Criminalizing Homelessness Won't Make It Go Away | NYT Opinion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 เม.ย. 2024
- If you live in one of America’s cities, you probably see homeless people all the time. You might pass them on your way to work. Maybe you avoid eye contact. If they ask you for money, maybe you pretend you didn’t hear, and walk on by.
But what if you stopped and listened to what they have to say?
As you’ll see in the Opinion video above, you might find their stories of landing on the streets strikingly relatable. Such accounts reveal a hard truth about our country: Amid an affordable housing crisis, where 70 percent of all extremely low-income families today pay more than half their income on rent, becoming homeless is easier than we’d like to think.
That’s what Mark Horvath discovered firsthand in 1995, when he lost his job and wound up homeless for eight years. He started interviewing people on the street in 2008, and began sharing those stories on his TH-cam channel, Invisible People. He wanted to try to help viewers who might ignore their homeless neighbors see them not with scorn, or indifference, but empathy.
These stories are even more important today, as a record number of people experience homelessness and face increasing threats from the law. On April 22, the Supreme Court is set to hear the case of Johnson v. Grants Pass, the most significant case in decades about homeless people’s rights. The case will determine whether cities can arrest or fine the homeless - even if there’s no other shelter. As the homeless plaintiffs wrote, this would be “punishing the city’s involuntarily homeless residents for their existence.”
Every homeless person’s path is complicated, and in this video, we haven’t remotely captured anyone’s whole story. Yes, some are addicts, some are mentally ill, some have made unwise choices, and some are simply unlucky. Some are many of those things. But all of them argue that in the hardest moment of their lives, they have been largely abandoned, and even punished, by the rest of us. So we hope you’ll do more than dismiss, or judge, the people in this video, and instead listen to them.
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One really crucial detail that's not mentioned here (not criticizing-it's impossible to pack all the nuance of this issue into a short video) is how being unhoused can push people towards substance abuse. When you're cold, afraid, and feeling helpless a drug can be the only dependable source of comfort immediately available to you. Making that choice doesn't make a person evil or irredeemable; it makes them human.
Well said, Riley...thank you! 👍
It’s pretty understandable tbh. If you’ve already lost everything then the downsides to heavy recreational substance use that deter the rest of us don’t matter anymore.
Well put
Absolutely true
Just stop, goofball. That literally never happens. You have it backward. Typical liberal.
I was a homeless teen 40 years ago and I WAS an alcoholic and addict.
I got sober and got a job, and by the grace of God have been living indoors since.
We are all one bad experience, illness or disease away from homelessness.
I agree.
😂 " living indoors " that's a funny term and the focus people put on it are sad 😔 millions of people still live in huts around the world and are happier than career people who "live indoors" 😂
I would argue that we are all one salvation experience away from victory. Christ is the answer.
@@CFAPAthey focus on the dumbest bs that means absolutely nothing
@@lindalarson1948 Christ is why homelessness exists
I'm one injury or lost job away from joining them.
Almost all of us are. What happened to the "American Dream"? People still coming here like it still exists.
@@IceLynne Why do you think it's called the American Dream ? Because you have to be asleep to believe it!!! George Carlin !!!!
amen! i got hurt in feb, impaled at work and was out for 8 weeks. i had the money to carry the family thru that in the bank, but when i went back, my car decided to crap out. two tires, a dead alternator. lost the job cause i couldnt get there. i was one week away from losing everything! paid rent, paid the car payment, and had 20 bucks left. no food. no lights. no gas. but i had a roof over my head. took 4 weeks to get another paycheck. we are one bad day away from being right there with them. its so bad. this country doesnt want you stable. they love that you depend on them.
Millions of Americans are in that position..
@SMG63854 a whole lot of nothing 💯
“How can you get a job when you can’t take a shower?” Made me want to tear up. My husband I have been homeless multiple times and through the winter. Yet neither of us have any criminal history.
If you have this many homeless people in one of the richest countries in the world something is definitely wrong...
It’s not a homeless problem rather it’s a mental health problem! The fact you can’t understand that really infuriates me! 99.9999% of homeless people have a mental illness which means it’s not that they’re poor or can’t find a job it’s that their mental illness hinders them from being able to hold down a job.
@@maxsportsman2416 Calm down and breathe.. We're going to get through this together..
@@CFAPA No you aren't. The people who are supposedly working to solve the problem are the ones making the most from it and have no incentive to actually solve the problem because then they wouldn't have a job. Not hard to figure out why a city grants 34 million dollars to "charities" to renovate an abandoned building to house 40 people when you realize that it's a business of making money for everyone involved in the workings of those charities, not actually reducing homelessness. They could purchase 40 brand new construction 4-5 bedroom houses for the same price and house 200 people easily instead. But then that would put the homeless people out in the neighborhoods the advocates live in and they don't want that.
@@maxsportsman2416You are partly right! most mentally ill , don't know they are sick! I know people that have masters OR PHD. degrees that can't get a job! when you really get to know them, you will see why? The soup kitchens are full of them! A lot of people that are raised wrong, may give out the wrong impression even if their thinking is right.
Thank you for humanizing this population
these humans should get jobs
@@bigboomer751 Agreed! So hire them please 🙂
The level of gaslighting and propaganda yall fall victim to. It's remarkable how Dr. Phil recently has been vocal and addressing what's worse looms around and is yet to be seen - the lowest, most degraded mental health crises of our young population that grew exponentially during 2020_CV19_LockDowns.... This doesn't even tickle the surface of the way our system has been exposed. The continued foreign funding for MORE DESTRUCTION, that NYT has been promoting. You deserve all the curse of the population for even trying to play moral preacher here. Everything you guys have done in the last decade has lead to today and yet you continue to push the same ideologies but the days are limited for nyt financial survival. Along with all other MSM and cable news networks across. AI will take over every publication with tools to filter garbage that you promote.
These folks have all been harmed by your policies that they, very likely, were fooled to believing. Your marketing and targeting and use of NLP in high level campaigns to reach the most vulnerable, easiest to flip audiences...
With all said, not a single proactive chance has been made from folks that are often referred to as the global 3LIT3 as their policies only become more radical by the minute - NPR CEO being prime example of this and 1000000% that's NYT endorsed and supported. You have no interest in Americans' health and safety, let alone any humans', any beings'. Everything you guys have been doing speaks for itself, whether it's realized by your editors, execs, or has gone so far above and into your bottom gaping 🕳 that it's oblivious to you and the self awareness doesn't exist just as much as the openness to listen and accept what you've been doing wrong since... Since the turn of the century and start of the Iraq War.
Yallz are more concerned about using stolen money from hardworking Americans to honeydress yourselves with zero regard to how it's destroyed everything. The debt, that has been wildly ablaze and underreported the absurd programs our cash is wasted on, the absurdity in the in effectiveness and expensive costs in the out-of-control bureaucracy for everything that big gov't has expanded the reach of its tentacles into.. So go on and continue to self gloat with this BS sense of morals...
@@bigboomer751like Mao said: no research, no speak!
Either you hire them, or only speak after you learn how to read.
@@randymarsh8974 Jobs will solve their problems, not handouts and pointless stories like this. Americans are backwards.
"If anybody's listening, we just want a place to go." DUDE! We need to help these people!
Agreed. We need to help them. The government is just making things worse
Can they go to your house?
@@Halcon_Sierrenoit’s interesting how mean and unwelcoming comments come often from people that are not in “their house” either
@@gretaisufi3277 I'm in my house as I type this. 🤗
GO……GET a JOB!!!
This hurts my heart so much. I was in a kids home(UK) but left because of all the abuse. I lived on the streets in Sheffield( at 14yrs old), the people that actually helped me the most were other compassionate homeless people that wanted to protect me. Homeless people get demonised so much, it’s not fair. ✌️❤️
I hope you're in a good place now. A lack of compassion does seem to make a bad situation worse in our society. God bless ❤
Sorry you had to deal with that❤
I agree and I'm sorry about your experiences 😔
th-cam.com/users/shorts5lt5JpUmdVo?si=XHhSJrgm_JBkLiiS
Very much the same experience, ran away from abuse at 15yoa to live on the streets of the big city. The people that helped me the most were the transvestites, no innuendo, just kindness, stopping me to give me 50 cents or a dollar to go buy something to eat at the all night cafe. The predators all seemed to be driving cars.
Just to put the lack of affordable housing in perspective, in the last ten years or so, every job I've worked at had about half the workforce semi-homeless, and always several that were outright homeless. The human services people define semi-homeless as couch surfing, or subletting. That's working people, not drug addicts.
Absolutely true. Metastatic end stage predatory capitalism at it's finest. Mission accomplished. From rethuglicans and demorats. All the same pigs at the trough. Corporate government.
It's because of illegal aliens
I had a great job when I became homeless. No credit score - no one will rent to you.
@@IceLynne That is also so true. We had a bad credit score when we decide to move, not realizing how difficult that will be. Lucky for us, as we rented our old place for more than 3 years, they took us back without checking out credit score. We were both working (me and my husband) and he was getting more that good salary. It was crazy! I was joking that I will buy a tent, but is was not a very funny joke.
@@gerganakoleva4137 I'm glad to hear they took you back! What a blessing 🤗
Homeless twice in a span of three years from 2016-2019. It was absolutely awful how I was treated and the indignity people are made to suffer through. The attitude of people blaming the homeless is a defense against a broken system that nobody wants to admit is broken. So they use every possible measure to shift blame.
I worked, bought a house and stopped working at 45. Do explain how the system is broken because if I could do that, you could too.
The land of "milk and honey" with the highest wealth in the world. Yet more and more people are becoming homeless. Even if they work there's no guarantee they will earn enough. Thank you for being the empathetic advocate for these people. Some of us take things for granted and refuse to see others as they are: Human.
Human bean
We may have large wallets, but we have equally large bills to pay
The land of milk and honey is Babylon. But of course babylon was silenced. Too much opinions with too many different races eventually caused the tower to collapse.
cry baby
Yep. People that CHOOSE drugs and alcohol and refuse to work 🙄 Known quite a few of those. They'd rather live and party on the streets in a 24/7 pity party at the mercy of others than provide for themselves. And they're young. Mommy and daddy's rules were just too much. They're a dime a dozen now. If they're lucky they couch surf when the weather gets cold.
Thank you NYC Times. This man is LEGEND
youtube.com/@InvisiblePeople?si=cYXUKKJI8cgLx00f
He is! Wonderful man and channel! I’ve subbed to him for a while.
Harlem
Biden doesn’t see them as worthwhile.
He funds offshore wars instead.
Democrats induce too much misery.
th-cam.com/users/shorts5lt5JpUmdVo?si=XHhSJrgm_JBkLiiS
So much sheer luck is involved in having a good life. A few bits of bad luck, and I could be sleeping on the streets like these folks. It happens quickly.
Not everyone has family to help. I would have been outside. I lost my job in 2008 , I lost everything quick. Thank God my family housed me andcfed me.
@@sandraalegria3439 You make a good point, Sandra. It sounds like you went through a tough period, but your family stepped in and helped you. I hope you're doing better these days! Have a great weekend, and thanks for your comment.
It's not really. You need to be able to "force" yourself to finish school, not use and go to work everyday. Lately, the ones being laid off are the managerial and tech - companies who do mass layoffs have no souls (companies have people making these choices).
Seeing how broken this population is angers me so much and breaks my heart. NO human should ever feel like they don't matter. Where is our humanity???
Bidenomics
@@firstlast8258 he doesn't have a very large impact on the economy, also look at it compared to when Trump was in office and you'd be surprised to see by most metrics it has improved. Inflation is high due to a multitude of issues, you may need to find a better scapegoat lol
@@jackwhitney6283 speak for yourself 🤓 🖕
@@jackwhitney6283hahahahah a better scapegoat!? You were literally warned that shutting down your state would do this yet here we are...... TRUMP TOLD YOU SO 😂
@@austism1it’s not a good idea to listen to morons whose only qualification is being a nepo-baby
I work 7 days a week and I sleep in the car because I don’t make enough money to get 1 bedroom apartment. Rent is so expensive. 😢😢😢
Thank you for your honesty me too. God bless you stay strong
We had to move 70 miles outside the city to afford a place 😔
This is heartwrenching, and even a bit frightening. Makes you feel like homelessness could happen to any one of us.
It could happen to any of us.
It will. Give it time.
@@ey67 ??
@@wen6519 Yes, that's literally what I just said.
@@wen6519 Yes, thank you for literally repeating my comment verbatim.
existence should not be illegal
The existence of homeless people is not what is being decided, that is how the presenter wants it framed and it is a disingenuous idea at best. What is being decided is if it is legal to enact/pass and enforce legislation that makes it illegal for people to live on public streets or long-term camp on public streets or in public spaces like parks.
Of course, you already know that and are willing to accept the re-framed narrative. To put the narrative into another perspective...
San Francisco, California, has allowed transients to camp out on their streets for DECADES. When the city of Los Angeles, California, decided that it was illegal for business owners to prevent transients from sleeping in their doorways, many citizens foresaw the possibility that is the current situation of today. When people are allowed by legislation to live on the streets, or in public parks or other public spaces (e.g., the beach fronts in Venice, California) it means there are less beds needed in shelters. Many shelters have closed because they are not needed or are expensive to keep open when transient people choose not to stay in them--it is the norm for transients to reject living in a shelter because life at a shelter means following the rules of the shelter.
I hope that adequately reframes the disingenuous "existence should not be illegal" narrative some activists would like us to believe.
@@user-mv9tt4st9k You are the one being disingenuous. All land is either privately owned or owned by the government. It is already illegal to sleep on private property. This leaves public property as the only option. Now, they are trying to make it illegal to sleep on public property. With it being illegal to sleep on both private and public land, someone without a home effectively has no legal place to exist. Thus, existence is criminalized.
If you knew anything about shelters in San Francisco you would know they are filled EVERY NIGHT. I live in Portland, Oregon and it is the same story. The shelters are filled EVERY NIGHT, leaving THOUSANDS every single night without shelter and forced to sleep on the streets. You are the one being disingenuous acting like there are vacant shelters. The shelters are full, leaving a surplus of thousands in every major city without shelter.
As far as drug addicts being kicked out shelters for using drugs, they can't just quit over night. Drug addiction needs to be treated with intensive rehabilitation, not quitting cold turkey in a shelter. Addicts can literally die from quitting drugs cold turkey.
You are not only disingenuous, but completely ignorant to the reality of the situation. You just want to frame in a way that makes your hate and further criminalization of existence seem justified, when its not.
I guess that's what maid in Canada is for.🤷
It’s illegal to be homeless, disabled , or mentally ill in this country having been all 3 myself.
Right
No wonder there is some much crime and anger 😡 in the United States 🇺🇸. Very strange country and ashamed in a way to be an American
FTP
@icurededs
You said you BEEN homeless, disabled and mentally ill.
What changed in your life to help you get out of that situation?
I'm disabled. I have a Section 8 apartment that is ADA compliant for my wheelchair. What's illegal about my situation?
Anyone who rents in 2024 can relate to an unhoused person. This is why we are all insecure with housing : it’s completely unaffordable, even for a place too small and run down to meet your needs. It’s a systemic failure.
100%
It's take God out of everything and get as filthy rich as you can.. Greed Greed Greed. No one needs to jack up rents to what it is today in 2024 but if your a landlord or a big company like toll brothers why not you'll get richer and richer and richer who cares if the tenant has to miss a bunch of meals or end of homeless cause of the cost of housing. All the landlords care about is getting filthy American rich.. Capitalism gone wrong. People have taken God out of everything and no one has compassion for there fellow man anymore it's all about you getting rich.. The bible calls them lovers of self, High minded.. JEsus is King
I agree but what can be done to fix a broken system?
Yeah because billionaire grifters are being made and they keep on Griffin for a long time and then now we catch up to them then they use drugs and foreigner realation to try to create population control but this time I feel like they will be touched
@@Mialamorena1 For one, people need to wake and realize a big part of the problem in this country is the growing gap between the poor and the rich. There needs to be limits on the income of the rich, and they need to pay taxes. There's a real problem when you have people like Elon Musk who just laid off 10% of this employees while pushing to pay himself 56 billion dollars. You have small handful of people in this country making most of the income. Profit margins of big companies can't go down, so when there's inflation, the pay of the rich doesn't go down, it's the middle class and poor who sees no real wage growth and effectively lost buying power.
This is right on. Someone or their landlord can get evicted very fast. Little sympathy is found. Accused of addiction, crime, or mismanagement of their money, so then deserving of being out on the street. I hear all the time "that will teach them" in church even!
Not in CT. My elderly uncle is out 23k in law fees and still trying.
Homelessness like every other crisis has a solution. Politicians rather compound the problem and claim they're doing something about it. $300 for being homeless. "They poor getting screwed".
Homelessness is a business now. Advocates for them make a very nice living with literally billions being spent on it every year and the number of homeless people goes up, not down, demonstrating that the problem isn't society not paying enough, it's that the people who claim to be working to solve the problem have every incentive to NOT solve it. San Diego recently awarded a non-profit 32 million dollars to renovate an abandoned office building and turn it in 42 studio apartments for homeless people. Do the math. They could have purchased 42 fking new 4-5 bedroom homes for that instead of 42 studio apartments.
The sad thing is anyone can end up homeless in America. 💔
false
@@prestonryan6249:
No, that’s true. Even celebrities have ended up on the street.
It is definitely true
I would have no problem being homeless at least I'll be free of everything I can't wait I'm looking forward to it.
Um. No.
People have every reason to judge but until you have walked a mile in a homeless persons shoes you have no idea how hard that life is and no one chooses it ! I’ve been there and I’m thankful every time I can pay my rent and bills because I know what it is to lose everything and have nothing and no one to fall back on until I get on my feet.
People don’t realize how hard finding the stability to keep a job is, without a safe place to secure your belongings. Like how can you save money, if your clothes are repeatedly ruined or stolen? Just having a safe place to shower and secure your belongings would help so much. You cannot build a savings, find stability, when you’re constantly having to replace the most simple things.
Yup I have been there. I used to live in MO. Back when I was a teen me and my stepmom would get into it. Luckly I had a car and I would drive down to the Mississippi River and sleep by the boat docks . And watch the barges go up and down the river.
th-cam.com/users/shorts5lt5JpUmdVo?si=XHhSJrgm_JBkLiiS
Wolves and lambs it's not working. It is not acceptable for a rich country to have homeless people.
@@DHardstylez836 we could probably do both if we actually tax the rich.
We keep importing more homeless from other countries. There’d be plenty enough to go around if we focused on the US and US citizens
@@LordBrittishThe "rich" pay the majority of federal income taxes already.
@@spankyssurprise1361 the rich pay diddly squat, they dodge taxes and pay politicians to evade their societal obligations.
I just wanted to say the first and second reply are both correct. Either you cut services or you raise revenues. There’s always a trade off but you can’t have your cake and eat it too
This fellow is doing a fantastic job. Respect.
It's just despicable how it seems universally okay in America to say the absolute worst things about homeless people. You'll be rightly called out if you call somebody a slur based on their race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, but man, it seems rare that somebody bats an eye if you call a homeless person a "drug addict," "lazy," or a "bum."
Is being unhoused an immutable personal trait? Seems like a poor comparison
so true. we live in a nation where you can't call an unemployed drug user a lazy drug user. they are an individual facing addiction and experiencing homelessness.
Thank you NYT for promoting Marks wonderful work and channel, sharing the humanity of the average person struggling in the US.
Thanks for the kind words
Greatest country in the world! For the 1%.
This is why rent should be capped at a federal level and be regulated based on each city and the average median household income level to ensure places that are "popular" cant have insane living cost just "because its in NYC or LA"
If rent was capped you would have to cap everything else so that can’t happen
Google rent control studies.
Only real solution is to build more housing. If people have options on where to go, then landlords cannot justify raising rents.
oh man they changed the title of this video lol.
Then you have waitlists and haven't solved much at all
There are three big lies that I cannot stand anymore.
The first is that everything is a choice. For example, not being able to choose otherwise is basically the definition of addiction.
The second lie is that people who may have made bad choices or have whatever character flaw deserve to live in homelessness. No one deserves to live without a home. This is why every prison has a roof.
The third lie is sneaky and subtle. It is the omission of context. Only if you strip away all the context, you can make an argument for punishing homeless people for being homeless. Because you reduced them from a human to an empty phrase.
People do have choices in most cases. It's usually a combination of factors that lead us to the worst case situation. As for addiction, how should we treat people with gambling addictions or violent predispositions? Should we give them a pass? Most likely it IS genetically influenced.
@@globalfamily8172 I think you should learn about genetics first before making such wild statements. Secondly, no one advocated for leaving homeless people or addicts as they are. They need a home, therapy, and a way back into society. But putting them in prison achieves the opposite and puts them even further into a downwards spiral (e.g. by making it even more unlikely for them to get a job).
@@globalfamily8172there's a vast difference in the chemical warfare, targeted by enemy states and biden-endorsed attack with the flooding that's wiping out generations of adults compared to gambling. Might be hitting the same neuroreceptors and have a dopamine kick, but theres a major difference in the chemical depletion in our bodies
Purdue, FDA most complicit in the direction of where all this was and went. RFK Jr is so spot on with how he discusses this topic. Lex Fridman podcast he addressed this in detail because of his own personal past, he is most capable of devising a plan to bring millions of Americans relief in a safe manner. Politics aside, I'm speaking directly to his personal experience and if there was a specific area I wish to see him lead regardless of elections, it is department of health and public social services to help folks. Most wish to be free of their disease and would offer help if they could to the next person
@@nilsp9426 Learn about genetics? I studied behavioral genetics - should try reading this book yourself 'Behavioral Genetics' Seventh Edition
by Valerie Knopik (Author), Jenae Neiderhiser (Author), John DeFries (Author), Robert Plomin (Author). My cousin only quit heroin in jail and credits that with saving his life. Alternatively, I've lost several relatives despite therapy. They never did hold a job and were supported by the system until they died. I am not denying people need services, it's just not going to work if they don't want to change.
So heartbreaking. These ARE PEOPLE TOO!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for posting this. It has been so alarming to see the public attitude toward homeless people become more and more cruel in recent years. This may help some.
Because they are gross and nobody wants to live next to them
I wish for each of them to have a place to go that is safe, private, warm when is cold and cool when is hot. A place where they dont have to move if they want to stay. A place where they wont be punish with money for existing. If you dont have money to have a rental home, how will you have money to pay a ticket? Make it make sense
You do know drugs and alcohol aren't cheap right? For every person living on the street because they lost their job through no fault of their own, or by injury or whatnot, there are dozens who are there because they would rather be drunk or high. Until you can separate out the ones who want to better their lives from the ones who don't care, then they are all going to be treated like the majority.
Where I live a one bedroom apartment averages $1850 per month. Two bedrooms average $2300. Many of these most vulnerable are the mentally ill, elderly, and physically disabled. Where will thy get an apartment with government benefits of $1000 per month? Geared to income housing has a five year wait list in my city. We have tent cities everywhere. Our mayor has given amnesty to anyone who sets up a tent in a city park.
This is important journalism
Mark’s TH-cam channel is called “ _Invisible_ _People_ ”
It is literally illegal to sleep, if you don’t have a home, hotel, or shelter to sleep in.
In Grant's Pass there is a shelter available. Because it is private, and it is a church, the guidelines for staying there may be different than publicly funded shelters. In either public or private shelters, there are guidelines that need to be followed; of course, this implies that seeking a bed at a shelter is a choice.
@@user-mv9tt4st9k There aren’t enough beds there. All these cities have to do is designate an area for the homeless to sleep. Plenty of land around there. Then they can ban them from other areas.
Forcing religious indoctrination in return for stolen human rights is a violation of human rights,
The right to exist is a human right, violating that is an abuse of human rights laws that violate human rights make the city liable for human rights abuses and violating treaty governments that allow cities towns states to pass laws that violate human rights are punitive responsible and criminal in the world court and should be prosecuted. For human rights violations. Capitalism is not a excuse for violation of human rights. Regardless of the sentiment of those who profit from such,
Similarly if a terrorist profits from human rights violations and the terrorist economy is in jeopardy would we give them a pass
Everybody gets a plate before anyone gets seconds, but for housing.
it's really scary that I've never seen it from that perspective before 🤦
That's just tip of the iceberg. Many unhoused are able to crash on couches, so they aren't counted in these numbers. And the number of families with school age children is heartbreaking. Many of LA's unhoused have jobs. They just cannot afford rent with those jobs.
At least youre open minded enough to see a new perspective!
Uncontrolled capitalism is just so great, for the people for the planet. Good job humanity.
What would be a better system?
stop blaming capitalism for every single problem.
Where the government bails out banks, this is not capitalism sir.
@@MrGoalie2012😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Why do you think these people can't afford a house or somewhere stable to live? Like honestly why? Is it because rich corporations own every single means of getting anything in the US and you have no safety net due to...... UNCONTROLLED CAPITALISM
The creator of this video stated the problem- “ unaffordable housing!” This is not from capitalism. It’s found in ALL the cities run by democrats. It’s sad. But it’s true. Absolute failed economic policies.
This guy is a wonderful human being. We need more people like him. Please help these people.
When the Vancouver police call it " Hide the homeless." when directed to move homeless out.
I think one of the reasons is family and societal structures also.In many societies, family bond is good where if a family member is in trouble, that person is taken care and empowered to rise again.
That's what I feel too. Americans don't seem to be very supportive of their relatives. As a Brazilian I am sure if I was ever at the brink of homelessness my family would at the very least provide me a place to sleep, eat and shower every day.
Most of them need a break, and the economy is causing this. My family and I almost ended in the streets because we had "bad credit" and no one would rent us a house. Society needs to demand the government a solution to the housing crisis.
Such sensitivity! Very powerful
Thank you for doing this. I volunteer helping the homeless. It's a real mix bag of reasons why there are street people.
Housing is a human right. I believe in guaranteed housing, unconditional housing, quality, decent housing that is safe, non-toxic, well-maintained, and conducive to good health and thriving.
My heart aches for all of them.
Open your home to them
I live in Seattle and it feels like a majority of people here discriminate against our homeless folks who just need help and affordable housing. It’s so wrong to victim blame and call these people no-good drug addicts but it feels like there’s nothing we can say sometimes
Usually the news will show the bad things. When the city does the “sweeps” of the encampments, the news reports on all the stuff that they find -weapons, drug paraphernalia, etc. they show the camp fires with their propane tanks blowing up. Also, even citizens report on dangers such as robberies by the homeless and even being gun pointed. We just don’t hear as many good stories.
I just went to Seattle and it didn't look so bad. I would like to trade my homeless in San Francisco for your cleaner looking homeless in Seattle. Your streets are clean as well
I will Always know what being Homeless taught me. Its crazy, crazy, and very Sadden by this indication and hope the best many to make it!!!😢😢😢
Housing is a human right.
No it’s not. You don’t have a right to someone else’s labor
Sounds very communistic . But you know what’s your problem ? You forgot the second part of the deal . You need to work .
@@junglesuperstar9270Ask That on hasidic Jews in Israel that you government financed, Do they Work ???? 😂😂😂😂
@@dariusalias870 how are Hasidic Jews relevant to the situation with homelessness in the USA?
Actually, no it's not. There's this weird place called reality. It's actually the opposite of fantasy.
Can happen by accident everybody, especially if you don't have family, and true friends.
Luckily I'm not, been in apartment rental business for about 30 years, I've seen a lot.
Worst of all are addicted ppl., dangerous, stay sober guys, no matter what.
Thank you for making this. I've been homeless three times, each time for a different reason.
Very sad 😢 We are all equal. These persons are as important as any of us, they are all one-of-a-kind with unique skills, known or unknown.
The crazy thing is some of them even have great career and education back then. I was stunned seeing the woman said that she had an masters degree and unfortunately still become homeless.
It's a very sad fact seeing good education & career can't even guarantee your future life in this economy.
The state must intervene with better social approach to solve these problems!
Our own government is the major cause of homelessness. Many people become homeless because they are sick, and bankrupt because our government sold out our health care system to Multinational foreign and large American corporations who care only for their greedy profit. These corporations also buy up neighborhoods displacing people and increasing rents and forcing people to the streets. Also many people on the streets need medications they are not getting and when they act strange, people call them drug addicts. I blame Congress for this mess, they get big campaign money to let this happen. Dark money here and tax fraud. Where is the IRS and the Justice department.
I love this man's job and his channel. There's several stories to think about.
I live abroad in South America, if I had the money, I would open a english school and hire these american homeless as english teachers, they are native speakers, they have value abroad for english schools. Many people on america has a college degree, and can even be professional teachers on USA. They would definately live a better life here.
The number one reason is some sort of mental health issue. If you volunteer, you will see 90% are mentally different. It’s hard to gain and sustain employment that way. Eventually most end up homeless. Their families get tired of dealing them a lot of times. Mental illness is the worst thing that ever happened to humanity. It’s so sad to see young people not having lives because of anxiety disorders or many other forms of mental illness.
The opinion piece said that this wasn’t the case.
@@TheTrueOnyxRose So. Its not housing cost, though that is a big part of it.
@@TheTrueOnyxRoseThe activist presenting his opinion also cherry-picked the people he put on camera. I would submit the many, many times I commuted with a transfer near City Hall in Downtown Los Angeles. Of the dozen or so transients, one or two were stable enough to carry on a rational conversation. The others lashed out at those offering help, screamed obscenties at the sky, wandered the sidewalks aimlessly, or took up available benches and blocked sidewalks.
I hope that helps you understand why it is the OP's opinion that "90% are mentally different."
@@user-mv9tt4st9k:
You’ve never been there. You’re just an outsider.
@@user-mv9tt4st9kthe fact that used the word activist automatically reveals whose side youre on.
Invisible people is a great channel. I’ve been following mark’s channel for some time and it does a great deal to be able to empathize with the unhoused
Every single homeless person here in NYC (who is actually living in the streets) either suffers from severe mental illness, has a substance abuse issue or a combination of both!! There are plenty of resources for sane and sober homeless folks who can follow simple rules, go through the system and get all of their welfare benefits and housing. Ofcourse, the process is expedited for homeless families with kids. I don't think people should be allowed to camp at public parks or in front of someone's business or home, but also a homeless shelter is not the right place for folks with severe mental illness, Please, bring back the long term mental hospitals so these people can get the treatment they desperately need...
Invisible People!
❤sending a huge encouragement to these people ❤to keep fighting to get the help and the way to change your life 🙏🏻
I wonder whether the politicians who are making all the laws criminalizing homelessness have thought about how they are going to collect the fines. It just isn't realistic for that community in Oregon to give out $300 fines to homeless people. How do they expect to collect the fine? Are they going to arrest her and spend money housing and feeding her in jail ? It is costing them thousands of dollars to arrest her.
Amazing reporting. Keep supporting independent journalists like this man, NYT 👏🏼
Heartbreaking.
I myself was effectively homeless february 2023. I work a full time job, no drug or alcohol addictions and u was displaced from my corporate owned apartment complex due to affordability. 4 years earlier my monthly rent was $830 by the time I was evicted my monthly rent was $1300. Housing affordability is a real issue.
Greed has destroyed this nation.
Thank you for sharing this powerful video. I pray we as a society do a better job recognizing and affirming the humanity in each of these individuals and meeting them with non judgemental empathy and understanding. Any one of us could and up in this situation, which is a scary thought.
There are some homeless people who got some sever mental illness, its almost a given. I was on the streets for a long time partly due to mental illness and drug addiction after getting injured at work.
Title with the stories, say it all! Thank you for the video! 😔🙏📿
This man has been sharing people’s stories and experiences on his channel “Invisible People.” Humanizing our brothers and sisters.
Invisible people is an incredible channel!
NYT thank you for publishing this
This was honestly so heartbreaking. Not only did this open up my perspective of life, but it should be ILLEGAL to judge and criminalize people for existing… I pray for everyone in need
95 billion for foreign countries just approved 👌 👏 🙌 👍
Apples andanges, go back to FOX News.
When I find out that someone is going through hard times, 'of that magnitude', these are the 3 questions that I ask: #1 - How was that person raised ? #2 - What kind of a family did that person come from ? #3 - What kind of a situation was that person born into ? The reason why I don't judge, is because for all I know, the situation that the person is going through, might 'not' be that person's fault. "OH, AND BY THE WAY" - If the mother of that person might have had a history of an addiction, (that she could not resist), then what might have repeatedly happened to that person, while that person was 'in the womb of an addict ?' Don't be surprised, because 'some' pregnant women don't give a rip about what they smoke, drink, snort, or shoot in their veins when 'they know' that another "PERSON" has been conceived in the womb.
All the more reason to not ban abortions.
@@NobodyNeedstoknow-bq5px Oh, so 'murder' is the answer ? 👎
@@successfulexcellent1646 Says the ignorant person who thinks a couple cells make a living organism. Failed science that hard, did you?
Thankyou for showing the humanity. The lack of affordable housing is causing this, the criminals are at the top. Greed has priced so many out of their homes. Wages aren't going up, but the rent is.
"Criminalizing homelessness won't make it go away"
Actually, we have numerous blue cities as case studies of what happens when you just let them do whatever they want, and it always turns the place into a dump, and people get harassed. Therefore conversely, doing the opposite massively cuts down on this, drastically increasing the quality of the area in comparison.
😢I am so sorry people...
this is my worst nightmare :( god bless them
Mark is still one of my heroes....all the way over here in Scandinavia! 🕊
I have been following your inspiring channel about homeless people for a long time. I am so happy that you finally get to be heard by the New York Times. We have an increasing number of homeless people here in Montreal too, mainly due to the increasing prices of apartments and what we call here renovictions, which is when a new landlord buys the building and evicts people by giving them money. In some cases, elderly people who have worked all their lives but who have a limited budget for retirement end up in the streets. It’s time to find sustainable solutions. For example, Finland has implemented the housing first policy (which was created in the US first) and eradicated almost completely this issue and was able to lower the costs by providing a house first to all these people. We can do this. We must do this. It’s time to treat others as we would like to be treated, as humans.❤
I hope you don't make the same mistake we did by not stipulating that the policy only applies to it's own citizens and does not cover new arrivals. If you don't, you should understand that it could serve as an enticement for outsiders to flood in and overwhelm the system. This is what we're seeing here in our cities that have these types of safety nets in place. On top of the issues one would expect when a city is populated beyond capacity, we're seeing more and more cases like the ones featured in this video-regular Americans without help because resources have been spread too thin.
Thank you New York Times for this 🙌🙏🏻
Comment for the algorithm. This is such an important topic.
Thank you for featuring Mark’s work on this. We need more voices advocating for the homeless, especially now. This topic has never been more important ❤
I was homeless for 19 days. I bathe ever single day. It might be a sponge bath. But kept my hygiene in checked. Clean clothes everyday. So clean shorts and socks for sure. I do go to the laundromats. Never even went hungry. Went to shelters that feed you, food banks to get food and even churches. No one will let you go hungry. Slept on benches, picnic tables, under trees,abandon places and shelters. Rough 19 days, but you couldn't tell I was homeless. Was clean and didn't carry anything during the day. I used a locker to lock my stuff up and get my stuff at night. Got back on my feet in no time. Wasn't going to stay homeless forever.
Its a sick society when people can be homeless and the rich get tax cuts, capitalism has destroyed society and we're coming to a tipping point of wealth distribution
People below a certain income threshhold pay zero in income taxes. They also receive benefits and housing subsidies on top of paying zero in income taxes.
Without the rich, there is no innovation leading to the establishment of businesses that create the jobs that generate the income that can be saved or invested/reinvested (in an innovative idea, business, or stock market, etc.).
Without capitalism, there is no incentive to work toward achieveable goals that create jobs that will benefit others and generate wealth. Some of us were taught to think the way you do; some of us grew up and invested time into educating ourselves about how simple economic systems (e.g., capitalism) work. 🙄
You really cannot get tax cuts if you don't pay taxes. Many get more back than they put in.
@user-mv9tt4st9k the numbers don't lie but liars use numbers 🤓 🖕
@user-mv9tt4st9k
Where did you get that poor people don’t get taxed? We do. Taxes come out of every check that we have which is why we get extra help because our income alone after tax is not enough to pay for food and such. Learn how taxes work
@@user-mv9tt4st9k Not enough though, clearly, if you still believe that simplistic fairy tale.
Prayers 🙏🙏
Tots and pears 🍐
There need to be some rules. I've been chased by homeless men threatening me. Homeless men here obey no rules while the rest of us get tickets and raised taxes. We need to get some safe areas for homeless - the problem is dangerous mentally ill and addicts endanger everyone.
Thank you for this documentary! ❤ god bless you!
You are reading this comment, you are a very beautiful person.
American dream..... Im so glad that im in europe
Lol Europe is on fire 🔥
After 2 stretches in county jail & a couple years homeless I can definitely say no aspect of the experience makes me want to be a better person. NONE. At best I don’t want to be a worse person, but full bizzaro-AS GOOD AS IT GETS experience.
Thank you for showing what i myself went through for 20 years.😢
It's both true that the unhoused need support - housing, counselling, jobs, etc. but allowing groups of homelessness to create camps together brings crime (including sexual violence), litter (including needles) and keeps them from seeking help at a shelter. There's nothing compassionate about letting someone languish on the streets
Homelessness and addiction is a health crisis and shouldn’t be a legal issue!
I am houseless as I have been living in my van since April 30, 2021. I had to sell our home after losing my husband. But I will be ok. I’m working full time right now and with the $ I didn’t spend on rent for the last 3 years, I just bought a piece of land to park on when I’m not at work. I will continue to sacrifice and work until I’m back above water. It’s the loneliness that is the hardest part. I definitely feel the stigma from my fellow Americans.
It’s the truth. One socioeconomic barrier to another one to another one!
This is awful. I hope these nice people get the help they need or if nothing else just suffer a little less.
I’m so angry 😡 over this!!