California
Related: About this forumquestion about San Francisco and the homeless population
I read an article the other day that featured an online rant from some tech CEO about the homeless in San Francisco. I was really curious, so I went to SFGate.com. Here's the article and its comments:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/S-F-tech-worker-Homeless-riff-raff-ruining-6837917.php
I've always loved SF, so I was wondering how all of you felt about that article and the comments. Some of the comments struck me as pretty right-wing, as most comment sections do.
Thank you kindly in advance.
Steve
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Lets start with the appalling grammar. The misplaced comma after the fourth word of your letter immediately signals your intent, and from there you keep hammering away, in ruthless fashion, capturing the sad, semi-literate discourse that presides over so much of the tech industry. I love the way you seem to be saying that tech bros, despite having unlimited funds for gadgets, will never be able to buy a basic understanding of subject/verb agreement.
You build the character of Justin in so many hilarious ways. Like when he declares, in the most prissy and hysterical tones, that San Francisco is becoming a shanty town. The fact that the EXACT OPPOSITE thing is happening would never occur to Justin, who wont be satisfied until San Francisco completes its transformation from The City, a gorgeously complicated place with many different kinds of people, to something that resembles his mommys living room in Santa Barbara (such a nice touch, making this his hometown). Its like youre saying, Hey Justin, youre an ADULT MAN who has chosen to live in a major metropolis and yet because of your childish sense of entitlement, you react with surprise and horror when forced to share the street with gasp! the faces of addiction (classic!). Even though the transformation of San Francisco into a soulless tech bedroom community is basically complete, and the city government has done everything in their power to make things comfortable for people like you, while bleeding the city of its working class and exiling them further and further away into exurban shanty towns, and even though the mysterious workings of history have allowed vast legions of mediocre white dudes to make a cushy living by pushing buttons and using words like functionality .even though all these things are working in your favor, it is still not enough, because occasionally you are forced to gaze upon a drug addled bum, a loser who has failed to achieve, whereupon, through an astounding combination of narcissism and self-pity, you somehow come to the conclusion that YOU ARE THE VICTIM in all of this, and you are the one who requires help and protection. Justin, my man, youre a beautiful piece of work! I love the subtle way you imply all of this. Its masterful....
I love what youre doing here, slowly developing a sinister form of logic. Justin is repulsed by the sight of the homeless. Google has yet to produce a form of eyewear that can eliminate from the field of vision any citizen making less than $100,000, so Justin has to endure the unendurable each day on his way to work. Homelessness is not a human crisis, its a Justin crisis! Hes like, If only we could find some way to concentrate all the homeless somewhere far away from the city, perhaps in some kind of camp. Historically, things tend to go sideways when one group of people is repulsed by the vermin-like sight of another group of people, and rather than dealing with whatever minor inconvenience or unpleasantness the existence of the unsightly group might cause, the offended group starts dreaming of total eradication. At this point I was like, Listen, Justin is a selfish guy who lacks awareness and empathy, but its not like hes going to actually profess a secret desire for the homeless in his city to vanish, because then hed stop being a run-of-the-mill douchebag and become a terrifying embodiment of the fascist dream. Thats not going to happen, right? WRONG!
edit: Donning my hazmat suit and preparing to wade in to the comments.
JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Person 2713
(3,263 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)KamaAina
(78,249 posts)dana_b
(11,546 posts)excellent!
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)Around 70% of the SF homeless population used to have a home there in the city. It shouldn't take an engineering degree to figure out what happened when the rents went up to $3500 a month.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Dr. Xavier
(278 posts)but now my wife and I can't wait to get out of here soon enough and its the entitled, little techies and trendsters (please they're anything but hip), that are changing the Bay Area in a way, that its becoming this ridiculously, provincial, little den of selfishness and arrogance. They're destroying the Mission, which in all honesty, really, was the City's last remaining, true neighborhood. Just wait Justin, when the next tech bust comes (and some say, its already starting) your little tech fortune will blow away and you may be one of the poor lost souls holding a sign...
dana_b
(11,546 posts)I am always shocked to read the comments there. I used to think that the Bay Area was a lot more compassionate than that.
This is sickening: "I shouldn't have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day."
it reminds me of Barbara Bish's "beautiful mind" comment.
mackerel
(4,412 posts)They ruined San Francisco.