[kingkirbythe....]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

You know what, if this is going to be allowed to go on, I'm just gonna throw down my gauntlet.

Homelessness is the end-result of an increadibly wealthy society that has a winner take all mentality that views poverty as something that is in some way earned or deserved. We tell ourselves this because those of us who are extremely rich like to also believe that our wealth is 100% earned by the individual and luck or fortune of what circumstances you were born into had nothing to do with it.

It means we ignore the actual causes of homelessness, but what we really dont ever want to do is look at the abject failure of our society in the face, so we would rather arrest people, break up camps and shove them into a green belt where things are actually less safe just so we don't have to look at it.

The homeless population in Austin is going up because the cost of living in the city has gotten out of hand and we've done next to nothing to help the problem. Our country at large views illness, mental illness or addiction as a personal failing and not a societal failing despite all science being to the contrary. We have set up an entire society that is based upon rich people having better access to everything, including what is viewed in much of the world as basis rights.

No one should be happy to see homeless encampments under the streets, its a dark mirror on our own society and are complete lack of a social safety net, and making being homeless illegal so that we don't have to look at it is reductio ad absurdum for how utterly selfish we all are. We want to look at the pretty buildings and cool developments that explosive growth bring without dealing seriously with any of the downsides. East Austin looks absolutely nothing like it used to and housing for lower-middle class people let alone poor people is becoming an endangered species in this city. What low-income housing is being built is not actually for low-income people, its for lower-middle class people and even that is often gamed by land-lords renting to graduate students or people who can hide income when they apply.

I fully expect that we will reinstate the camping ban with zero plan as to what to do to tackle poverty in our society because I think most people just don't want to see people that they don't view as human on a daily basis so they can go on with their lives guilt free.

This.