I drove past the old Turin Bike Shop at 7th and Lincoln this past Friday afternoon on my way to Denver's Christkindlmarket in Civic Center Park, and noticed that a large number of homeless people had set up camp there. Turin closed down for good a month or so ago after the building was sold to developers intending to build a new luxury high-rise apartment building. The police here in Denver do not usually roust the homeless unless someone calls in a complaint, or there is a health issue involved, and so camping out in front of an empty building is an attractive option for them. I was thinking about this encampment now that a cold front has moved into Denver, bringing snow, a high of 24 degrees, and a low of 3 degrees tonight. I don't see how anyone can stand being outside in such conditions, but most of these people refuse to go to shelters. They either suffer from mental illness or have drug and/or alcohol problems. It is my belief that the root of today's homeless problem is the direct result of the Reagan administration's trickle down economics policy, when they cut taxes for the rich and cut government spending on such things as public funding of mental institutions, where most of these people would otherwise be. Republicans view Reagan as one of their greatest heros. Thanks to him, today we have a small number of very wealthy individuals in this country, and many thousands of crazy people on the streets. Is this considered a successful strategy? How very sad.
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