Re:Proposition C
by adamrezich on Friday October 19, 2018 @02:12PM
(#18258714)
Being born in 1991 I didn't realize this until recently but apparently we used to be better about this before these institutions shut down in the 80s-90s. I still don't really understand why this happened or how the resulting issues haven't been addressed.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
> apparently we used to be better about this before these institutions shut down in the 80s-90s. I still don't really understand why this happened or how the resulting issues haven't been addressed.
There are two explanations, idealistic and cynical; I'll let you decide what percentage of accuracy applies to each (neither were 0% or 100%).
The idealistic justification was that the institutional option was pretty grim (think "one flew over the cuckoo's nest") and that many of those patients would do better at home or in halfway houses.
The cynical explanation was that this was at the beginning of the huge anti-tax / anti-government wave that began with Reagan's election and continues today: closing the institutions cut government expenditure.
Simply shutting them down probably wasn't the best solution, but those institutions were generally more geared towards locking people away than recover & treatment.
I found this via Google and it seems to cover the highlights:
> I still don't really understand why this happened
Reagan and his failed economic policy.
> or how the resulting issues haven't been addressed.
The ongoing personality cult around Reagan and his failed economic policy.