Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups






















« Genuine Shocker: The Washington Post Reports That Keith Ellison Has Been Lying About His Support of Louis Farrakhan | Main | RUSSIAN Collusion? Susan Rice Told NSC to "Stand Down" and Take No Action Regarding Alleged Russian Election Meddling »
March 09, 2018

We Have Clearly Failed The Mentally Ill: Maybe Forced Commitment Isn't Such A Bad Thing

homeless.jpg

A 'Bright Light,' Dimmed in the Shadows of Homelessness

In Sunday’s NYT there is a long article about a homeless woman who lived on a grate near Grand Central Terminal. She was seemingly intelligent, a Williams grad, and had a promising future snuffed out by mental illness.

What struck me was that some of those who had contact with her spoke of her death’s emotional effect on themselves, rather than an analysis of the issues and a suggestion of their own culpability.

That might be the crowning achievement of the progressive march through our institutions; that every event is viewed through an internal prism that bends the events back towards us. What they have taught for two generations is solipsism (thank you Jay Guevara for the perfect word) rather than the ability to observe the world around us.

Barack Obama was perhaps their greatest achievement; his obsessive fixation on "self" was evident in every speech, every public appearance.

I am not suggesting that anyone involved in this sad tale is directly responsible for this poor woman's death. But an honest appraisal of the issues instead of emoting about how awful one feels about her difficulties and her death is probably a more constructive way to deal with it.

What is ironic is that the majority (probably all) of the people involved and interviewed probably support the deinstitutionalization craze that has gripped America since the 1970s. I wonder whether a firm public policy of forced commitment would have helped this woman. My suspicion is that it would have. That is not to say that our institutions were wonderful, but an all-or-nothing approach makes no sense. We have moved the mentally ill out of sometimes awful psychiatric facilities into the revolving door of the street, prison and an early death.




digg this
posted by CBD at 05:55 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Cuthbert the Witless: "When they cut into the TV show last night they tal ..."

TheJamesMadison, finding suspense, madness, and humanity with Michael Powell: "41 Did Obama give Joe the green light to pardon Hu ..."

Duke Lowell : "He will pardon his brother next. ..."

Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle : "how long Hunter stays clean and sober. I give it 5 ..."

Archimedes: "There hasn't been enough discussion of the fact th ..."

Ganowicz Commie Exterminators, LTD.: "Robert Hunter Biden, Esq. Heh. The grift is comi ..."

Eromero: "Virtual mountains of money, great gobs of cash, pl ..."

weft cut-loop[/i][/b] [/s]: "[i]To hell with them all, literally. Posted by: A ..."

Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM)[/b][/i][/s][/u]: " Open the Joseph R Biden, Jr. Presidential Librar ..."

The ARC of History!: "It's pretty funny that Joe cites Hunter's "sobriet ..."

I used to have a different nic: "[i]It's not just Joe Biden exposed as a rancid lia ..."

Thomas Bender: "@7 >>I dunno. It doesn't matter, no one is g ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64