[zug_zug]

As a liberal who lived there for a while -- I honestly think this is one of the few cases where liberals are less correct.

I think initially it started as "being poor is not a crime" with the good thought that you can't arrest people for not having a house. I think this escalated toward a lax attitude toward drugs and many "petty" crimes (e.g. public urination, stealing a case of beer).

The interesting thing was that when I lived there sometimes I'd ask or joke about it (bicycle theft was a huge problem, car windows being smashed, etc). People would mostly pretend they didn't see it and have no idea what to say to my joke for fear that somebody around them had a very strong opinion and they would offend.

Also, I remember once my improv class was chatting outside the theater and a homeless man asked for a cigarette and then started berating my classmates when they ignored him, and they actually felt bad. I know their sympathy came from a good place. Many of these people are damaged mentally and jail will only get them out of your face. But in my opinion something more proactive needed to be done.

I don't even think it needs to be traditional jail. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people would be happier/healthier working outside in the sun getting some exercise instead of being in a cell. I think that's not boolean enough for most people though.

[Robotbeat]

Anarcho-tyranny. It’s impossible to get approval for anything, therefore people just rationally break the law.

To get approval to build new housing is essentially impossible.

When aggressive crimes are enforced less strictly than code violations or regulatory approvals, SF is the result.

[dpkirchner]

There's a huge faction of the country that wants to limit funding for all government services. Hell, they are so cheap that they want those imprisoned to pay for their own prison time!

Jail alternatives are more expensive in the short term, and that is all that matters to this faction.

[hattmall]

This is literally what asylums used to be. They were largely farms and work operations. With thousands of patients per facility. There was a place between the streets and jail / the military. This has been completely destroyed, generally to the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry.

[zug_zug]

Really? I heard all these bad things about asylums, how they were basically worse than jails and some psychologists pretended to be sick to get admitted to see how long it would take them to realize they weren't insane. The staff never recognized, and when they eventually admitted the ruese the staff refused to believe it and only let them go as "Schizophrenic in remission"

[intalentive]

They should be relocated to work camps in the wilderness. Lots of empty space on federal land in Nevada, Utah, etc.

[l3mure]

Arbeit macht frei after all