The problem is all this costs $$$. Boatloads of $$$. Does anyone think Republicans are going to be for some massive section 8 type housing with mental health and drug treatment/rehab built in? Not a chance in hell. So in the unlikely event such a thing even comes into existence at all via federal govt, it would more likely be some hastily built tent cities to keep homeless out of sight out of mind and some private company will have some cushy contract to do almost nothing for them but keep them locked away.
Kennedy claims it will all be paid for by taxing cannabis, which he thinks will net 8.5 billion dollars. I have no idea how credible that assertion is. I agree that it's unlikely that the current government will relinquish any money to pamper the "unworthy poor," ie, drug addicts and the homeless.
It shocks no one that the homeless is heavily represented by drug addicts and those suffering from mental health issues. Ignoring them hasn’t really done that much in improving lives for sure. A public treatment option is something I have no problem with. If it was a GOP suggestion id assume it was an attempt to round them up and imprison them. Since it is coming from a whacky lefty, RFK, I am not sure what to think.
He never used the word "camps." He never said he would ban mental health meds. I don't believe he used the words mentally ill, either. I do think he would say your headline and post is neurotic. He said he would tax the cannabis industry to pay for wellness farms in rural areas to break people of their addictions to legal/illegal drugs and reparent them into society.
Treating the mentally ill and the drug addicts sounds great. Who would be opposed to that idea? But what does this look like, exactly? Where are these camps farms? How many? What do they look like? What exactly is meant by reeducation reparenting? And how do we pay for it, cause even if weed magically brings in $8B - that's only $10k per homeless person. You're not building out infrastructure and staff at that price. That's off by an order of magnitude or more.
Again, he did not say those things in your headline or post. The dishonest author may have, but not those two videos that were in his own words. I take it you did not watch them, and you just read the fake news headline.
I kind of wonder if he heard the term "funny farm" once and was like, "but what if we did that literally!"
replacement for ag labor...slaughtering chickens should be good for their mental health.. we built a Nicklaus Golf Course on an old facility outside of Pittsburgh that was a home for mentally impaired people where they lived and farmed and produced enough to fund the operations. that is a good thing, what rfk is talking about, not so much. but there do need to be better mental health options available and funds to pay for them
Hard to believe, I know, but the incidence of mental illness in the US correlates to the number of psychiatrists in the US. Good reading and cheap too! $6.99 on Amazon. The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct Book by Dr. Thomas S. Szasz
No Stigma! The mentally ill need help. That is a fact. Speak to them sometimes and offer them something. They are not 'bums', just people trying to survive. Give them $5. If they spend it on alcohol or cigs that is not for me to judge.
The very category “mental illness” slaps a label on people with struggles so we can point a finger at them and whisper.
As someone with two now young adult children with mental illness who have both been on many different medications for many years, and one with addiction issues: I can’t speak to the specifics of the proposal, but I’ve always thought it would be nice if there were somewhere people could go and get treated for some issues longer term that is longer than your typical 30-45 day stay covered by private insurance and overall is more affordable. Integrating these people into society without significant help is challenging. As to the meds, they aren’t perfect by any means and often they don’t fix the issue, but they can help people function better, at the cost of having side effects. I’m not for limiting use of these but at the same time it would be nice to have other options than these imperfect tools.
Had a friend years ago who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and was on medication for it. Periods of normal behavior punctuated by uncontrollable (she claimed) fits of anger. Knocked on her door one day after hearing her screaming at her husband. I could hear from her driveway. So she opened the door, smiling, and politely greeted me and invited me in. Scam.
