"THE best-loved seaside resort in Britain could put up its “No Vacancies” signs to stop attracting deadbeats, drunks and drug addicts. Blackpool council’s leader calls it “a refuge for the dispossessed” and says the situation is so serious people should be banned from moving to the town unless they have a job or home there."
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/...ackpool-glower
This article is about Blackpool in England but with the growth of the socialist Entitlement Society I saw the same thing happen in my city in the U.S. In 1966 we had a half-dozen chronically homeless people. They were all local people and other people in town knew them by name. Virtually all had an obvious mental problem. But then came the era of people being able to make a "free will choice" to be deadbeats. We got hundreds by 1990. Some were still crazy but many were just junkies, drunks, and deadbeats. But, they're supported and far more mobile than they used to be.
In one government housing project for the elderly, the old folks were being held prisoner by aggressive deadbeats surrounding the building and demanding money. I was talking to one of the deadbeats about why the old folks center and he laughed and said, "They give us lots of money." "They're generous?" He laughed again and said, "No, they're scared."
Women, kids, and the elderly were afraid to use the bus shelters or the indoor parking garage downtown.
I met a young man from Philadelphia. He was an epileptic and a drunk. That's not a good combination. As we chatted I asked him how he ended up in our town. "Oh, you guys are famous. Nice people, great weather most of the years, and tons of services for street people. Everybody knows about you." Gee, it's nice to be famous.
Now, there are over 140 organizations "helping" these people. SSI is the primary supporter but our local services fill all imaginable gaps. Our city did make panhandling illegal in certain locations, such as around the senior center, at bus stops, in parking facilities, and at ATM machines. When that law went into effect, one young, healthy transient said, "It looks to me like you just don't want people like me coming here." No kidding.
Do you think we'll see more of this happening in the U.S.?