“We’re literally paying people in the form of cash welfare, housing, and other services to live in tents on the street, use hard drugs, defecate publicly, and commit crimes,” says Michael Shellenberger, author of “San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities.”

In this episode, he breaks down the root causes behind the sprawling homeless encampments found in cities like San Francisco.

Even the word “homeless” itself is a propaganda word, Shellenberger says. “It suggests that the underlying problem is lack of housing, expensive rents, or poverty. And that’s not the case.”

The term “homeless” lumps together two groups that are radically different. But it’s irresponsible to conflate mothers escaping abusive husbands, or people who are just going through some hard times, with people who are mentally ill, or drug-addicted, or both, Shellenberger says.

Fundamentally, a victim ideology guides how progressives deal with homelessness. And this ideology refuses to demand even a modicum of accountability from so-called victims, Shellenberger argues, even when they’re engaging in self-destructive behaviors that could be deadly.

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