My wife and I love birds. We have a treed lot and they fly happily amongst them. Two plus years ago, I bought her a large bird feeder for Christmas. Boy did the birds come. We noticed intense competition for the feeder, birds fighting for position on the feeder. And fighting themselves. And bird strikes happening on our picture windows, which never happened before.
Taking care of the feeder was work, the birds make quite a mess. Then we started getting rats and mice in our garage, which before had never happened. A pest control specialist clearly stated it was the feeder. We removed the feeder and it took approx six months for the problems to abate. Now the birds happily fly in our trees, grabbing insects themselves off of the moss and lichen. Sometimes the solution causes the problem.
One other thought about this thought inducing piece, thanks Allen. An interesting (and frustrating) consequence of our societal largesse/enabling/pathological altruism is the destruction of our alternative transportation systems which we have invested billions of taxpayer dollars into. Random, unpredictable violence, open drug use, vandalism, litter abound on Max/TriMet which has led to a decrease of users. And litter, broken glass and other debris make riding a bike problematic in the city, along with the harassment by the homeless. This weekend my wife and I visited friends who gave up on Portland and Multnomah County and moved eastward. Both are avid bicyclists who shared the joy of riding without the constant fear of flat tires and random, unpredictable behavior on their bicycle rides.
Allan, thank you. By presenting history about automobiles, it is easy to relate to our personal experiences. Our West coast is managed politically by people who present their altruism as the only humane solution. It seems that personal responsibility is much less important because Big Brother will provide whatever is necessary. "Induced" demand is a clever observation. We are each empathetic for those who fall down? Nevertheless, where is the balance that protects the majority who must pay?
A middle way has merit, and I support shelter, food, but also mandatory abstinence in secure facilities for 45 days for those who have near death overdoses, jail time for those who violate public laws ie camping on the street, public intoxication, drug possession, and drug use in public. I think punishment for crimes such as those, and then civil commitment for up to six weeks in local psych units associate with hospitals. You can ignore severe mental health, but it comes back on the community which is what Portland is experiencing. And for all our sakes, let's stop distributing needles to people with addictions. It facilitates their drug use and leads to more death. It also normalizes the drug culture.
Wow. It took some major throat-clearing, but Allan finally said it: "Provide the path of least resistance to those incapable of acting in their best long-term interests, and they will flow toward it."
This is both true and brave, since the city is now run by the, "They came to do good and did very well" gang.
Next step: following the money. Be interesting to see where NW Examiner goes with this...
Comparing this issue to Robert Moses is an interesting way to think about it. In Why Nothing Works, Marc Dunkelman uses Robert Moses to illustrate the inherent tension between protecting individual rights and governing efficiently. Moses showed that when one person has broad authority to make decisions and execute them quickly, government can accomplish remarkable things. But that efficiency often came at the expense of neighborhoods, property owners, and communities that had little ability to challenge his decisions.
Dunkelman argues that the challenge is finding the right balance between two competing values. On one hand, strong centralized authority can deliver projects quickly but risks trampling individual rights. On the other hand, extensive procedural protections safeguard those rights but can make it extraordinarily difficult for government to act.
In Portland, homelessness and addiction services illustrate this tradeoff. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars being spent over the years, the problems remain severe. Residents continue to experience the impacts of crime, public drug use, and other forms of disorder, while many people experiencing homelessness remain on the streets far longer than necessary. For individuals struggling with addiction, delays are especially costly. Every day that treatment, housing, or other interventions are postponed increases the risk of overdose, serious illness, or death. Protecting individual rights is essential, but a system that cannot respond quickly enough can end up harming both the broader community and the very people it is intended to help.
"When will Portland realize that the spiraling demand for addiction, mental health and homeless services has something to do with how we supply it?"
Without an effective critic and reformer of the area's addiction, mental health and homeless services in elected office, this question and others like it will probably never command the attention of Portland's feckless mainstream media and disengaged voters. The politicians, bureaucrats and nonprofits whose bankrupt ideologies, incompetence and self-interested decisions have reduced the city to its current state will have no reason to fear being held publicly accountable.
For reasons that, to my knowledge, no one has been able to explain satisfactorily, Portland's grownups, the types of individuals who used to run for and win public office as recently as the 1990s, have disappeared from the political public life of the city. Are they and their interests somehow immune from the effects of the interrelated crises many of us encounter every day? Who do they think is going to turn the city around? Do they even care?
That's why I am voting for Sharon Meieran for Multnomah County Chair. If she is successful, perhaps she will encourage other determined centrist reformers to run for office.
Yes, a good analogy. Very reasoned and stripped of anger and emotion and I understand why. Yet I feel this is at the expense of not conveying the scale of the human catastrophe we witness every day. At least the roads that were built remained in use, whether overloaded or not. The expenditure on homelessness, on the other hand, leaves very few benefits for the community when the hostels are closed for misuse. The human tragedies of illness and premature deaths cannot be erased or tarmaced over. Roads are roads. Drugs and desolate, bowed people are culture. It is far more serious.
Eloquent analogy
Well reasoned argument that is worth considering in terms of policy going forward.
My wife and I love birds. We have a treed lot and they fly happily amongst them. Two plus years ago, I bought her a large bird feeder for Christmas. Boy did the birds come. We noticed intense competition for the feeder, birds fighting for position on the feeder. And fighting themselves. And bird strikes happening on our picture windows, which never happened before.
Taking care of the feeder was work, the birds make quite a mess. Then we started getting rats and mice in our garage, which before had never happened. A pest control specialist clearly stated it was the feeder. We removed the feeder and it took approx six months for the problems to abate. Now the birds happily fly in our trees, grabbing insects themselves off of the moss and lichen. Sometimes the solution causes the problem.
As Yoga Berra once said: "You can observe a lot about baseball by just watching."
One other thought about this thought inducing piece, thanks Allen. An interesting (and frustrating) consequence of our societal largesse/enabling/pathological altruism is the destruction of our alternative transportation systems which we have invested billions of taxpayer dollars into. Random, unpredictable violence, open drug use, vandalism, litter abound on Max/TriMet which has led to a decrease of users. And litter, broken glass and other debris make riding a bike problematic in the city, along with the harassment by the homeless. This weekend my wife and I visited friends who gave up on Portland and Multnomah County and moved eastward. Both are avid bicyclists who shared the joy of riding without the constant fear of flat tires and random, unpredictable behavior on their bicycle rides.
Allan, thank you. By presenting history about automobiles, it is easy to relate to our personal experiences. Our West coast is managed politically by people who present their altruism as the only humane solution. It seems that personal responsibility is much less important because Big Brother will provide whatever is necessary. "Induced" demand is a clever observation. We are each empathetic for those who fall down? Nevertheless, where is the balance that protects the majority who must pay?
A middle way has merit, and I support shelter, food, but also mandatory abstinence in secure facilities for 45 days for those who have near death overdoses, jail time for those who violate public laws ie camping on the street, public intoxication, drug possession, and drug use in public. I think punishment for crimes such as those, and then civil commitment for up to six weeks in local psych units associate with hospitals. You can ignore severe mental health, but it comes back on the community which is what Portland is experiencing. And for all our sakes, let's stop distributing needles to people with addictions. It facilitates their drug use and leads to more death. It also normalizes the drug culture.
Thank you, Allan. What you posit is such obvious common sense. How is it that Portland City and Multnomah County government cannot grasp this?
Because they walk around this city with blinders on.
Wow. It took some major throat-clearing, but Allan finally said it: "Provide the path of least resistance to those incapable of acting in their best long-term interests, and they will flow toward it."
This is both true and brave, since the city is now run by the, "They came to do good and did very well" gang.
Next step: following the money. Be interesting to see where NW Examiner goes with this...
Comparing this issue to Robert Moses is an interesting way to think about it. In Why Nothing Works, Marc Dunkelman uses Robert Moses to illustrate the inherent tension between protecting individual rights and governing efficiently. Moses showed that when one person has broad authority to make decisions and execute them quickly, government can accomplish remarkable things. But that efficiency often came at the expense of neighborhoods, property owners, and communities that had little ability to challenge his decisions.
Dunkelman argues that the challenge is finding the right balance between two competing values. On one hand, strong centralized authority can deliver projects quickly but risks trampling individual rights. On the other hand, extensive procedural protections safeguard those rights but can make it extraordinarily difficult for government to act.
In Portland, homelessness and addiction services illustrate this tradeoff. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars being spent over the years, the problems remain severe. Residents continue to experience the impacts of crime, public drug use, and other forms of disorder, while many people experiencing homelessness remain on the streets far longer than necessary. For individuals struggling with addiction, delays are especially costly. Every day that treatment, housing, or other interventions are postponed increases the risk of overdose, serious illness, or death. Protecting individual rights is essential, but a system that cannot respond quickly enough can end up harming both the broader community and the very people it is intended to help.
"When will Portland realize that the spiraling demand for addiction, mental health and homeless services has something to do with how we supply it?"
Without an effective critic and reformer of the area's addiction, mental health and homeless services in elected office, this question and others like it will probably never command the attention of Portland's feckless mainstream media and disengaged voters. The politicians, bureaucrats and nonprofits whose bankrupt ideologies, incompetence and self-interested decisions have reduced the city to its current state will have no reason to fear being held publicly accountable.
For reasons that, to my knowledge, no one has been able to explain satisfactorily, Portland's grownups, the types of individuals who used to run for and win public office as recently as the 1990s, have disappeared from the political public life of the city. Are they and their interests somehow immune from the effects of the interrelated crises many of us encounter every day? Who do they think is going to turn the city around? Do they even care?
That's why I am voting for Sharon Meieran for Multnomah County Chair. If she is successful, perhaps she will encourage other determined centrist reformers to run for office.
Yes, a good analogy. Very reasoned and stripped of anger and emotion and I understand why. Yet I feel this is at the expense of not conveying the scale of the human catastrophe we witness every day. At least the roads that were built remained in use, whether overloaded or not. The expenditure on homelessness, on the other hand, leaves very few benefits for the community when the hostels are closed for misuse. The human tragedies of illness and premature deaths cannot be erased or tarmaced over. Roads are roads. Drugs and desolate, bowed people are culture. It is far more serious.