Re: Oakland’s Homeless Americans Die Uncounted As Mayor Protects Illegal Immigrants

Source: Oakland’s Homeless Americans Die Uncounted As Mayor Protects Illegal Immigrants

I found that article on an aggreagtor, and replied to it, rather than the original. So I posted the response here, figuring it wouldn’t get approved. I then found the original, and looked at the comment section. Zerohedge commenters are a bunch of libertarians turning fascist.

That aggregator website had moderated comments, so here’s my response:

The linkbait title of this article was total bullshit, pitting undocumented immigrants against the homeless. The fact is a lot of undocumented immigrants are also homeless. It’s not as if increasing deportations is suddenly going to solve homelessness. If anything, it’ll break up families and increase homelessness.

The referenced articles make it pretty clear that gentrification is increasing homelessness. That’s another way of saying that the real estate business is creating it. It’s creating a premium product, and displacing lower-end product. The people who were served at the lower end now have fewer choices, and are becoming homeless.
The solution is to build more housing at the lower end, and the way to do that is via different taxes, particularly taxes which discourage speculation in a heated real estate market.
The mayor’s inaction on homelessness isn’t due to trying to protect undocumented immigrants. It’s just an alignment of city hall with real estate and business interests, which is the norm in any large city.

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