Seattle Is Dying. Drugs And Homelessness In Seattle.
A heartbreaking look into the drug epidemic, rampant homelessness and mental illness in Seattle. The framing of this narrative could be characterized as "right wing", however, I think it is worth a look if you have about an hour to spare. The video was produced by KOMO news which is an AM radio ABC affiliate in Seattle.
Apparently it is the 3rd installment of a documentary trilogy by KOMO which explores homelessness and drug abuse. I haven't seen the other two documentaries yet, but KOMO does provide a link to them if you are interested.
"This program is not about demonizing those who are struggling with addiction and homelessness and mental illness. On the contrary. Instead, it asks the question, Why aren't we doing more? Why don't we have the courage to intervene in lives that are, in the face of a grave sickness, reeling out of control?" -KOMO News Anchor Eric Johnson.
Although there is an undertone that "this is your city on socialism" that runs throughout the documentary.
The opinions of law enforcement are overly represented in this video. To summarize, that opinion is basically "if only we could lock up the bums and junkies the problems would go away." Several business owners, community residents, and tourists are interviewed as well. From an aesthetic standpoint, the dilapidated 3rd world campsites, the mountains of garbage, the horrendous smell it is all very undesirable, and bad for business. It is unpleasant and unappealing, a bad look for The Emerald City. Looking at it from the perspective of community health, the encampments are a downright disaster. Drugs, diseases, mental illness, lawlessness; the homeless are left out in the cold, literally and figuratively, to fend for themselves. The city, supposedly a bastion of progressivism, is shown to have a laissez faire type of attitude towards some of its most vulnerable citizens.
There is an interesting scene, with little context, where the reporter announces "but for some workers, enough is enough", as a bunch of construction workers shout down Kshama Sawant at a small public gathering. What not explained is who Kshama Sawant is, or even what the construction workers are shouting down. They were shouting "no head tax", a tax on big businesses that potentially would have gone to fund affordable housing, an attempt to deal with homelessness. The head tax was initially passed unanimously, but was reversed a month later when Amazon delivered "an unprecedented public threat" to leave the city if the tax passed. The construction workers were shouting down Sawant because Amazon threatened to pull the plug on the building they were working on.
So is this your city on socialism? Or is this your city on end stage predatory capitalism? Watch the video and tell me what you think.
Apparently it is the 3rd installment of a documentary trilogy by KOMO which explores homelessness and drug abuse. I haven't seen the other two documentaries yet, but KOMO does provide a link to them if you are interested.
"This program is not about demonizing those who are struggling with addiction and homelessness and mental illness. On the contrary. Instead, it asks the question, Why aren't we doing more? Why don't we have the courage to intervene in lives that are, in the face of a grave sickness, reeling out of control?" -KOMO News Anchor Eric Johnson.
Although there is an undertone that "this is your city on socialism" that runs throughout the documentary.
The opinions of law enforcement are overly represented in this video. To summarize, that opinion is basically "if only we could lock up the bums and junkies the problems would go away." Several business owners, community residents, and tourists are interviewed as well. From an aesthetic standpoint, the dilapidated 3rd world campsites, the mountains of garbage, the horrendous smell it is all very undesirable, and bad for business. It is unpleasant and unappealing, a bad look for The Emerald City. Looking at it from the perspective of community health, the encampments are a downright disaster. Drugs, diseases, mental illness, lawlessness; the homeless are left out in the cold, literally and figuratively, to fend for themselves. The city, supposedly a bastion of progressivism, is shown to have a laissez faire type of attitude towards some of its most vulnerable citizens.
There is an interesting scene, with little context, where the reporter announces "but for some workers, enough is enough", as a bunch of construction workers shout down Kshama Sawant at a small public gathering. What not explained is who Kshama Sawant is, or even what the construction workers are shouting down. They were shouting "no head tax", a tax on big businesses that potentially would have gone to fund affordable housing, an attempt to deal with homelessness. The head tax was initially passed unanimously, but was reversed a month later when Amazon delivered "an unprecedented public threat" to leave the city if the tax passed. The construction workers were shouting down Sawant because Amazon threatened to pull the plug on the building they were working on.
So is this your city on socialism? Or is this your city on end stage predatory capitalism? Watch the video and tell me what you think.
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