San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities

Liberal west coast cities like to act very compassionate towards  the homeless population. Unfortunately, these cities have also seen a steady increase in people living on the street along with a decreasing quality of life for all. There are a multitude of reasons given. Some see it as just a problem of lack of housing. Others point to mental health or drug use. Alas, solutions are hard to find.

The progressive mentality often is too focussed on trying for the best rather than making improvements. People are allowed to live in squalor because very nice housing is not available. Shelters are shunned as inferior to a nice apartment. While this is true, it is also true that shelters are much better than a spot on the street. The advocates pushing for the housing end up diverting funding from providing basic shelter for a many to the hopes of providing fancy shelter for a few. Similarly, limited psychiatric services are available. Mentally ill were removed from inpatient treatment and integrated into society - often on the streets. Huge amounts are then spent to provide for emergency services for them rather than provide a long term solution.

There is also a strong desire to see homeless as victims. They are seen as incapable of controller their situation. They may be left out due to racism, poverty or some other problem. Laws are seen as part of the police/prison complex and not enforced against them. They are allowed (and even encouraged) to engage in drug use. Generous public assistance is given without strings. People learn how the system works and how to get food, drugs and place to sleep. Many are on their way to die rather than get better. People from other locations seek out the "progressive" locations that will let them engage in their antisocial behavior.

Many progressive western cities have a case of "pathological altruism". There is heavy criticism against anything that takes away from the ability of the homeless to do whatever they want. This goes together with a western belief in extreme individualism. The "altruistic" can feel that they are helping because they put up a Black Lives Matter sign and support funding for homeless. At the same time, they will advocate for nimby positions against more housing near them. Even cleaning up "skid row" is seen as a negative form of gentrification.

Many cities provide huge amounts of homeless services. However, they don't require anybody to use it. Many homeless people would rather take advantage of the abundant vices than struggle to get their life in order. With a little push they would be willing to be helped, but that is not easy. Other countries, such as Netherlands and Portugal have decriminalized drug use but also limited their availability. They have built new housing and helped get people off the street. While the south may have a "prison-industrial complex", the west has a "homeless-industrial complex". In each case huge amounts of money are spent while people suffer and families are torn apart. 

Joy Luck Club

Joy Luck Club is a collection of stories of Chinese women who have lived in San Francisco. Some stories deal with life in China, but most deal with life in San Francisco. In one, a mother remarks that she hoped to raise a Chinese woman with all the benefits of America, but instead got an American woman. That becomes a sad theme in the book. In spite of growing up in a large Chinese community, these women have mostly lost their Chinese culture. They live like Americans. When they go back to China, they are clearly foreigners. However, in America, they are often not seen as "true Americans" (In one story, she is mistaken for Vietnamese.) The old culture is lost, but there is not a new culture to replace it.
The Chinese mothers come across as the powerful figures. Even in a culture that placed little importance in women, the mother still became the controlling figure in their children's lives. Once in America, the mothers could continue to rely on some of the "old world" knowledge to see through the trappings of materialism in America to realize that their daughters are not doing as well as they thing they are. Alas, it takes adulthood for the daughters to finally come around. Most of their troubles are those typical of upper-middle class Americans. The Chinese culture helped push them out of the "poor refugee" status, but still left them to struggle with life.

Earth Abides

Earth Abides is an optimistic post-apocalyptic novel. Some disease sweeps through earth and wipes out almost everyone. It manages to happen very quickly, yet orderly. We just have to believe the author on this one. The narrator was out in woods when things happened, and nobody else seems to provide details. It seems there was time to properly bury everyone, but not to shut down stores or bring cars home.

Utilities were also still running. The hydroelectric power and plumbing still kept chugging along for a while, even without anybody to attend to it. Roads were still usable, though gradually tree-falls and floods cut off some routes. (However, long distance travels were still possible.)

The few people that remained tended to stay by themselves. Nobody seemed to ask why or engage in serious conversation. At first, they were mere scavengers trying to gather what they could and live off the working utilities. Eventually, things broke down and they found themselves returning back to nature. However, they do take shortcuts. Instead of going all the way back to stone arrowheads, they use the metal found in coins.

The new generations soon lose all contact with "civilization". They have become hunters, obtaining their sustenance from nature. The stored up knowledge of society had been gradually eaten away by nature. The old ones that remembered the civilization are treated as deities.

The novel seems to be attempting a connection between "savage" lifestyles and our more modern society. Perhaps the "natives" that had been encountered by Europeans had had advanced societies, but saw them quickly disappear due to the diseases that were brought in. By the time there was large-scale cultural contact, they had fallen into a pure survival mode.

The book paints the new society in an optimistic way. Rather than roving bands of thugs, we have people that want to work together and be happy. The one "bad guy" that they do encounter is quickly removed. People can still be happy even after the fall of society.