San Fransicko

Why Progressives Ruin Cities

By: Michael Shellenberger

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

National best-selling author of Apocalypse Never skewers progressives for the mishandling of America’s faltering cities.

Progressives claimed they knew how to solve homelessness, inequality, and crime. But in cities they control, progressives made those problems worse.

Michael Shellenberger has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 30 years. During that time, he advocated for the decriminalization of drugs, affordable housing, and alternatives to jail and prison. But as homeless encampments spread, and overdose deaths skyrocketed, Shellenberger decided to take a closer look at the problem.

What he discovered shocked him. The problems had grown worse not despite but because of progressive policies. San Francisco and other West Coast cities - Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland - had gone beyond merely tolerating homelessness, drug dealing, and crime to actively enabling them.

San Fransicko reveals that the underlying problem isn’t a lack of housing or money for social programs. The real problem is an ideology that designates some people, by identity or experience, as victims entitled to destructive behaviors. The result is an undermining of the values that make cities, and civilization itself, possible.

©2021 Michael Shellenberger (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Conservative in progressive clothing!

It's pretty simple, connecting law enforcement, health care and social work will miditgate the homeless problem in SF and other West Coast cities. Pumping billions of dollars into the hands of drug addicts will end in them dying, and that is unacceptable. It is intriguing how few in the book see the forest through the trees. A must read for anyone interested in finding a solution to the urban decay happening in our once great cities of the West Coast. Excellent book!

MUST READ

Exceptionally well researched! This book is so informative, and explains what we are currently going through. This is a MUST READ, especially if we are to change things for the better!!

Every Californian should read/listen to this book

Why does the 6th largest economy in the world seemingly accept open drug use and fellow human beings sleeping on the streets? This book has the answer, and it's not pretty. I was yelling in frustration as I listened to quotes of grossly incompetent people giving ridiculous solutions that are currently implemented. If we are all properly informed of the problems we face, we can find the correct solutions to help our fellow man. Homelessness and rampant drug use can be reduced and give people better lives and better cities. I highly recommend this book.

Excellent and obvious

Every American with a desire to "help," needs to read this and pause for some honest self-reflection.

Shockingly thorough analysis and presentation.

Michael Shellenberger torches the “homeless industrial complex” with facts, statistics and compassion. Advocates take note. For every 10 steps you move us forward, your blind faith and dogmatic insistence push us a mile backward.

Truth and Solutions

Michael speaks what any sane person living in California knows is true. He has a better understanding of the current situation in California than any of the politicians pretending to care.

Eye Opening

Great book that is well researched and completely changed my view on the subject. Worth the read/listen

The book does a phenomenal job of not only describing the problems but how other cities have addressed these issues

Shellenberger takes a methodical approach to laying out the history on how many of the problems came about and the ideology that allowed it. But more importantly he describes how other cities have corrected these issues.

Must Read

Great perspective of what needs to be done to start healing our cities. awesomeness. Split between the politics and cut to the issue without blaming sides.

The Homeless Industrial Complex is here to stay

Homelessness is obviously a tough problem but despite the best intentions, the progressives in LA, SF, and Seattle are making it worse. Much worse than comparable cities. At the heart, many of the unsheltered homeless in these cities are addicted to drugs and/or have mental health issues and these cities provide these addicts with free needles, free money to buy drugs, and have no consequences for using, stealing or an assortment of other illegal activities. It's no wonder there are problems. We should all be for compassion but the approach needs to be much more balanced. Like raising kids, there needs to be consequences for actions. I also find the libertarian approach with drug users and mental health patients (i.e. do nothing unless they come for help) at odds with the progressives' forced mask mandates and forced vaccinations. In one case you can't interfere with one's agency over their body, and, in the Covid case, you can force government intervention over their body. It doesn't seem logically consistent. Finally, I think a lot of this comes down to the Homeless Industrial Complex. There are so many agencies dealing with homelessness and so much money available, they don't truly want to stop homelessness. If they did, they would be out of a job.