Democrat-run cities are getting slammed with homelessness and crime.
Politicians claim the solution is police reform and more money for government programs.
But Democrats’ pro-crime policies were exposed as complete failures in this eye-opening interview.
Deep-blue cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle have experienced a severe uptick in homelessness and crime.
In Los Angeles, virtually every single underpass in the city looks like a shantytown.
San Francisco has decayed so dramatically, the city created a phone app to alert pedestrians where to avoid human feces on the street.
The rise in crime has coincided with the rise in homelessness, and leftists in San Francisco believe the solution to the problem is decarceration, more spending, and rent control.
But San Francisco resident and author Mike Shellenberger showed that drug addiction, mental health issues, and pro-crime policies are the true culprits.
Shellenberger, who detailed the problems of the city in his book San Fransicko, interviewed a homeless man in the city who was brutally honest about the conditions on the street.
The homeless man named Ben told Shellenberger that he breaks into cars and steals from stores to feed his $60 per day drug habit.
People say high rent causes homelessness but Ben, who has been homeless in San Francisco for 7 years, says the “vast majority” are homeless due to addiction. Just 6-7% are from SF. Ben says he "boosts" (shoplifts) and breaks into cars to pay for his $60/day heroin habit. pic.twitter.com/uewKTtBuOS
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 6, 2022
Ben also explained that people are not homeless because rent is too high – they’re addicted to drugs and it’s hard to be a productive member of society while using fentanyl, meth, and heroin every day.
Shellenberger advocates for criminalizing public drug use and requiring addicts to seek treatment or go to jail, but left-wing politicians and activists fiercely reject those measures.
They believe homeless people should be allowed to live in squalor on the street.
What the progressives are doing is not compassionate.
Letting citizens rot on the street is not a sign of compassion.
I also interviewed Cory this morning as he smoked fentanyl & meth. He has been camped with 3 others on a sidewalk a block from the "Linkage Center." I offered to take him there to get rehab. Cory said he'd think about it. He said he's in severe pain. Nobody's helping him. pic.twitter.com/dPfqsg34D8
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 6, 2022
Meanwhile, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, one of the prosecutors funded by Geeorge Soros, is wildly to the left, and does not believe in holding criminals accountable.
So the “cost” of selling drugs, publicly using drugs, and stealing to pay for drugs is low.
Boudin is facing a recall effort because even Democrats are sick of him.
If leftists are serious about helping people, they have to abandon the pro-crime policies that have proven not to work.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
