Beware of Poverty’s Trapdoor

by Jack Bragen

There is a trapdoor at the bottom of society’s mechanisms, that throws out people onto the street who can’t perform well enough to mind the details or keep pace with the rat race. A person can fall through it due to a massive amount of bad luck. 

For people with disabilities, the system of benefits as it currently exists makes it very hard to work and earn enough money to survive without losing your benefits.

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PSH Proposal Shames One Drug Culture While Ignoring Another

by Jordan Davis

At the September 24 Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Matt Dorsey pulled yet another policy out of his rear end that sounds reasonable on the surface, but in reality further stigmatizes permanent supportive housing (PSH) residents. 

Hot off the heels of his proposed legislation to stifle PSH development unless a certain percentage is dedicated to drug recovery housing, Dorsey announced that he was requesting that legislation be drafted that would require that PSH disclose so-called “drug-tolerant”

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No on Prop. D, a Danger to Our Democracy

by Madeleine Matz

Proposition D, a San Francisco ballot measure that would scrap the City’s system of oversight boards, commissions and committees, is antithetical to our local democracy. It should be an easy ‘no’ vote. 

First, Prop. D’s origin is sticky with the right wing’s fingerprints. As SPUR notes, Prop. D was drafted by TogetherSF, a political action committee heavily financed by the billionaire Michael Moritz,

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Stop Prop. 36, California’s Latest Prison-Industrial Scam

by Cathleen Williams, Homeward Street Journal

“With California dealing with such a serious housing crisis—actually I would say beyond a crisis, we are living through a housing disaster—the idea of re-introducing tens if not hundreds of thousands of felonies into families across California [through Prop. 36] will make that problem not only worse, but it will make it unimaginably worse. It’s not about fixing anything or making anyone safer. Instead,

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Poverty is Just One of the Many Forms of Violence

by Jack Bragen

Years ago, I was in a public place, and I was approached by a man wanting me to sign a petition to amend the U.S. Constitution. The amendment would have defined a corporation as not a person. Caught by surprise, I couldn’t think through the idea, so I declined. It is unfortunate. 

To an extent, I feel that I’ve been cheated by people in government and corporations,

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Locked Up and Locked Out: How Society Segregates People with Mental Health Disabilities

by Jack Bragen

Most psychiatrists might agree that if you have a “psychiatric impairment” you could be locked out of the use of your own perceptual and mental faculties. Some would argue that those faculties are absent, while others could say we have potential of mind that is blocked by an impairment. 

Psychiatrists tend to medicate; they believe that’s what works. I can’t argue with that. When I was started on medication,

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Criminalization Won’t Make Homelessness Go Away

by Jack Bragen

Some fundamental changes in how we do things in the U.S. are going to be necessary, irrespective of how much the rich people and the militant ultraconservatives might oppose this. The general public must have a reasonable ability to acceptably live, or else the entire fabric of society will disintegrate.The poor people need to have an acceptable means of existing. The disabled and/or unemployable people must not be put to death,

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What is a Home?

by IntiGonzalez.com

The reality of the war in Gaza was such a shock to me, especially since my country is an equal contributor to the violence unfolding there. It made me go out and protest, learn and get involved like never before. It was hard, even scary, to make that initial step to help carry such immense pain, but doing so allowed me to learn more than I ever thought I would about myself. 

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Keeping Score: My Review of the Coordinated Entry Test 

by CJ Ross

“Where am I taking you? Where are you gonna stay tonight?” It was 2016. I Googled “shelters in San Francisco” on my friend’s phone from the passenger seat with about two hours left until we reached the city. 

I never thought I’d return to the city where I was born and raised. As I searched, I expected to find lists of places to sleep in a pinch,

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COVID Mask Bans Leave Disabled People, Protesters Unprotected

This summer, wastewater data shows us that COVID-19 cases are surging, and COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations are increasing as well. Vaccination rates are abysmal. Approximately 17 million people nationally live with long COVID, and your risk of developing long term disabling symptoms increases with each COVID infection. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given up recommending any real mitigation strategies,

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