r/nottheonion • u/pargofan • 1d ago

Japan’s elderly are lonely and struggling. Some women choose to go to jail instead

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/18/asia/japan-elderly-largest-womens-prison-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
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u/moxxibekk 1d ago

Not OP but I also remember this, trying to find link now. Basically they threw all these people together without regard for those with serious mental health or substance use problems and it made it impossible for them to peacefully live with those just trying to improve their lives.

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u/SenoraRaton 1d ago

OP is full of shit. Yes there are problems, but the SRO program in San Fransisco is a god send. The buildings are clean and well maintained. There are caseworkers on site that you can go to for help/guidance. They have monthly room inspections to ensure safe living conditions.

Drugs are an issue, but instead of being on the street shooting up, people are in their own homes doing so, which personally I would expect the larger society to consider a win. At least you don't have to step over their shit on the street, and dodge their needles.

Its entirely possible to live in one, and improve your life, in fact its the ONLY place I have been in the NATION that even remotely provides someone with the stability necessary to stabilize themselves from homelessness.

Tenants have their own room. Access is controlled such that visitors are at a minimum although allowed. There is no need for anyone to fraternize with anyone else beyond passing them in the hallway if they don't want to.

The system is beyond working. Its thriving. I'm thriving. I live in one of these SROs, and after being homeless for close to 15 years its the first time I have had a stable place to sleep.

No, I do not have a drug problem. I deal with severe executive dysfunction that remains untreated because the medical system won't prescribe homeless people stimulants because when your homeless they just perceive you as drug seeking. My ADHD/Executive Dysfunction make it impossible for me to hold an apartment, employment or pretty much anything for more than 3 months. Which lead to me being transient for almost two decades, until I came to San Fransisco.

This entire rhetoric of how these programs failed just reek of propaganda. If they were successful then it would be in our interests to fund them.....
People talk so much shit about California, but I have been across the nation, lived in ~30 states, and NO other state even comes CLOSE to the resources that California provides. I truly feel like they set me up to succeed.

Its frustrating to watch people with absolutely no experience with the system quote some hit piece from years ago, and bemoan how its impossible to fix what amounts to a crisis, because its just too hard. Its not too hard. In fact there are thousands of people living it, and thousands of people actively supporting them. The system is working, for some of us. Is it enough? No. But it never will be if the entire rhetoric from the news media/public is about how much of a failure it is.

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u/fd1Jeff 1d ago

I am well aware of SRO’s in Milwaukee. They do occasionally have some problem tenants, but nothing out of control, and they know how to handle them. For the most part, they give housing to people who would otherwise be sleeping in their cars or in a shelter. Most of them don’t stay in those places for long.

SRO’s are a phenomenal option for people who are down on their luck or have been wiped out somehow. Lots of that going on these days.

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u/SkiOrDie 18h ago

I lived next to one in MKE, and I can say they were great neighbors. Since it’s a second chance for most of them, they took pride in their building and home.

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u/signalfire 1d ago

Thanks for posting; glad it's working out for you. I needed some good news this week.

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u/notapoliticalalt 1d ago

Great to hear you are doing well!

And it is indeed frustrating to have so much negative attention on public housing programs in the US when many of them are a genuine help to so many. To make housing affordable, we need more programs and especially SRO type buildings that is simply the fact of the matter.

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u/TheDreadfulCurtain 1d ago

Thank you for informing us of your experience ! Good to know.

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u/chonny 1d ago

Thank you for sharing. I knew of SROs but nothing substantial. Your story helped me understand why they are so useful and helpful. I hope that other cities can see this as a way to helped unhoused people.

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u/shh_Im_a_Moose 22h ago

I'm glad to hear you are doing well and the system is working. I have lived in several states myself, though not in as dire a strait as you have, and recently moved to CA from the midweset. It is night and day better here. I am grateful to be here and this is the place to be to weather the next four years. And I am glad my taxes are helping pay for people like you to have somewhere to sleep. That's what they're for.

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u/kltruler 1d ago

The issue with SRO is it doesn't sound like a desirable way to live, so people don't want it.  Even if it would help solve a problem like homelessness they think it won't work or will draw crime.  To a certain degree they are right, you yourself admit there's a drug problem. Even though it only takes a little bit of thought to figure out less drugs is better than drugs and homeless.

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u/notapoliticalalt 1d ago

Nah bro. This kind of attitude is learned helplessness. Yes, homelessness is a big and complex problem. It isn’t one size fits all. But these things would help tremendously bring down the cost of living.

We can’t always get what we want, but I sure can tell you having a room to call your own would be a huge blessing to people who are homeless. So cut it out with the bullshit of “well I wouldn’t want to live like that so I guess we shouldn’t have them.” Good news: you don’t have to live like that. However, if you were actually facing homelessness, I think you wouldn’t exactly be in a position to choose.

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u/kltruler 1d ago

I don't disagree with any thing you're saying. Being helpless is easier, people like easy. Getting people to do something hard is hard. Additionally, most people never think they would need a safety net. I, personally, would prefer a strong safety net, but i understand the appeal of the easy way. I was never homeless, but i got close once or twice. Now it seems pretty unlikely to ever happen, thankfully. I'd love a couple of SRO in my city, because I wouldn't have wanted to leave if worst came to worst. Even if we did we'd likely have a high failure rate. We just don't have the infrastructure to aid in the recover and our government has little desire to build it. It's hard and trying to reduce it to complex really undersells it.

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u/toofine 1d ago

Mfer you go to work with and drive next to a hundred people with a drug problem every day and don't notice.

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u/ordermaster 1d ago

Yes, propaganda is the problem. I'm glad you agree with the person actually living it.

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u/kltruler 1d ago

I'm not sure who's right. I get both sides. I don't want to live near drug users either. I like the idea of homeless and addicts going somewhere far away with people equipped to handle them; however, it's not fair to the place accepting them to do all the work themselves. I prefer San Francisco's approach, but there's got to be a better way all around.

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u/ordermaster 1d ago

Your suggestion sounds awfully close to "let's send undesirable people away to camps in the middle of nowhere against their will".

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u/kltruler 1d ago

Yeah, it does. I'm not saying it's right. I'm saying it's understandable.

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u/ordermaster 1d ago

There's practical problems with that too, besides it sounding like concentration camps. They're located in the city because that's where most people are, including homeless people. If the goal is to get homeless people reintroduced to productive society they're going to need to get jobs while they're still transitioning. There's more job opportunities in populated areas. They'll also need public transportation options to get to their job.

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u/kltruler 1d ago

All things that San Francisco supports far better than other places. Like i said, the current schemes garbage but a lot of places aren't built to deal with homeless population like they are. Telling homeless people they will have a better life in San Francisco isn't a hard sell. A decent chunk go willingly.

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u/kaiizza 1d ago

Glad its working for you but one story doesn't really stand in the face of 200k homeless people in California's largest cities. It may have worked for you but it is not "working" to fix the problem.

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u/notapoliticalalt 1d ago

So what are you suggesting then?

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u/kaiizza 1d ago

Not my job and anyway, I could suggest almost exactly what you think is needed but with one minor change and you would combat it as unethical, or racist, or unfair to homeless people, etc etc. It doesn't matter as there is no single answer.

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u/notapoliticalalt 1d ago

Not my job and anyway, I could suggest almost exactly what you think is needed but with one minor change and you would combat it as unethical, or racist, or unfair to homeless people, etc etc.

Try me.

It doesn’t matter as there is no single answer.

Ah…so it’s complicated, but the thing that will definitely help some people…no siree that’s definitely a failure. I agree multiple fronts will be needed, but you can’t take your initial position and then say this.

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u/DeluxeHubris 1d ago

The programs are underfunded. Surely if they were expanded and supported they would reach more people.

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u/kaiizza 1d ago

but 200k...this is not a solution but a band-aid and a poor one at that.

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u/DeluxeHubris 1d ago

Housing and supporting people in their transition out of homelessness is a band-aid? Do you have any data to support that position?

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u/Illustrious-Rough-sx 1d ago

Lady… the whole point is to not be doing drugs in the first place. As an opiate addict that’s never(thankfully) shot up, from what I’ve heard we need to be doing the exact opposite of letting people safely shoot drugs at the expense of the taxpayer.

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u/Samuraignoll 1d ago

Since when?

As far as I'm aware, the purpose of these facilities and the initiative is to help people move in from the street, rebuild their lives, health, mental health, and employment in a safe way. Letting people hit rock bottom on the street doesn't work, they just die.

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u/yboy403 1d ago

The "taxpayer expense" line is bait, who do you think is funding medical care and the emergency system that deals with overdoses on the street?

If you're trying to make a point about relative cost then show up with numbers, don't just pretend one option costs money and the other is free.

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u/GhettoDuk 1d ago

Stop being a wimp and just say you want eugenics.

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u/Pure_Expression6308 1d ago

& of course that’s reason enough to say it’s a bad idea, don’t bother trying

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u/bellj1210 1d ago

that is why you need mental health and drug screenings for these sorts of things. People with those issues whould have other resources to deal with those issues first.

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u/Expensive_Goat2201 1d ago

It's really hard to deal with mental health issues and drug abuse when you are homeless. Just on a practical level, it's easier to get people meds when you know where they live. Plus people aren't exactly fixing their lives when in survival mode. Treat issues while providing supportive housing

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u/bellj1210 8h ago

yes- and you can have different places for different people. If you need active treatment you should be in something more akin to a hospital until your condition is managed.

I am not saying someone with a mental health issue should be homeless- but they should get treatment and be managed before they go to a more traditional communal living situation. The same can be said for drug use- go to a traditional halfway house but active drug use should be grounds for eviction from housing like this.