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I mentioned both of those things and said that catering to the needs of tourists and upper-middle-class folks wouldn't help in the long run, because many of us would-be-tourists won't visit unless we see the government is also meeting the needs of its own people.
I get the point about the guy who wrote the news article: You're right; I shouldn't blame him for just reporting the facts. I guess it was more of a visceral reaction on my part, a "What the fuck is wrong with people?" more than a "Okay, what's actually going on here?"
The mental illness thing is a bit more two-sided, though. Yes, it's a bad thing when Reagan-esque governments slash funding for healthcare, both physical and mental. Yes, everyone should have access to mental health care, to talk therapists as well as psychiatrists, and should be able to get any medications they might need at a price they can afford. And yes, people should have a place to go if they feel unsafe, a place where they can be monitored, get intensive care, talk to people, and find out what services/treatments could be most helpful to them once they get out of crisis mode.
At the same time, imprisonment does not heal. It only punishes. I have a BIG problem with the people who are advocation forcibly institutionalizing and medicating the mentally ill. First of all, many are already trauma survivors and the use of force adds further trauma that has to be worked through. Second of all, it's a very stigmatizing way of looking at people who go through extreme states. Third of all, they did a study in California, and unlocked wards, which people could stay in but leave at will, and which were run by people who were also considered mentally ill, were found to be more effective than traditional locked wards because of the more humanistic approach they took. They also cost less to run. (Called Crisis Residential Facilities, and there's one in Sacramento.) But I know a lot of people who have been so traumatized during the course of forced treatment that they're now scared to seek any treatment at all. And that's a big problem. We're treated like children, even if we're older than the people treating us, and shown no respect for our own free will. We don't need saviors. We need comrades.
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