>Why not focus our helpful energy on...oh, I Don’t know, the armies of people living like animals, defecating in the street and wandering downtown San Francisco naked with severe mental wellness issues?

Because this is California. Why bother with all that when I can just get back in my financed Mercedes which costs equal to a mortgage payment in Iowa, drive back to my gated community of postage stamp houses, then go to the mall and forget about it?