Marcy,
I'm not upset. In fact I'd be happy to meet Alton and compare ideas
and perspectives. Lunch sounds like a great idea (I've copied him on
this message). If our folks aren't bored with it, and if our guest can
stomach the mid-Market area which is on the edge of the Tenderloin,
I'd suggest Ananda Fuara, since it is a great restaurant and that way
Alton can see where we have our post-meeting dinners, and we can point
out the nearby library where the actual meetings are. City Hall, also
nearby, is imho a must-see for out-of-town visitors if he hasn't
already been; one of the most gorgeous buildings in San Francisco
(despite the immoral purposes for which it is used). The federal court
building at 7th & Mission is also a short walk away and worth checking
out if you're into beautiful old architecture.
Alton,
I rather doubt that you are serious about the charter buses and meals
for the homeless and all. But if you are really willing to pay for all
that, I will totally help you recruit homeless people to drive over to
Oakland. Lots of people on the street could use a free hot meal and a
chance to sleep on a bus, out of the elements, while we're getting
enough folks together to make the trip. I'd recommend just a single
bus to start with though; you can always get more ambitious about it
if you think the first run goes well. While you drive the bus, I could
use the on-board PA system to talk to our passengers about
libertarianism, and about helping the Occupy Oakland protesters stand
up for freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and so on. It might not
be a "final solution", but it would be providing a charitable public
service.
I do have some ideas about solutions to the homelessness problem;
perhaps we can discuss them in person. One precept that informs my
perspective is what I see as a key distinction between libertarians
and conservatives.
The conservative attitude toward people who are poor, homeless,
unemployed, etc., tends to focus on blaming the individual -- "You're
lazy! Why don't you clean yourself up and get a job?", etc.
I would say that the libertarian attitude, by contrast, is informed
by a greater awareness that these things are, in the aggregate,
consequences of public policy, and that government, which tends to
benefit the wealthy and powerful at the expense of the poor and
marginalized (despite paying *lip service* to the goal of helping the
latter and justifying its spending and programs on this basis!), is
the *main cause* of homelessness, poverty, and unemployment.
Government has grown dramatically during the past few decades in the
United States, and during the same period the gap between rich and
poor has also grown. I don't think that's a coincidence, do you?
If you have issues seeing people living on the streets though, I
highly suggest next time you visit SF that you stay in a different
part of town! When you referred to your hotel being in the Tenderloin
-- the neighborhood best known for having large concentrations of
homeless people -- I had to chuckle.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
P.S. - By the way Alton, our monthly meetings are held from 3-5 p.m.
on the second Saturday each month -- it sounds like you may have been
misinformed about that. So our last meeting was on October 8, and our
next one is November 12.