70 Comments
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Marilyn Strozak's avatar

Thank you, Marianne, for your moral outrage - and your call to action!

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Myra's avatar

Thank you. It’s so demoralizing. Thank you for pointing these things out. We need to hear them and see them over and over again. We can’t fall asleep although God knows it’s tempting. Will share.

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Jazzme's avatar

When I was canvases for Jill Stein for president here in Massachusetts some of the folks I talked to had jobs but were living out of their car cause their rents were too high.

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Bill Balkus's avatar

When I was volunteering for Marianne’s Campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire … I went to a Duncan Donuts early in the morning for coffee and to use the restroom … The ladies room was out of order and some men told me there was a woman in the Men’s Room with what looked like a bag of clothes … I waited about 20 minutes … Finally she came out … She looked like she had just taken a slower using only the sink … She had a coffee and some munchkins for her kids that were, I assume, in the car … (You can’t use the rest room unless you actually buy something) … She was probably going to drop her kids off at school and then go to work … When you experience a tragedy like this first hand … it leaves an impression deep in your Soul that you’ll never forget … May God Bless Her !!!

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Rebecca Suzanne's avatar

Sadly, the scene you saw plays out all over the United States. In Portland, near where I live in Oregon Wine Country, one sees nice cars parked outside nice tents. In the morning, people get up and go to work, returning to their tents at the end of the day. It is crazy.

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AmylouiseDonnelly's avatar

🙏💟🙏

It's a sin and a crime that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez can celebrate a multi million dollar WEDDING and cone hone to the same country where this can happen. Having said that...

What would be your answer for her, in the immediate moment? A solution.

Asking with kindness.

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Leigh Koechner's avatar

My land. When we see the world through the lens of us vs. them, we can be ruthless. When we remember we are all connected, everything changes.

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CLAUDIA's avatar

Asistimos a un tiempo de crueldad y deshumanización que merece nuestro más enérgico repudio y también, para quienes somos personas de fe, oración sostenida en el tiempo. La compasión, la solidaridad y la búsqueda del bien común deben ser acciones que guíen nuestra vida cotidiana en este nuevo/viejo orden mundial que nos invita y alienta a ser cada día, más egoístas e insensibles. Paz en el mundo; empatía permanente frente al evitable sufrimiento ajeno. Todos somos UNO.

Gracias Marianne por tus reflexiones!!

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Penny Prentice-Best's avatar

Divine Spirit, Bless us with Wisdom, Compassion, Strength, and Clarity. Yes, our nation is in the midst of a crisis of Honor, Character, Ethics, and Personal and Spiritual Values. Love of money and power have infected a significant number of people to the point where they will close their eyes and hearts to actions they know are despicable. Potential solutions to so many issues, homelessness, compassionate health care, addictions, creating clean energy, sustainable farming, and fossil fuel-free transportation, are waiting in the wings but cannot share the stage with the present systems. We, the People, are the ones to choose what will unfold. Looking the other way is not an option. Expecting the folks at the top to change their ways without a Lot of pressure from the bleachers won't work. It's time for a complete renovation. The old structure as good bones but it needs more than a pretty up-date. We need to Renovate without hate and put some Heart in every part.

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Lisa's avatar

I beg you, Marianne, to please come to San Francisco and see firsthand the problems with harm reduction. It's not homelessness. It's drugs, addiction, and mental health problems. There's a humanitarian crisis on our streets. Two people each day die of drug overdoses. Most are in SROs. It's cruel to allow these people to live like this. Many won't go to housing because they know they will likely die, because there isn't anyone watching them to give them Narcan when they OD. The mentally ill sometimes assult people and tax paying citizens are afraid. Children live in these neighborhoods and witness this cruel treatment. These people don't have the capacity to make good decisions for themselves and need to be in a facility to get treatment, have toilets and showers, and be prevented from using drugs. Watching this makes me sick to my stomach. And it all started with Reagan closing mental institutions. These people often have families who are helpless because of our conservatorship laws. You can bash Trump all you want, but this law might help the people on our streets who can't help themselves. Many of the harm reduction and “homeless” nonprofits in SF have been convicted of embezzlement. Billions have been spent in CA on this problem and the problem has only gotten worse. Something has to change. The “solutions” the progressive democrats have been implementing are not working.

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Marianne Williamson's avatar

I don't disagree with you; nothing i said argues otherwise. But the answer is surely not to round people up and force them into institutions.

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Keira Vicente's avatar

Dear Lisa, I used to live South of Market, and yes, I know what you are describing, it was very scary at times, but I do not think for a minuet Trump is concerned about people and their well being... what type of 'help' is in the plan once they are captured? Have there been any real facts or an outline? Homelessness goes away when you give people proper healthcare, fair wages, proper public schooling and affordable housing. That isn't happening in the US, its being taken away. The amount of drugs in and coming into the US is ridiculous, the government can do something about this, they know exactly who, what, when and how the illegal and legal drug business works. The addiction for so many is coming from big pharma anyway...Narcan is a big business...don't help with treatment or work on prevention... sell Narcan so the suffering addicts can keep on going on the path they are on. California has been building massive prisons all along the 5 and inland, and now they need to fill them, big business... its pure insanity. When they round up everyone they can, and the prisons are full, the able bodied will be sent to work in the fields, or who knows, possibly used for 'experimentation' in science, or farmed for their organs, who knows? This its real life Science Fiction.

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Lisa's avatar

We’ll never find out if our mindset is all about resistance and not working to try something different. God forbid we work on opening or building places where people can go for recovery or care for mental illness. Let's keep doing the same thing we're doing and watch the problem grow. Good plan.

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Lisa's avatar

When people are incapable of making decisions to get help, and it's a death sentence to continue to allow them to live inhumanely, we must intervene. There is no way to do that now, and we have to sit on our hands and watch them die. Also, you do not see families homeless in SF. It's all drugs and mental illness. The Honduran drug dealers are treated better than the addicts and mentally ill here. We need solutions. Not a message of resistance. Tell us your better ideas.

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

Lisa, this comment doesn't get any better ideas by the very way you've phrased the question. Don't go into battle against Marianne - why don't you think of better ideas yourself?

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AmylouiseDonnelly's avatar

I empathize with your concern and I think people who don't have to live with these circumstances should listen to people who do.

Marianne Williamson unfailingly lives in comfortable circumstances supported and surrounded by people with resources. Much of the time she has lived in elegant surroundings She works hard, and she has a good heart, but she hasn't spent a lot of time at street level dealing with problems like this.

By the time people who have had addiction problems come to her for guidance, they're all cleaned up and ready to get spiritual.

I don't think the way the conservative movement is going to deal with addicted and mentally ill people is it all humane, but keeping these folks out on the streets doesn't work either.

I welcome some new ideas.

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

Why do you think it's better hiding them from view? That's all it is. They are there and suffering. The day cancer sufferers and addicts are looked at in the same way is when we know humanity is thriving and long live all of us. Right now, attitudes from people who haven't talked to homeless people who prefer to live in their own areas on the streets than a shelter where they are beaten up and then some is just being naive.

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SUE Speaks's avatar

One of the things I pass along is Marianne saying, "We don't have a mental health crisis. We have a spiritual crisis."

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Lisa's avatar

If you were to walk the streets of San Francisco and see what I see with my own two eyes, you wouldn't make such a trite and heartless comment.

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SUE Speaks's avatar

What is trite about it? I thought it was an original thought. And what is heartless about calling for a culture of love?

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Lisa's avatar

You have clearly not witnessed whats happening on our streets. Love is not going to solve this humanitarian crisis. This is serious. Two people are dying every day. If two people were dying every day from Covid in San Francisco, a national health crisis would be declared and people would be freaking out and “love” would not solve the crisis.

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SUE Speaks's avatar

Why are you in a Marianne comment section when your ideas are antithetical to hers?

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Lisa's avatar

Why do you assume that my ideas are antithetical? Marianne has enriched my life with her teachings and books. Do you think she is not interested in healthy discourse about a topic? Why do you sell her so short?

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Keira Vicente's avatar

They need love. On my commute through south of market, I would hand out my car window, old blankets, clothes, bread, water, fruit…whatever extras I had from home. Being a woman, I usually gave to women I saw. They often cried, said thank you for caring, told me a little about themselves. It gave them a little hope in humanity. We all need one another. I worked in different outreach and in the end…it was love and displays of care that made the most impact, not telling people what they should do to improve their situations. Love gives hope, and hope propels change.

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Amen!!!!!!!!!Love you Sue.

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

I disagree. the progressive democrats are helping somewhat and are definitely better than the republicans. Plus, unless you have walked in their shoes, etc etc. simply my two cents - understand your concern Lisa however. if only it was simple. Although Marianne mentioned it by spiritual health is physical health and I second this notion.

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Ingrid Bredenberg's avatar

Do not look away! That’s not easy when I’m privileged enough to be comfortable and safe. Thank you for ideas of where to make a difference.

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Irina Arabei's avatar

Outstanding presentation. Thank you Totally agree and am supporting .

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Philip P. Orth's avatar

Thank you Marianne for sharing your moral outrage ( aka love!) with all of us. Your fire is lighting mine!!!

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

Her urgency and passion for the need for action. Yes. Agreed. Love it.

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Kim H's avatar

Round them up, put them in mental health facilities, while at the same time, cutting Medicaid, which would most likely be the source of how their "stay" in those mental health facilities are paid for.

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@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

This administration continues to take away medical and mental health services which began with Reagan. Which is when homelessness began. 1. Closed mental health services and hospitals. ( people discharged with no dr, home or meds. Turned to streets for “meds” and lead to prisons for profit followed up with the WAR on drugs”. ) 2. Passed health insurance for profit (managed care). 3. Significantly decreased taxes for wealthy and corporations. All connected to the heritage foundation people — now called project 2025.

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@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

The bbb is closing hospitals and cutting medicaid and medicare. There will not be $$ put towards mental health or addiction treatment. Another LIE!

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

Plus I hate to tell you some of those facilities are pressure cookers making people either struggle through or explode. But yes, medic aid irony I get totally. Good point. But the thing is they don't put them in these facilities Im hearing. It's a long arduous process that loses many if they are even considered for it.

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Judi Lindsey's avatar

As always, Marianne brings to the forefront the critical problems this country is facing and tells it like it is. And tells us what we need to do!

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Barbara's avatar

Agree, it’s a

moral emergency!

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AmylouiseDonnelly's avatar

I will make one less comment about this because it's something I thought about after I posted my other responses.

When I think about everything that Donald Trump is putting into place, I don't let myself get outraged because I realize that people have been soft voting for things like this ever since they voted for Ronald Reagan.

They just didn't get what they voted for because it was illegal or it was too hard or there was enough infrastructure in place to stop it from happening.

Well, they finally got their Christian right wing dream come true. But the consequences are going to have to fall on the actual people who voted for this before it will change.

I will do what I can to support the organizations that my husband and I believe to need our greatest support right now, but we can't scatter our resources spending on everything protesting everything or exhaust ourselves worrying about this stuff.

The (mostly white, privileged or rural) people who voted for Reagan never suffered from his programs. Not to their awareness. Some of the people who voted for Trump are going to have to feel this and they will. FINALLY.

That's when things will change, and not before.

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Jacqueline's Creative Outlet's avatar

wow. Yes you can exhaust yourselves. But you shouldn't because you don't see how very wrong he is. That is obvious. It's not about 'politics' anymore. This is about people, American people. I pray for you and hope others like yourself don't stay numb until it's too late. Already girls are trafficked, people are disappearing, we have your leader making friends with the worst dictators in the world because why? They are his 'tribe". Please don't scatter your resources, but something? Anything? Im going to and I live in another country. Please care about your own country enough to do the same.

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AmylouiseDonnelly's avatar

I care about my country and so does my husband. We are setting aside resources to Tltarget specific elections in 2026 and again in 2028. Not presidential elections because we realize that's a complete waste of our time attention and money.

Elections to our deliberative body, the Senate, and local elections that can affect local laws.

When you say "your" leader I realize you were talking about me as an American. As someone who actually lives in this country, I have to live with the people who voted for him. I have to look them in the eye when I go to the grocery store. When I get my car repaired. When I buy vegetables at the farm market. When I sit in my support groups and even in my spiritual community.

I am still working on a way to coexist with these people without being co-opted by their belief system. So I take my attention away from the people who are abusing power in this country and I put it on the people who actually gave them permission to do that.

I'm not trying to hold the government accountable for abusing power because I really don't have enough power to do that.

But I can hold my family. My friends. My support group members. Just look at them or listen to them and at the right moment say this is on you.

It's not on me.

It wasn't on Biden.

It's not on the DNC.

Transgendered people.

Or "liberals"

This chaos, terror and pain.

It's on you and your voting fingers

When people can own their vote and all the genuine suffering it causes, there will be change in this country and not a minute before, although it may be too late for a lot of people by the time that change comes.

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@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

Yes, homelessness began with Reagan. And he had the help of DJT, roy cohn, the heritage foundation, health care insurance industry became FOR Profit. He closed mental health hospitals across the country with no plan for patients shut out. Very cruel. Oh, then significantly reduced taxes for wealthy and corporations. While getting rid of fairness in reporting the news.

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SUE Speaks's avatar

What is in our power? There's the rub. We are gadflies. How to become a force? Marianne, I wish you would feel called to create a coalition for the good. I bet it would have more sign-ups than the Democrats and Republicans combined. So many people have gone from helplessness and passivity to being mad enough to not take it anymore, and they are looking for what to belong to that gives power to the people..

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