When it comes to the mentally ill and homeless, out of sight out of mind preferred

This is some rogue site I found, but this is the same thing they are saying about "tent cities" and "shanty towns" coming back: Tent Cities in NJ making a comeback

Here is one of the many tent cities in Seattle



This one is in Nevada



NBC News "Tent cities on the rise in the US"

But these are just a few examples, they are all over the country right now.

We could talk about the horrors of asylums but that is not really germane to the topic. I had a great aunt who was sterilized at the age of 14 without her knowledge.

The asylums were not shut down by the courts, the inmates were released to fend for themselves. The indigent were not really money makers for the facilities as their fee was paid for by the state governments. No, the asylums did okay with fewer patients and comparably more money divided among fewer patients. The question still stands, should we care for the mentally ill even if it is against their will? There are a number of mental illnesses. Some people just want to be free to an extreme which includes living outdoors. Others don't have a real choice, they either have a uncontrollable compulsion or are incapable of making some rational decisions. How do we respect the decisions of the former and protect the latter? That's the rub.

Here it comes, the left has made a cottage industry out of playing the plight of the homeless for more money and more laws. They have beaten the GOP for over 30 years with something the GOP had nothing to do with. Like I said this started in good ole liberal New York with a democratic governor. So on one hand we have to have compassion for the damaged but we also have some antipathy for the corruption of the once great democratic party by opportunistic hacks.

We could talk about the horrors of asylums but that is not really germane to the topic. I had a great aunt who was sterilized at the age of 14 without her knowledge.

The asylums were not shut down by the courts, the inmates were released to fend for themselves. The indigent were not really money makers for the facilities as their fee was paid for by the state governments. No, the asylums did okay with fewer patients and comparably more money divided among fewer patients. The question still stands, should we care for the mentally ill even if it is against their will? There are a number of mental illnesses. Some people just want to be free to an extreme which includes living outdoors. Others don't have a real choice, they either have a uncontrollable compulsion or are incapable of making some rational decisions. How do we respect the decisions of the former and protect the latter? That's the rub.

Here it comes, the left has made a cottage industry out of playing the plight of the homeless for more money and more laws. They have beaten the GOP for over 30 years with something the GOP had nothing to do with. Like I said this started in good ole liberal New York with a democratic governor. So on one hand we have to have compassion for the damaged but we also have some antipathy for the corruption of the once great democratic party by opportunistic hacks. Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn

How did this become a left or right issue? Homelessness, and mental illness affects everyone doesn't it?

Anyway, there are hard questions with hard answers, and I don't think shuffling people to the edges of BF Egypt and then forcing them to stay in one area against their will solves anything. Do you? All it does is, well what my original post said leads to an "out of sight, out of mind" aspect.

Tent cities? You do realize that this is quite a step up from being homeless. It is no crime or shame. You are providing for yourself and family. There is also safety in numbers. They remind me of the Hoovervilles of the 30s. People lived in tar paper and cardboard shacks. Some of them lived in Washington DC across the street from the White House. Fun fact: do you know that people are living in the park across the street from the White House right now? You never hear about them and I have to wonder why that is. Maybe because there is a democrat in the White House. If our military can live in tents I don't wonder why we can't save some money and let illegals, terrorists, and convicts live in tents.

I had a great aunt who was sterilized at the age of 14 Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn

Just connect the dots!

It has become a left and right question. The left champions the plight of the homeless and damns the right while at the same time sweeps the streets clean for a political event like a convention. The sheer hypocrisy of the left is galling.

Tampon, before you make any more stupid and offensive statements you should read up on the 1920s, eugenics, and the 1921 Virginia mental health laws. It is a rather sickening episode in American history which helped give rise to the Holocaust. Aren't you against the holocaust Tex?

Tent cities? You do realize that this is quite a step up from being homeless. It is no crime or shame. You are providing for yourself and family. There is also safety in numbers. They remind me of the Hoovervilles of the 30s. People lived in tar paper and cardboard shacks. Some of them lived in Washington DC across the street from the White House. Fun fact: do you know that people are living in the park across the street from the White House right now? You never hear about them and I have to wonder why that is. Maybe because there is a democrat in the White House. If our military can live in tents I don't wonder why we can't save some money and let illegals, terrorists, and convicts live in tents. Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn

Yea, I hear what you are saying, but I just read some news articles of police going to these areas that you are talking about and breaking down the tents, and taking everything, to force these people to leave. So they may be doing the best they can to provide with what they have, but are viewed by the cities and towns as a blight.

Oh btw, with regard to your aunt who was sterilized, which I am not sure how or why that was interjected into this subject; are you advocating sterilizing people? I am not sure I understood what you were conveying with that comment. If so, wouldn't that be some form of Eugenics Control? If so, who gets sterilized? Who oversees it? http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.230...21102550564891

How did this become a left or right issue? Homelessness, and mental illness affects everyone doesn't it? Originally Posted by Stan.Dupp

homelessness, mental illness, & just about everything else is always the fault of the left ....well according to some on here it is.

homelessness, mental illness, & just about everything else is always the fault of the left ....well according to some on here it is. Originally Posted by JCM800

LOL so I have gathered....

That was my great aunt and I mentioned to show that many people have been affected by corrupt policies. It is not just a "look at those people" kind of thing. In the 1920 right up to the 1970s people were brutalized by the health industry with forced sterilization. They admit to over 50,000 but the number is likely higher. My great aunt was always a little off but maybe it was because she could never understand why she couldn't have children with her husbands. This doesn't even take into account such things as the Tuskagee experiments and the dissolution of the Native American population in Virginia. Progressives used to award people with the Walter Plecker award for public service. Here is some light reading for those so inclined. http://www.uwec.edu/philrel/faculty/...0lynchburg.htm


In answer to the poorly thought out post. NOT EVERYTHING is the fault of the left or the right but it is the left that has successfully co-opted the press into blaming the right. So you are complaining about a charge that the left is already guilty of. Until the left stops playing gotcha with lies and the right stops to curry favor we are not to solve any problems. Do you have something against problem solving?

Tampon, before you make any more stupid and offensive statements Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn

This from JD Idiot, who along with his twin brother IB are both pillars of the "stupid and offensive statements" community.

Just connect the dots!

So we meet again. Dr. Giles and I worked on this research back in the early 90s when I went to the University of Florida. I was the student then. I haven't talked to him in years. Maybe that is the reason that I like to wear vests.

Anyway, its been fun but I have some things to do like a gun show, visiting my mom, and looking up one of Dallas's enchanting young ladies who is visiting.

Tampon, before you make any more stupid and offensive statements you should read up on the 1920s, eugenics, and the 1921 Virginia mental health laws. It is a rather sickening episode in American history which helped give rise to the Holocaust. No it didn't. Aren't you against the holocaust Tex? Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn

The Nazis didn't need any help from the Virginia mental health laws. And those sterilizations lasted after WWII in some states.

I suggest you go to the link provided and read. Eugenics started in England with a guy named Galton and came to the US at the turn of the last century. During World War I some psychiatrists administered tests to thousands of recruits. They determined that nearly 50% of Americans were below average and recommended that 30% be prevented from reproducing. The Cold Harbor Group was instrumental in crafting laws that would withstand Supreme Court scrutiny. The 1921 Virginia laws survived the Supreme Court challenge with Buck v Bell in 1927. The Rockefeller Foundation crafted extensive laws while Germany was still recovering from World War I. In the early 30s their work was previewed by Dr. Joseph Mengeles of Germany. Members of the Cold Harbor Group went to Germany to assist in the German program. This was called the "Progressive Era" in the United States when do-gooders, scientists, and the educated elite thought they could create a better country by creating better Americans. Margaret Sanger was one of these and her work continues with Planned Parenthood.