Thread: New bike path
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Old March 14th 18, 10:43 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
JBeattie
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Default New bike path

On Wednesday, March 14, 2018 at 8:21:16 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-03-13 21:00, jbeattie wrote:
On Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 2:09:54 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-03-13 13:41, jbeattie wrote:
On Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 12:58:11 PM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-03-13 12:23, jbeattie wrote:


[...]


The other solution is to starve the beast (big government).
High tax states make housing so expensive that too many people
are forced to drop out into the streets. California is a prime
example of that. Try getting a building permit out here, let
alone pay for it. Socialism does not work.

Hmmm. Referring to my map, how do you explain Texas and Florida
-- or even Pennsylvania?


Simple: You need to look at the total population and then divide
the number of homeless by that. Texas has almost the number of
inhabitants as California but only a fraction of our number of
homeless.

Same with Florida. Half the number of people as in California but
less than a quarter of our homeless.


Both states have cities with some of the highest homeless rates in
the US -- notwithstanding regressive social policies.

"More than half of the homeless population in the United States was
in five states: CA (21% or 115,738 people), NY (16% or 88,250
people), FL (6% or 35,900 people), TX (4% or 23,678 people), and MA
(4% or 21,135 people)"


Again, the rate matters, not absolute numbers. "4% of the country" is
not a "rate". Journalism at its finest, I guess.


https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/10/13...s-people-10300

States with high and low homeless rates are all over the country.
The highest rates of homelessness among states are in Hawaii (465 per
100,000), followed by New York (399) and California (367).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.34cbc2a1b7a3



That depends on which sources one believes.

But it doesn't matter, in the end it confirms that the problem is more
prevalent in left-leaning states. Which is not a surprise at all.





You're not going to "tough love" a bunch of schizophrenics or drug
addled or brain injured people into getting work. You just push
them further into criminality or they do nothing and die off due
to starvation or exposure.


We have to take a look at how states with a much lower homeless
percentage do it. They usually have a much less generous welfare
system and that is part of the reason. The other is smaller
government, lower taxes and thus more affordable housing. You can
buy the same kind of house for half in Texas versus California.

Not all homeless are druggies. The topper so far was a homeless man
whom I gave some money. It was in Washington D.C., he was
well-mannered, a bit dirty but wore an old suit, with tie!


I mean those are options.


Sure, but out-of-control welfare isn't. Neither is legalizing
marijuana which will backfire, big time.


https://www.theguardian.com/society/...ortland-oregon



But, for some reason, those options tend to turn people off. Bunch
of snowflakes! What we need is a longer snow season!


That's the problem, there are shelters but often homeless do not
use them. One thing shelters must do though is to also provide for
their animals. Nobody would go into a shelter and leave their dog
to die outside in a snow storm. I know you don't hold dogs in high
regard but other people do, just as I do.


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.


That has already been studied at nauseam and the conclusions are
generally always the same:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed...114-story.html

On purpose I have brought a link from a somewhat left-leaning paper.
Even they admit to what the root causes for the increase (and decrease
in other regions) in homelessness are.


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.


That is not what I read.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.2ff35e19e705


Did you read it all? It links to this: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi...PH.2017.303848 The numbers are equivocal and certainly do not show an epidemic of car accidents after the legalization of MJ.



There is more. I lived in NL where the stuff became legal decades ago.
That was one sad story and in sharp contrast to Germany where I alsio
live and later commuted into daily. In our small village we had lots of
zombies running around. People with hardcore brain damage from drugs.
The story was nearly always the same. First "harmless' drugs, then peer
pressure to try some of the "real stuff". The stuff that the shady guy
in the long coat at the bar over there was pushing. The young son of my
landlady who otherwise had everything going for him (good education,
very pretty girlfriend, etc.) died from an overdose. The police found
his body in a canal. Legalized pot? No thanks. I am squarely against it
and will ever be.


If MJ were such a powerful gateway drug, most everyone I know would be a drooling heroin addict. Even my wife has tried it, and she's as Lutheran as they come. When it comes to my son, I'm more worried about alcohol.

I haven't seen an appreciable difference in driver behavior in the years since MJ was legalized. It may happen, who knows -- and I really could care less if MJ were legal. It's not y deal, but I think other things have made my life more dangerous as a cyclist.

I've had more problems with motorists because of cell phones and increased traffic (and the rage that goes along with that). If you want to stomp your feet about something, try cell phones and distracted driving -- and alcohol. I think plain old ETOH is the cause of more accidents than any other intoxicant by a long shot.

-- Jay Beattie.



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