California’s ‘compassion’

“California’s ‘compassion’”, Carmel Pine Cone, July 7, 2023

Your editorial last week citing numbers reported by CalMatters on how “Texas has done so well at reducing homelessness” reminds me of that great quote attributed to one-time San Francisco resident Mark Twain: “There are two kinds of untruths in this world, lies and statistics.”

In that same report, CalMatters cited Zillow in reporting that for June 2023, a one-bedroom home in Texas cost $1,233 and a one-bedroom in California for June of 2023 was $2,200. There are about 9 million more residents in California than in Texas, in addition to the fact that housing costs more here.

Furthermore, the CalMatters report noted that Texas is in a different Federal Court District than California and is not subject to a 2018 court ruling prohibiting the clearing out of homeless camps unless there are shelter beds available for people to go into.

Homelessness in my opinion is a symptom of the much larger and ever-expanding problem of income inequality — and considering that those who have the most are also the ones that have the most to lose, at least in California we haven’t lost our sense of compassion.

Tony Amarante, Seaside