Quote:
Originally Posted by Tobra
This guy could be at the top of the list
We did have a lot of baddies in the past. But good people were not as reluctant to say anything about it in the past. We have removed the stigma from behavior that has been unacceptable in the past. When you remove the deterrents for adverse acts, you get more of them. Look at Seattle. Would it have even been possible for it to get as bad 50 years ago, even 20 years ago?
It is simply beyond me that anyone could think that the permissive atmosphere secondary to moral decay is not a major driver for this stuff.
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Except the facts don't bear this out. It's convenient to claim that Seattle's problems are attributable to a single factor, but, like most simple explanations, it is inaccurate. The homeless problem has grown in recent years for lots of disparate reasons:
1. Unchecked growth into an area that is geographically incapable of handling it
2. Massive wage growth that drives up real estate values and pushes people out of their homes
3. Stupid, ideologically-driven decisions by people who are prisoners to their own personal dogmas, e.g., environmentalists' resistance to expanding roads, and conservatives' opposition to light rail and public transit
4. Externalities from companies like Boeing and Amazon, which abuse and overload the infrastructure without paying for it
5. Refusal to address root causes like poverty and drug addiction in anything other than a punitive way
6. Neglect of mental health services, and continued stigma related thereto.
Those are just a few reasons. I'm sure there are more.