Thursday, June 04, 2015
Why these stories of Honolulu’s actions against its homeless citizens spread
by Larry Geller
If the AP picks it up, it will spread. Simple.
But at another level, I think the interest may relate to “cognitive dissonance.” That is, it seems wrong to contemplate that in Hawaii, people will be cited for sitting down in Waikiki or that both homeless people and tourists are targeted for going out onto the beach after midnight.
It’s just unbelievable—very much like a prior story that went viral, when state Rep. Tom Brower took up his sledgehammer and made worldwide news for crushing shopping carts in Waikiki.
It’s as though someone pulled a plug and drained the aloha out of the “Aloha State.” Who would think? That’s why the news gets around.
It’s a shame, too. Utah gets nothing but praise and good publicity for succeeding with Housing First. What was it—a 91% reduction in homelessness? We are getting publicity of the negative kind for actions taken by our city council and mayor.
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