[constantius]

I have to side with the other commenter, you're just waving the issue away while grandstanding. The article discusses jailing homeless people, which would remove them from the view of the public and... and what?

Do you think the flood of sympathy will then be unleashed, unhindered as it is by the disgusting view of the subjects of the sympathy? No, what will happen is that an issue that almost no one cares about (except, like you, in terms of it being a bother) is further removed from public view.

The chance of people being sympathetic and wanting to help those who suffer is much higher if the homeless people aren't removed from their view.

[adampunk]

Yeah. I think the ugly thing that the world is going to learn about american's (people outside america think we've plumbed the depths of depravity--we haven't, yet) casual eliminationist views sooner or later.

Most (white) people I meet in the USA, even nice people, almost all operate on the idea that someone "going away" is a solution to problems and when you press they rarely have a care or concern for where that person goes or what happens to them.

Before this decade is out we'll see death camps in this country for indigence (among other things) and no one will give a shit.

[Gabriel54]

I never said what I think about the law. I think we can agree that it does not address many of the fundamental issues that people experiencing homelessness face. The alternative, however, is not more sympathy but rather specific solutions like a sane health care system (which might include mandatory drug or alcohol rehabilitation) and social service support. Everyone has the right to live in dignity which includes a safe place to live.

> The chance of people being sympathetic and wanting to help those who suffer is much higher if the homeless people aren't removed from their view.

I disagree with this completely. I think seeing homeless people in the street every day makes people think the government is incompetent and unable to deal with a serious issue. This leads to people adopting more extreme measures like exactly the one we are discussing right now.