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Measure S, Panhandlers, and the Struggle for Autonomy

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Recently my Welfare diaries have shaded into opposition to Berkeley's Measure S, and the connection between the two issues may not be clear. Kos himself wants to reduce the "obnoxious" people and probably views the ethical and humanitarian qualms as largely theoretical.

I believe the single biggest source of misunderstanding about all those needy people sitting on the sidewalk and what to do to help them comes from the assumption that they are homeless (and somehow that automatically makes them mentally ill substance abusers as well).

There is little consideration of the "permanent panhandlers" as people who are not yet homeless - unless it's in the context of representing them as lazy, undeserving scammers. There are also sporadic attempts to represent them as "dangerous" despite their vested interest in retaining their particular spot and "working" it like a job. These people are permanent sidewalk fixtures are there precisely because the "comprehensive services" that the proponents of Measure S claim to exist do not apply to them. There is nothing to help them retain the place they live, no matter how long they have lived there or how they have previously contributed to the workforce or the community.

Measure S stabs at the heart of a profound social problem and one of the major challenges for the progress of the human spirit: the struggle for autonomy.


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