SFist: Rights Are Wrong?

RinconHillSF

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:57:57 -0800

No mention of the "Jesus Love You" sign guy? That dude gets around too - maybe he needs some Ray Ban shades like Frank. :)

RinconHillSF

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:56:36 -0800

I figured he was a space cadet ... with signs saying things like "don't talk to me" and him sitting their just glaring at the world. People who won't voluntarily get help need to involuntarily be forced to get help. Sitting and watching a fuse burn on a stick of dynamite isn't of benefit to anyone, including the stick of dynamite.

totoro

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:06:42 -0800

yikes, jonathon. this is a very confusing post. kinda seems like homework done at the last minute.

mariconsoy

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 13:01:18 -0800

The guy is nuts. He asked for help in his own crazy way. A woman who noted his progressively worsening condition tried to get the city to step in and got nowhere. It's kinda like dangerous street intersections that are known to be ticking time bombs- authorities don't do anything until someone is killed. Then different departments blame each other for not acting.

eightslosh

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:28:26 -0800

Jonathan, you've done a terrible job of conveying the actual point of the article. It sounds like this guy was clearly unhinged, even by crazy homeless guy standards. People interviewd in the article complained that he was interfering with their bussinesses and he'd already served 6 months this year for attacking a cop. The day before the incident that led to this article, some lady spent half a day trying calling various city departments trying to get someone to go out and checek on him, to no avail. I don't think anyone would dispute that this guy needed help - one of his signs even said "Why isn't anyone helping me?" But the point of the article was to question a system where available resources can't be used to help the people that they're intended for. The One Flew Over the Cuckoos's Nest thing was a tangent. However, when drugs like Thorazine were first introduced, there was a time when doctors thought they were a magic bullet. Clearly, we should have learned since then that some people still need medical supervision. Basically, there's a balance between respecting this guy's rights and preventing him from infringing on the rights of others, and Nevius is arguing that we've undervalued the rights of others.

suckafree

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:04:08 -0800

great post jonathan. i think we should be allowed to declare anyone that chooses to live on the street 'criminally insane' so we can get them off the street and into some sort of formal program.