jbeattie writes:

[...]

How has welfare changed in the last 20 years? That's not a rhetorical
question. Really -- go and look at the changes and analyze whether
that accounts for increased homelessness in California. Track the
changes against homeless population increases and decreases, then you
can determine what social policies make a difference. Personally, I
see a lot of crazy people, many drug affected, some on the streets by
choice (the uber Bohemian set) and the rare person who lost a job and
became economically displaced.

Washington has had legalized MJ since 2012. Crime rate has
dropped. The number of traffic fatalities in Washington dropped after
the first year of legal marijuana possession and use. I'm sure there
are some consequences to legalization, but there have been no
catastrophes in Washington or Oregon.

As for dogs, if I were living on the edge, I would not own a pet,
unless I were a woman and needed the protection.

Men are immune from assault and theft? News to me. One of the big
problems of being homeless is that there is no secure place to put your
stuff, so it gets stolen by other homeless people, or destroyed by
police. Another problem is that if you are assaulted it's very unlikely
that anyone in authority will care.

Dogs are a rational response to both problems, but they make it a lot
harder to get any kind of normal housing. There is enough free or low
cost food in the US that feeding a dog is possible for almost anyone, if
the highest standards in dog chow are not insisted upon.

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