Side note: If people really wanted the streets clean they could allocate funds to programs that ensure people receive treatment while initiating an underground operation to slip opioid blockers in everyone's dope. It'd take probably about 3 months to really start it, if people were motivated and serious.
Discussion
I was just watching a video about a guy from Portland who goes around talking to homeless people. I didn’t know that Portland decriminalized all drugs and now pretty much all the homeless people are on Fentanyl. Apparently they were following the model of the Netherlands and Portugal, But both of those places had rehabilitation resources in place while Portland did not. I think there is so many factors to blame here I will not get into, But really the answer is supposed to be voting. The whole idea of representative democracy is that turtles get together and vote to flip over the upside down turtle. But big money always gets in the way, And will in an increasing scale as more money is created and not saved by the people on the street. Just watching China eat our lunch by doing a reverse opium war through precursor export to Mexico is striking. At this point the comfort of socialism with the rich is more like a nice cozy life raft over the waterfall. Just buying bitcoin with all the decaying money I acquire seems like the only instinctive self preservation I can see. I wish I could help people but a broken system is not going to solve my problems, And I am not waiting around for things to change, When they will only get worse.
Yeah on one hand you don't want to force anything and on the other hand sometimes you have to. Portland isn't the only place with this problem, and they modeled something based on another location that is ... For lack of better phrasing, a more ideal place to live. We've seen the effects of the experiment and now have to determine whether or not we fix it.
People resort to living on the street and getting addicted to drugs because of financial issues and trauma. They usually continue spiraling out of control, wallowing in despair and a sense of hopelessness until they die, or someone pulls them out of it. The trick is, you have to make them want it or it'll never stick.
Imo rounding up drug dealers and replacing the supply with opioid blockers isn't a bad idea... But it's mine, so I'm biased. As far as ensuring there's resources... It's become hard to trust politicians with these issues. The Republicans only listen to the republican voices and the Dems only listen to Dems... They're in an imaginary battle and everyone is suffering while they wait.
** and you can always give out free water and food with opioid blockers in them
..... It's a dirty trick... But for a good cause.
I see the narcan pens people have or police or ambulance workers. There is no controlling the cartel. They are the ones who introduced Fentanyl in the first place. You would need to stop China from producing precursors to really stop the flow of fentanyl.
A long time ago I thought the same thing... Until I remembered Afghanistan and Russia.
The fascist mafia hidden from society keeps fentanyl flowing through the cartel so they make money to keep southern Italy and Sicily afloat. It all gets laundered through the Catholic Church. The whole thing started in Vietnam when heroin was first synthesized in Marseille, And sold in Jazz clubs in New York. That is not going away any time soon. Treatment and compassion for addiction is the solution.
Yeah Italy and Russia still have mafias in new York, California, Florida and Jersey... I don't see them moving anytime soon. However, the Italians and Russians have beef, maybe if they were as ruthless as they used to be they could at least team up with the Irish and get the Russians out.
.... I'm being sarcastic -ish .... It's definitely a persistent threat.
I think it is more like they are all business partners. London has been living on offshore Russian money for quite a while now. Google Simeion Mogelevich. The truth is the western economy would fall apart without the criminals. Global expansion doesn’t happen when everyone works part time at target for the rest of their lives. The majority of people who actually have the ambition to make large amounts of money are people who don’t mind doing things illegally.
I think the issue about opioid blockers and dealers is that the illegal nature of fentanyl makes it so the cartels will make more money the more illegal it is. I think methadone clinics and housing, And physical and emotional therapy is the solution. You arrest one dealer and three take his place. Like you said people need to want it. It takes five years for someone totally out there to recover and adjust to living life like the poorest working people. The constant shuffle of being on the street has an unpredictable effect that can not be punished out of existence. People just need better resources unconditionally. When living a decent life is the easiest thing to do people will do it, Because being addicted to fentanyl and living in a tent in the park is currently the easiest thing to do with no resources.
Seems like you've had this weighing on your mind for a while. I imagine you see it often and perhaps even feel like more of the world looks like what you see than it actually does.
I agree with you... However, everyone is different, readjustment periods vary. Not to mention -- High risk -> high reward is very appealing to people, yet making it legal won't stop it.
It is kind of a personal detail of my life, But a few years ago my Mother was living in a homeless shelter. I bought her a van so she could get away from the other homeless people. What ended up happening is that she had a guy from the shelter who gave her a bunch of crack and beat her up and forced her to sign the van over to him.
It takes a family to solve the problems people have. Money will not buy emotional resolution, Money will not buy you a different life. It will help you move forward with your ambitions but it will not solve your problems for you. The hard work that people want to avoid in life often is the thing that leads to them being happy, Rich or poor.
Drugs are just a condition of an underlying problem.
I also studied brain chemistry and people can very easily get their minds out of whack when they get upset and turn to substance abuse to make themselves feel better. Education is the solution to this problem. It sounds so cliché but eating well and getting some exercise is the best way to feel good. If you don’t feel good drugs will not be something enjoyable. Drugs should be used to enhance your experiences, And if you have a bad experience, It will be an enhanced bad experience. In the right context when you are happy and healthy substances can be really positive. But the idea is that society needs to be there for everyone to have a good time.
I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I mostly agree with you. And it is cliche... But some people actually just walk away. It's rare. Most have to hit rock bottom or have some rude awakening.
When it comes down to it, it feels like moping the ocean. People don't want to invest in something that's not a guarantee. They don't want to feel like they're wasting their money and just chucking it out into a black hole... (A lost cause) I think society has been numbed to a lot of things and they would rather not waste their emotions and energy. The only way to fix it starts with making people care.
Just absurd to think about a military budget of 85 trillion, But people can’t afford to pay rent in a studio apartment. America bad yo.
That's an entirely different thing. Some people don't want war or the need for a military and some people understand why it's necessary. Of course people in the military would love an unlimited budget... Oh what a magical world it would be.
America has a lot of problems yo.
Yea nuclear bombs are a pretty compelling reason to print money. I think I am in both camps here. Eventually bitcoin will create a financially prohibitive cost vector making kinetic war obsolete.
What if it has the opposite effect
I think nuclear holocaust has a pretty fast way of sorting itself out. Have you heard of kinetic hypersonic missiles? At that point having nuclear warheads is more of a liability because you have a space capable bunker buster that can destroy the missiles in the host country. Digital warfare on a cost basis is better for global business.