Most families have a member with a functional, if debilitating, alcohol consumption habit - not lucid after dinner. Wealthy people can have heroin or opioid problems, all they want, if they have a concierge doctor; ask Matthew Perry.
Basically, anybody can consume drugs in our culture if they can AFFORD them. Afford, as in the money, and not being in the way of anybody else. These folks aren't being persecuted for consuming drugs; they're being persecuted for being a problem on the street.
Paul Wells irritated me a bit by printing this view of Edmonton, 2024:
...where the problem is all about "cheque day" on skid row. The drug warrior's tale skips over the HALF of the problem that are not low-income, not-homeless. 30% of the dead were employed; a third of them in the construction industry. Another 10% of the dead were unemployed, but recently - from the construction industry.
It's necessary to NOT see them as solid citizens with jobs, then you might have a sense of obligation to serve them as citizens.
It's very much of a piece with your "Social Safety Net" book chapters about the framing of services. My least-favourite thing is the term itself: a "safety net" is for those who have fallen - but we don't call roads and libraries a "safety net" because the unemployed can still use them. I consider the "net" to be "Basic Public Services", a floor that supports us all. The floor doesn't become a net because one guy in the room has fallen to it, just as libraries don't become charity because one person in it is poor.
Medical services to get you off an addiction should be just another part of the medical system, a part of the floor beneath our feet, just like getting your arm splinted. There was a very positive article the other day about a guy recovering at St. Paul's in Vancouver, their program worked for him, after so many dry-outs had not. I think the solutions are there, we just don't spend what we'll have to, on the beds.
Wonderful piece Nora. We don’t (or shouldn’t) expect the “centre” to stick with progressive policies. They adopt them from time to time to feel good about themselves but in the end they will do what they did in the 1930s in Germany and what they are doing now in France, and in respect to Gaza - they will always end up in bed with fascists.
You win FIRST PRIX for the most genuinely idiotic and insulting opening line in an August Substack! Here's the winning line:
>> "Picture this: your average blonde, older suburban mom (or young suburban grandmom)." <<
Your first line was scored as winner based on the following judges' criteria:
1. Should be enough to stop almost anyone from reading further.
2. Gross generalization.
3. Imbues not just ignorance but malice.
4. Manages to insult or denigrate a large population based on inherent (unchangeable) personal traits.
5. Does not grammatically complete a sentence.
Nora Loreto, you are the WINNER!! To collect your prize, please visit your nearest suburb and announce yourself (e.g. "I am Nora Loreto!") and a posse of blonde moms will take it from there.
Most families have a member with a functional, if debilitating, alcohol consumption habit - not lucid after dinner. Wealthy people can have heroin or opioid problems, all they want, if they have a concierge doctor; ask Matthew Perry.
Basically, anybody can consume drugs in our culture if they can AFFORD them. Afford, as in the money, and not being in the way of anybody else. These folks aren't being persecuted for consuming drugs; they're being persecuted for being a problem on the street.
Paul Wells irritated me a bit by printing this view of Edmonton, 2024:
https://paulwells.substack.com/p/worse-than-ive-ever-seen
...where the problem is all about "cheque day" on skid row. The drug warrior's tale skips over the HALF of the problem that are not low-income, not-homeless. 30% of the dead were employed; a third of them in the construction industry. Another 10% of the dead were unemployed, but recently - from the construction industry.
It's necessary to NOT see them as solid citizens with jobs, then you might have a sense of obligation to serve them as citizens.
It's very much of a piece with your "Social Safety Net" book chapters about the framing of services. My least-favourite thing is the term itself: a "safety net" is for those who have fallen - but we don't call roads and libraries a "safety net" because the unemployed can still use them. I consider the "net" to be "Basic Public Services", a floor that supports us all. The floor doesn't become a net because one guy in the room has fallen to it, just as libraries don't become charity because one person in it is poor.
Medical services to get you off an addiction should be just another part of the medical system, a part of the floor beneath our feet, just like getting your arm splinted. There was a very positive article the other day about a guy recovering at St. Paul's in Vancouver, their program worked for him, after so many dry-outs had not. I think the solutions are there, we just don't spend what we'll have to, on the beds.
Wonderful piece Nora. We don’t (or shouldn’t) expect the “centre” to stick with progressive policies. They adopt them from time to time to feel good about themselves but in the end they will do what they did in the 1930s in Germany and what they are doing now in France, and in respect to Gaza - they will always end up in bed with fascists.
Congratulations Nora Loreto!
You win FIRST PRIX for the most genuinely idiotic and insulting opening line in an August Substack! Here's the winning line:
>> "Picture this: your average blonde, older suburban mom (or young suburban grandmom)." <<
Your first line was scored as winner based on the following judges' criteria:
1. Should be enough to stop almost anyone from reading further.
2. Gross generalization.
3. Imbues not just ignorance but malice.
4. Manages to insult or denigrate a large population based on inherent (unchangeable) personal traits.
5. Does not grammatically complete a sentence.
Nora Loreto, you are the WINNER!! To collect your prize, please visit your nearest suburb and announce yourself (e.g. "I am Nora Loreto!") and a posse of blonde moms will take it from there.
Hmm have you tried relaxing a bit?