13 Comments

And if the guy with the $4,000 bike stole $400,000,000 from investors through his hedge fund, calling the cops wouldn't even occur to anyone; they might actually send him to the Senate á la Rick Scott. The other trope would be is if poor people have their bikes stolen, it's because they didn't lock/take care of them adequately themselves. So why didn't that guy take better care of his $4,000 bike?

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As someone who shared this article on Twitter mentioned, it’s very telling how so many people automatically assume a poor person, specifically in this case one who is also unhoused, having something nice automatically means they stole it.

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Do we really believe that the homeless are buying and selling all of those bikes in some sort of legitimate operation? A guy’s stolen bike turned up in that cache. Do the story on how that marketplace works. Try and prove the supply isn’t coming from stolen bikes.

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No one is saying that. Taking for granted that every bike being sold in and around encampments is stolen, the question of how to deal with the issue remains. One approach is to run around fining or arresting people. Another is to take a look at the root causes and try to fix them. The latter option is both more humane and more effective at solving the issue at hand.

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Dumbass article 😂😂

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Narc

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Steve Hurtbutt

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Deft and incisive. No response to actual post. Ad hominem, to boot. Congrats! How's life treating you in first grade?

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Butt Hurt?

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Sorry -- didn't mean first grade. Kindergarten.

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Dad hominem

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Steve Dumbfuck

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This comment does an excellent job of illustrating the point of the article. Police are not the only way to deal with crime, but we have been conditioned to see them as exactly that. There are alternatives to either ignoring bicycle theft or just throwing people in jail. Give people access to affordable housing, good paying jobs, physical and mental healthcare.

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