Re:State Terror, American Style – Paul Krugman
by naldb on Monday October 06, 2025 @01:06PM
(#45493515)
> there was one time I crossed the street to avoid someone who was clearly homeless and mentally ill, but I never found myself feeling unsafe.
Seems a contradiction.
Re:State Terror, American Style – Paul Krugman
by array_key_first on Monday October 06, 2025 @02:15PM
(#45494377)
There's homeless and mentally ill people in all major cities. Or, at least, the ones that matter.
They're usually harmless, just troubled. You're not in much danger walking down the street; you're actually in much more danger driving down it.
Re:State Terror, American Style – Paul Krugman
by HonestOp001 on Monday October 06, 2025 @06:30PM
(#45497031)
The Morlocks walk along, in their underworld and randomly jump up and take an Eloi such as yourself. None will rush to help you as you are assaulted, your fellow Eloi watching as you scream for help. But the Morlocks will not be stopped.
Re:State Terror, American Style – Paul Krugman
by LexiMax on Monday October 06, 2025 @08:58PM
(#45498200)
In my experience, the largest predictor for how often you run into homeless people isn't city size, how much money the local police have, or how the residents vote, but how walkable the area is. Homeless people go where traffic is, foot traffic especially, because panhandling needs an audience.
There is a big difference between feeling uncomfortable and being in a genuinely unsafe situation, and the less you are used to seeing the homeless, the more out of touch with reality your gut feelings are.
Unfortunately homelessness is something that can't be solved by one city or even one state. Feeding, housing, and getting them treatment is expensive and not something even the wealthier cities have the budget to do on their own. And the first major city that tries will have to deal with other places dropping more homeless people on their doorstep - that's one thing that both red and blue cities have been guilty of as you can read about at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/dec/...