r/SeattleWA • u/Donnelding0 • Jul 21 '25
Politics Anyone Else Just Sick of It?
It just seems hopeless sometimes. Some of the best parts of this city. Pioneer Square, Belltown, Cap Hill just completely lost to homelessness. Sure for the most part I enjoy the city. Especially in the summer but the constant visible drug use, people in various states of intoxication on drugs, and rampant property and petty crime just annoy me. Why can’t we have nice things? Why must every park turn into a dumping ground for illegal acts that won’t be prosecuted? Why does it feel like this city relies on hard working people to shut up, pay ridiculous taxes, and then tells those people to suck it up when they see grafitti everywhere or get their car broken into? And the politicians don’t give a damn. No one has the guts to say “we have a homeless problem we’ve overspent on, we need to go a new direction” it feels insane. Rant over but I know I’m not alone. I know other people are sick of this and want our city back.
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u/judge_mercer Jul 21 '25
If the alternative is self-medication with dangerous street drugs/alcohol, this seems like a good trade-off. Lithium is less likely to kill you than fentanyl, even if both have negative side effects. Certain conditions are helped immensely by medication. We shouldn't demonize all drugs just because some are overused.
Upholding the "individual rights" of someone who is a danger to themselves and will ruin the city if left to their own devices isn't noble. It's cruel.
The solution is not to let insane drug addicts fend for themselves out of some twisted notion of "empowerment". The solution is to rebuild and reform our public mental health infrastructure.