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Originally Posted by pj3000
But what you're describing is not the case. Institutions which formerly housed (often non-voluntarily) were not an utter failure, at least not in terms of resulting in the scenes on the streets we see today.
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But they were. Residents were warehoused, not treated, and conditions were appalling. That's what led to the move to wipe out institutions. Where did you think that impetus came from -- just because? It was cheaper to dump them out on the street and let the situations that were playing out in private play out in public. And it was
much cheaper than devoting the resources that it would have taken to run institutions properly -- which studies showed could have been done -- or to devoting the resources it would have taken to provide adequate community care.
Ironically enough though, some programs at some state institutions actually were quite successful -- such as sterilization programs in the name of eugenics. Do you really want to go there?
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They didn't fail to prevent that -- they were largely shutdown by the 1980s and 90s in favor of a more integrated into the population / more humane approach to modes of "treatment".
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And again, why do you think that happened? If conditions in institutions weren't medieval they'd still be around.
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In that sense, their closures across the nation contributed to resulting in the scenes on the streets we see today.
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Yes. We're seeing in public what had previously only played out in private.
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The question I posed was more rhetorical than anything, because there is no easy answer (and I certainly do not profess to have it). I was just pointing out the situation of having the awful scene of humanity out on the street or having the same scene inside a controlled facility.
The question had nothing to do with "offending my sensibilities."
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Are you willing to pay what it takes to have effective, humane large-scale institutions? Are you willing to pay what it would take to have effective community treatment? If not, then what's the point of shoving the homeless back into a warehouse of that institutional, puke-green tile? What does that accomplish if not just remove the problem from places where your delicate eyes might see? Is the actual problem actually being solved? If not, why bother?
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...so don't be a fucking bitchy cock. Asshole.
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Physician, heal thyself.