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People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

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Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#31

Post by russell_h »

jm_l wrote: post #25
akoumis wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have enough points to downvote you... this is why people hate techies, you view the displaced as a separate species altogether, they are just like you and your family, likely without the same upbringing and privileges Edit: Thanks guys I understand the proposal is a joke, it's just sick and callous. So all the people riffing on this joke are making nuanced social commentary as well with their analysis of home…

This is a sarcastic reference to a famous essay published by Jonathan Swift. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal )

It might be more directly a reference to this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/03/...

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#32

Post by swasheck »

ng12 wrote: post #21
henryfjordan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've been told "no, you cannot poop in our bathroom because you are homeless" at every restaurant/business in the city, would you bother looking for a bathroom the next time you had to shit? Why bother trying to have dignity if the world doesn't want to let you have any?

SF has lots of public toilets. They're just unpleasant to use for obvious reasons.

What if SF employed a few of the homeless to clean them? I’d like to see public money spent invested in people than more unusable/inaccessible utilities. Certainly not a get rich quick scheme, but it’s just a quick thought.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#33

Post by jakevn »

manfredo wrote: post #22
jakevn wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're not going to give someone a dignified place to relieve themselves, why would they care about using such a thing?

Because it's strictly better than the status quo? Given the choice between taking a crap in public and leaving a turd on the sidewalk vs. taking a crap in public and having it flushed how is the former preferable to the latter? The unfortunately reality is that creating a private space for relieving oneself is regularly abused as other commenters have pointed out. It's an instance of hostile design 1, but one that is…

The former is preferable because you are providing a disservice to the community that will not allow you dignity, even though they can most obviously afford it.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#34

Post by ineedasername »

burtonator wrote: post #8

I have a modest proposal to end this problem. There are too many homeless in San Francisco. Additionally, California has too few wolves. I propose that we release wolves into the streets of San Francisco once per month. Only the strong will be able to evade the wolves and the weak and sick will be eaten. This will lower the homeless population will simultaneously helping the wolf population rebound to record numbers.

And if you like that idea, there's babies too; they can be a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#35

Post by mc32 »

That chart tells the tale. It's quite astounding how it's climbed from ~5,500 incidents in 2011 to ~28,000 in 2018. Keep in mind this is _reported_ incidents.

It's like it's been normalized. No joke. In a residential (western) neighborhood (i.e. not SOMA) within a month I saw evidence of human feces twice [it's not like I'm out and about all day long]. Once on a set of steps, the other someone squatting behind some bushes. It's out of hand [seeing brown streaked tissue is another indicator]. Ridiculous.

Props to the chartmakers for reminding me of the Brown Zune.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#37

Post by jerrysievert »

jakevn wrote: post #16
jerrysievert wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they have those in portland (see: https://portlandloo.com ) but the problem persists there as well, even around the toilets.

Why would _one_ of these solve any problems?

not sure where "one" came from, there are many of them around portland, concentrated in problem areas. there is typically poop and needles around the toilets (which also have sharps containers that are emptied regularly), and neighboring businesses still get hit fairly heavily.

anecdote time: i had one a block from where i was living, and a block from a grocery store - while checking out, a very desperate person charged up complaining that the grocery store bathroom had been locked for too long. trying to be helpful, I mention the portland loo a block away only to be yelled at by the complainant. it was then that i figured out that the desire for the restroom wasn't for bodily waste elimination (portland loo's have a timer to stop drug use and prostitution in them).

as an aside, the portland loo's are some of the cleanest and best maintained public restrooms i've used - when given the choice between a "standard" restroom and a portland loo, such as on the waterfront, i choose the loo.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#38

Post by kaycebasques »

I have a general theory related to this this article. Disenfranchised people do not take care of the society around them. Rightfully so. If my society doesn't seem to give a shit about me, why should I give a shit about it? If this theory holds true, then graffiti, vandalism, pooping on the streets, and so on, are all symptoms of disenfranchisement. Conversely, go to a neighborhood of homeowners, and look at how well-kept everything generally is. You can even compare it to a neighborhood of renters. There's a noticeable difference between homeowner and renter neighborhoods. And it's not an income level thing. We can control the renter vs. owner neighborhood comparison for income level.

My general theory is that, if you want a well-ordered society, distribute ownership more.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#39

Post by anbop »

swasheck wrote: post #32
ng12 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SF has lots of public toilets. They're just unpleasant to use for obvious reasons.

What if SF employed a few of the homeless to clean them? I’d like to see public money spent invested in people than more unusable/inaccessible utilities. Certainly not a get rich quick scheme, but it’s just a quick thought.

Why should someone with a job cleaning toilets be homeless?

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#40

Post by manfredo »

jakevn wrote: post #33
manfredo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's strictly better than the status quo? Given the choice between taking a crap in public and leaving a turd on the sidewalk vs. taking a crap in public and having it flushed how is the former preferable to the latter? The unfortunately reality is that creating a private space for relieving oneself is regularly abused as other commenters have pointed out. It's an instance of hostile design 1, but one that is…

The former is preferable because you are providing a disservice to the community that will not allow you dignity, even though they can most obviously afford it.

Again, the issue is not affordability but the fact that public restrooms are abused and used for dangerous and often illicit activity

The former is not preferable because it spreads disease, and instills disdain for the homeless among the community thus decreasing willingness to dedicate resources towards services helping the homeless (thus hurting those homeless that do try to maintain good hygiene).

Not to mention, you have a very negative and prejudiced view of the homeless if you think that they desire to cause harm to the city. The overwhelming majority of homeless are not the spiteful, antisocial people you seem to believe them to be. They may often resort to harmful activity to survive (e.g. theft) but rarely have I seen them cause harm for no reason but to make other people suffer. Maybe things like leaving trash strewn about after scavenging through it, but that's more negligent than spiteful.

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