"Let's just forget the left versus right stuff for a minute. How do you solve homelessness?
Well, we know how. You build homes and you wrap services around them—mental health care, addiction treatment, job training, case workers. It costs less than cops, ER visits, or prison. And that model has been proven repeatedly.
Finland did it in 2008, reduced homelessness by 65%.
And so, what is the United States doing? Militarized sweeps, bulldozing tents. Each time they sweep, it costs millions of dollars. And then the encampments come back in a few weeks. That doesn't solve homelessness.
And how do you reduce street crime?
Well, we know how. You build housing. You invest in jobs and mentors and healthcare. And that model's been proven repeatedly as well.
Glasgow, Scotland, for example, used to be called the murder capital of Europe. In 2004, they invested in housing, jobs, mentors, healthcare. Launched a violence reduction unit that treated violent crime as a healthcare issue. Murder rates dropped by 60%.
Baltimore just saw a huge drop in crime linked to community-led interventions.
So what's the United States doing? More incarceration for private profits. This is the most expensive, least effective system of any wealthy nation. Total waste of money.
So what about the biggest crimes? How do you reduce them?" - Matthew Cooke
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