San Fransicko Why progressives ruin cities

Environmental Progress founder Shellenberger (Apocalypse Never) faults progressives for "the breakdown of civilization on America's West Coast" in this alarmist account. He claims that San Francisco's homeless problem resulted in the city spending $100 million more than Chicago (which has 3.5 times more people) on street cleaning in 2019, and blames liberal lawmakers and homeless activists for prioritizing "permanent supportive housing" over funding for shelters, and for insisting that "poverty and housing prices," rather than "mental illness and substance abuse," are the primary drivers of homelessness. He also notes that San Francisco's maximum cash welfare benefit is $400 greater than New York City's, and alleges that homeless services providers have a financial stake in encouraging people to stay on the street. Elsewhere, Shellenberger questions whether "racial bias" explains why Black people are disproportionately killed by the police, suggesting that it could be because African Americans are "more likely to end up in a situation that involves lethal force," and analyzes how cult leaders and dictators have used compassion "as cover for darker motivations." Though the author includes plenty of statistics and horror stories about drug addiction and crime, he exaggerates progressives' belief in the "secular religion" of "victimology" and underplays the historical abuses associated with a "law-and-order" approach. This one-sided screed overstates its case. (Oct.)

A Time magazine "Hero of the Environment," Shellenberger (Apocalypse Never) has lived in the San Francisco Bay area for three decades and fought for affordable housing, alternatives to prison, and the decriminalization of drugs. With the city experiencing unprecedented homelessness and overdose deaths in the state rapidly multiplying over 20 years, he got worried enough to investigate. His conclusion: The homelessness crisis is really an addiction and mental illness crisis not just tolerated by West Coast cities from Los Angeles to Seattle but encouraged by putatively progressive policies that are failing everyone. Bound to stir controversy; with a 75,000-copy first printing.