frequently leads to an escalation of behaviour instead.