patrick.net

Huh, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which allows the mentally ill to refuse treatment, is being attacked by the video.

Why?

Sure, you can say it is so that the mentally ill can be forced into treatment, but it would also give the government the power to forcibly imprison anyone for "mental illness" if, say, they vote or act in any way which is not according to the wishes of global capital. Like opposing the dissolution of the border with Mexico to drive down wages, or in Europe, opposing the forcible importation of millions of hostile Muslims.

It's a long-time reality in Russia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union

And the Chinese have also been using it to accuse dissidents of mental illness:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/side-effects/201011/chinas-psychiatric-mistreatment-political-dissidents

I'd say it's far more important to keep our freedoms and allow anyone to refuse mental health treatment than to give up our freedoms just to clean up the homeless better. Lots of ex-Soviets have already noted the similarity of the enforcement of politically correct speech under threat of job loss in the US to its enforcement in the Soviet Union, first with job loss, then with prison or mental hospitals.

There are better ways to reduce homelessness:

- actually enforce laws against vagrancy, shitting on the street, open drug use, etc
- make housing more affordable by eliminating all mortgage subsidies because they simply drive up the cost of owning
- let people build really tiny houses, ie overturn restrictive land-use laws
- let charities provide those houses to the homeless

Probably many others.

Patrick says

- make housing more affordable by eliminating all mortgage subsidies because they simply drive up the cost of owning

Pretty much already happened on the coasts.The "eliminating mortgage subsidies" part, not the other one.

All great ideas @Patrick

The homeless are the du jour political soapbox for whatever message somebody wants to preach.

Simple answer is the vast majority are the residue zombies of the drug culture, with perhaps a few generically mentally ill or maladapted tossed in. However, the drugs also cause most of the mental illness. You would have to dry them out for a long time to even know.

One homeless woman in LA, who did not use drugs, smoke or drink, said she was the only one she ever met amongst the homeless who wasn't an addict or had a drug/alcohol problem. She was only homeless for a while, but was getting shelter soon.

Patrick says

Huh, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which allows the mentally ill to refuse treatment, is being attacked by the video.

Before about 1970, the only real bums you ever saw was middle aged alkies, who lived in flop houses or as Hobos and did odd jobs during the week, drinking in a park.

The mentally ill are mentally ill, they cannot consent. They will not show up to treatment or to get meds. Many believe the treatment center is a UFO Mind Control Base, they slap aluminium foil on their heads and pander for $10 for crackling rosie to drown out the voices.

Then they shit on the escalator or scream "They're coming for YOU!" as they run into traffic, or randomly punch a little kid at a Target.

Schizos take months or years to find the correct cocktail of drugs, and it frequently has to be adjusted. Schizos won't return to the CIA Mind Control Base "Halfway-House" unless frogmarched there by cops/orderlies.

There has to be a process, but we have to forcibly incarcerate people.

One good safety is that they have to commit at least one violent offense and that receive two diagnosis from two different providers.

Another is that cops/counties/cities don't get paid per client, or they have an incentive to push the boundaries.

The standard used to be that for anyone to be involuntarily committed to a mental institution, they have to pose a real threat of violence to themselves or others.

I agree with that.

Mostly we just need to actually enforce the laws we have.

Video mostly examples of crazy homeless out here. We have many who are very violent and unstable.

I have no idea what they said, watched it without sound.

I know it may sound cruel but maybe mentally ill homeless people that there is no hope of fixing should be euthanized.

There are homeless nuts all around Santa Cruz who have Tourette's and may be also schizophrenic yelling or talking to themselves all day in public.

They need to go somewhere else.