FIRST LOOK: First Draft of Merchant Defense Course Expansion

A look at the first 10 chapter drafts of the Merchant Defense Course Plus-Sized Book

Ten years ago I began work on the Merchant Defense Course, written for those store-keepers that were having serious problems with criminal drug addicts. The Book laid out strategies that focused on physical, verbal and policy for keeping these addicts out of your store.

Late last year Humboldt set the internet on fire with a documentary by Nick Johnson. On it’s way to a million views, there was an outpouring of feedback and I learned a lot from the experience. This Expansion book before you, is a look at my progress and the issues I’m trying to unpack.

A couple house-keeping things to note

1. There are many missing pictures. When my book is finalized those pictures will be there. I won’t bore you with the formatting glitch in getting those pictures nicely lined up for you on this Substack!

2. What you are reading here is not the finished product by a long shot. While my goal is completion of the book this year, I think this reveal is helpful because maybe you have some feedback that could help me out! Please share this material as you see fit. I want federal and state policy-makers to see it.

3. Chapter One is a reprint of my original book in it’s entirety.

The Expansion

You are enjoying the expanded version of this book, as we take our hard earned lessons and share with the world. The timing is everything.

President Trump indicated that the federal government is crafting a response to combat the homeless crisis. My role is to make sure that this unique knowledge is included in that conversation.

The concepts of this book--especially the role of the Criminal Drug Addict--took on a national consciousness in 2025 when YouTube Influencer Nick Johnson explored the City of Eureka, forging a mini documentary where I explain the unique lessons Humboldt County has learned through years of experience; dealing with the criminal component making up much of the homeless community.

The feedback, support and criticisms that followed struck a real chord with me. Viewers didn’t argue about some of the unique points of our presentation, but they added a vast array of differing views and valuable suggestions deserving to be heard. As I began putting together a great gem of personal experience landed in my inbox. Quite possibly, Chris may have hit the nail on the head. He finally got clean from drugs, and it was a job that made it possible. He says:

But I’m gonna tell you my secret. The one thing that really made it possible for me to succeed was having something to be proud of and hold onto. I was given a good job where I felt like I was an important part of a team. I had a purpose. I had a job I could be proud of. It kept me busy. I didn’t have time to go score some dope before work. I didn’t have time to think about dope. Before I knew it I was 6 months clean. And the longer I stayed clean, the easier it got. So, what I’m saying is: we need to give these people a way to stay busy and give them something to make them feel human again. Give them a purpose in life. If you wake up feeling like a loser and you have all sorts of time on your hands, you’re gonna fall back to your old coping mechanisms. You’re gonna drink or get high. - Chris

I love this observation. Even for the criminal drug addict, there is still a human being underneath the mess that could potentially be saved. As we discuss solving the problems in this book, let’s remember that restoring a persons spirit ought to be a critical component. Unlike the original pamphlet, this book gets into details and weaves it’s way upon surprising rabbit holes. No matter how technical or quirky the journey gets, please keep it in the back of your mind that my intention is to save souls and ultimately get the criminally drug-addicted off the streets.

Only by radically reducing the number of these addicts, can we have any hope of solving homelessness.

An an expansion, we begin this book with a reprint of the Merchant Defense Course, the original blueprint that guides store personnel on protecting your business from the homeless. The chapter is a thirty minute read and I hope you find it insightful, even if you have never worked in retail. If nothing else, it will leave you with an appreciation for the wide range of challenges working with some of the more rowdy members of the homeless.

Once we wrap up the Course, the expansion covers the misguided way our society approaches the homeless. You and I will then imagine what an effective federal response should be. We will revisit the Nick Johnson phenomenon and then some of the more insightful feedback received since writing the original defense course pamphlet.

This expansion was not a forgone conclusion--in fact, I was hoping to be finished with this topic! Yet the valuable feedback and media attention has spurred it forward. It is my sincere hope that the information saves lives and breaks the hideous cycle of abuse taking place in homeless communities throughout the United States.

Chapter 1 A Reprint of the Merchant Defense Course

Merchant Defense Course

Dear Reader: This little book isn’t trying to save the world but it still has a worthy goal: to bring some common sense to how a retail or service business can keep out the “’bad actors.” This information took years of trial and error, and it’s my hope that the next thirty minutes give you the tools and confidence needed to protect your store.

The idea for this strategy guide came during a random meeting with the Eureka Police Department. I was invited for a 15 minute conversation regarding challenges with retailing the Old Town area of Eureka, California. It was a frank discussion where at one point I mentioned how I rarely needed police aid because we had developed strategies for handling criminal addicts. One of the law enforcement members asked me if I’d be willing to teach our tactics to other merchants who were having trouble.

Most businesses do not have a coherent policy for handling bums. Corporate stores hold their employees back as they fear legal repercussions, and sometimes will even terminate well-intentioned employees who confront criminal mischief makers. With no clear guidelines for making bums leave, corporate stores fall victim to theft, vandalism, massive loss in consumer sales and other problems.

As for the Mom & Pop stores, they may not fear a lawsuit, but they likely do not have a coherent set of strategies for keeping out the criminal drug addicts that roam cities across America. Many of these stores will have one or two strong employees who unilaterally take action--defending the store and co-workers. While this is admirable, over time it can send mixed messages and lead to general confusion. An owner of a business needs to make sure that company messaging communicates correctly, and this book can help make all the employees comfortable and familiar with a difficult topic.

My brothers and I purchased our music retail business, Mantova’s Two Street Music, in a historically bad part of town. From the start we learned how dangerous Criminal Drug Addicts can be.

You probably haven’t heard that term before. That’s because I invented it, in an effort to differentiate the bad actors from homeless population. Much can be said about how to fix homelessness, but the focus of our book is on the most dangerous part of that community. For brevity, from now on I’ll refer to Criminal Drug Addict as “CDA’s.”

As we will discuss later, the homeless are a very large group of people that can be understood in three sub groups. The largest portion are criminal drug addicts, while roughly 20 to 25% are mentally ill, and the smallest group are those genuinely down on their luck. Of course these are generalizations and there is certainly some overlap.

This analysis triggers some people that are inexperienced with the homeless. It also triggers people that are blinded by political ideology. I don’t have a political axe to grind, and I don’t run a soup kitchen. I just want to sell stuff.

Since Criminal Drug Addicts are the majority of what makes up the “homeless,” it is important to have unique strategies and approaches that protect your store and customers. It’s not “being mean” to stay safe. It’s not immoral to demand high standards of cleanliness at your business. You do not owe criminals anything, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Working in retail, your job is to first protect, and secondly--sell your goods.

The point of this book is to protect your store and customers on the one hand, while removing bums from your location. Ideally we hope to provide as much dignity to the process as possible because no matter what, you and I are talking about human beings.

The best defense is a good offense.

DISCLAIMER: This course is intended to aid the merchant in keeping criminal drug addicts out of his store. The tactics are my own.

WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

The most important goal is keeping criminal drug addicts out of your store! Failing will result in the following:

A) Increased risk of shoplifting

B) An increase in CDA because they invite their friends. The word will get out that your store is “welcoming.”

C) Your restroom will get trashed because addicts will use it for shooting up

D) Decrease in sales because your customers will leave without buying

E) Health and Safety are compromised because Criminal Drug Addicts often have open sores on their hands, face and arms.

Even if the criminal addict spends money, he will eventually cause problems A through E. You work with him at your peril.

Confrontation is your friend, because most criminal drug addicts need a permissive atmosphere to cause trouble.

You are never responsible for the eventual fate of a criminal drug addict, that is for social services and fate. Your only interaction must be to get them out of your store, and away from your customers!

Categories of Tactics include

Trying different tactics, I started to notice subtle patterns. After a lot of reflecting and practice, I noticed that all of my strategies for keeping CDA’s out of my store, fell neatly within three categories: Verbal, Physical and Good Policy Standards.

VERBAL

CDA’s simply want to cause mischief in your store, they are not ready to have a discussion. Talking to them is the single best way to diffuse situations and show them the door.

Keep sentences short and try not to talk too long. Your words need to be tied to immediate actions.

Some good word tactics:

NO

I hate to admit it, but this took me a long time to figure out. The very best of all the verbal strategies ought be listed first. If a CDA is walking in and something about them is offensive, just look at them and say “No, you can’t come in. No.”

The abruptness of a good No will deter many criminal drug addicts. This works even better when used on a CDA who has been banned in the past from your store. (More on that later)

“NOT AFTER LAST TIME”

Tell them “not after last time” This is especially useful if you’ve seen them more than once. With this approach we don’t argue, we don’t give reasons, simply say for example:

“not after last time, no way, you gotta go now. thanks.”

Chances are the CDA will believe that he must have done something bad beforehand. CDAs only care about getting their next fix, so the simplest verbal denial will get them moving out the door.

“ARE YOU RIGHT IN THE HEAD?” OR, “I AM CONCERNED YOU ARE NUTS”

This question cuts to the core and the answer usually delivers instant results. If they are not nuts, they will laugh or get upset. If they are nuts, they will often admit it! If they get upset and demand to know why you ask, tell them the truth, maybe they are acting like they are on uppers or something.

The old sales adage, “Ask and you get, don’t and you won’t” can be applied when deciding if a CDA is going to be a problem. Depending on the situation I find myself using this strategy more often nowadays.

Once you get your answer, then you have the opportunity to provide the solution, if I think the CDA is on drugs, I will just say, “hey you gotta go because you are on something, but go over to the rescue mission and get cleaned up, when you are sober we can talk about getting you back.”

CDA’s really don’t like talking about getting clean and sober! By now they are usually showing themselves out of your business!

CAN I LOOK AROUND?

CDAs know that there is a presumption of innocence so they will sometimes ask if they can look around. They are assuming you will give permission. This is a great opportunity to say NO--or to otherwise set conditions. Remind yourself that you are not Thomas Jefferson or whoever wrote that bit about the Statue of Liberty. You don’t need refugees.

Now is a good time to understand that CDA’s accomplish a lot of their goals by practiced verbal and physical subterfuge, and they will exploit your politeness and generosity to get access to your store.

Instead, say something like “Is there any reason I should not let you?” This turns the tables and subtly shows the CDA that you run a place with high standards. You can also take the more tactful approach:

“Yes, for a few minutes”

When you extend a time clock, you need to enforce it. Keep tabs on the CDA and make a decision if he should stay or go. I only extend a timeclock if I genuinely am not sure on the person. After a couple minutes pass and you believe the person is going to be trouble, simply say “Ok, we gotta get going.”

If an argument ensues...

“Thank you--Appreciate That”

A long winded argument gives the CDA a stage and a place in your store. As you show them the door, make sure you alternate the phrases Thank you and Appreciate That. After informing that they “got to go,” alternate the words “thank you” and “appreciate that” as you show them the door. This shows your regular customers that you are a professional

“I’ll call the Cops if you don’t leave”

If everything goes wrong and you get an exceptionally hostile CDA, it is ok to let them know that the cops will be called. I’ve had some success with this, but if you are operating in one of the increasingly bad parts of California, the CDA may not care much about this threat. We have some great police locally, but like many neighborhoods they are stretched way too thin, and CDA’s know perfectly well what the average police response time is.

MUTTERING

Sometimes you will see CDAs muttering or talking to themselves. Let them know you are uncomfortable. I will typically say “Why are you muttering?--you need to go.” If an addict is muttering then you can ask them to leave because it makes you uncomfortable. Muttering will scare away your customers, too.

Recognize the power of words and pay attention to the results when you deliver them with confidence. You will be surprised how often a few well placed words can de-escalate a situation.

As the years have gone on I went from several different verbal approaches to just a couple tried and true.

TONE

When you communicate verbal strategies, try your best to keep your voice calm and assertive. If you have a store full of customers and are attempting to talk to a CDA about leaving, getting loud is not a good look and it might provoke the bum into wanting to fight.

Maintaining a professional, respectful tone of voice is essential for keeping CDA’s calm and keeping your customers’ at ease.

Employees need to see owners set the bar for proper tone of voice, as well as all the policies in this book. Most of these policies will loose their effectiveness if conducted in an unnatural tone of voice. Many of the CDA’s are hardwired on Meth, Crack, Heroin and can snap extremely easily. After 16 years of using these strategies I have found that a calm but firm tone of voice is my biggest asset.

PHYSICAL

When protecting your turf there are several physical tactics that I recommend. For best results, you ideally should stop CDA’s at the front door, you should stop them from coming inside.

Yes, this often requires cracking the door open and positioning yourself directly behind the door, giving yourself plenty of leverage if you need to close the door in a hurry.

Leaning on your verbal strategies while positioning your body in a way to close the door if needed, is a good way to tell CDA’s that they are not welcome. Over time you will build a list of CDA’s that have been banned from your store. You’ll find bracing the door and reminding them that there were “86’d” is an important way to hardwire their brains that they are not welcome. They can take their crime-making somewhere else.

However, once a CDA has managed to walk into your business...

OPEN THE FRONT DOOR

Getting a little Fung Shui here, but sure enough: Energy flows where it is invited. It’s important to always open the front door before confronting a Criminal Drug Addict. You don’t want to make them feel cornered.

To make sure we are on the same page. A CDA has entered your business and has started to walk throughout your showroom. BEFORE you confront this CDA, you should first walk over and open the front door and make sure it stays open. Once you’ve done that, make sure that at least one other employee is available to help you make the confrontation. The “wingman’s” job is to block the CDA from walking deeper into your show room. Your job is to stand in front of the CDA and tell him to leave, while the whole time making sure the CDA has a clear exit path to the front door.

When confronting a CDA, always stand up and walk briskly toward the threat. Sitting will reassure the addict that you are operating an “anything goes” atmosphere!

DEFENSIVE POSTURE

It’s so important that I’m going to use bullet points.

1) Before confrontation, always open the front door. Never engage the CDA without giving him a clear path of departure. Make sure that there are no innocent bystanders in the CDA’s pathway out. Sometimes when my store is crowded I will choose to wait for people to shop and exit, so that we can safely remove the threat.

2) Make sure you have something at least 3 feet long in your hands. You don’t want to ever touch a CDA because they often carry diseases, so the item in your hands can be used to keep space between you. I typically will hold a broom. (Note: I have been working on this book for many years, slowly updating it along the way. Nowadays I am so confident and experienced that I often keep my hands empty and typically settle problems with verbal strategies. However, getting experience with self defense is always a good idea and i would encourage it.)

3) Keep hands out of your pockets, give off an urgent, serious vibe but not overly threatening or aggressive. CDA’s go through their lives looking for their next fix, easy pushover sales clerks and an easy steal. You confronting them with a calm professional air will go a long way.

4) After the CDA has left, apologize to customers that were impacted and make sure to decontaminate whatever surface areas were touched. Don’t forget to wipe the doorknobs!

5) If you are located in a bad neighborhood, make sure you offer to walk your customers to their cars. Even if they don’t take you up on it, that extra bit of customer service is appreciated.

6) An optional step would be to snap a picture from your stores’ surveillance system and send to your local police officer. Even if no crime has been committed, local law enforcement appreciates knowing who the CDA’s are. Good police work happens when CDA’s get confronted and inspected before they commit crimes.

POLICY

Policies are an important part of having high standards, they can also be used as a tool for keeping CDAs out of your store! Here are some policies I recommend:

NO UNATTENDED BAGS

Many CDAs carry backpacks and knapsacks that they will attempt to leave by your front door. Many CDAs will not be willing to let the bag out of their sight, and will leave. CDA’s know that if they leave their bag outside, it will get stolen by other CDA’s.

Sometimes you might not know if the person is a CDA, the no bags policy gives you another tool to talk with them and figure it out.

NO CUTS OR SORES ON HANDS

Criminal Drug Addicts are filthy, and will often have open sores and cuts on their hands, face and legs. You put your employees at risk if you allow CDAs with these problems to handle merchandise. Of all the policies, please make this a part of your list!

NO SMOKING

CDAs smoke a lot, if you see them puffing outside your store, ask them to move along. Especially if they are lighting up in your doorway.

It doesn’t take long for a gathering of CDA’s to settle in front of your store. Oftentimes it starts with one guy and a cigarette.

SMELLY

You have the right to advise that someone take a shower immediately. This tactic will typically result in an argument, but you can’t have your store stink! Learn where the public showers are located. I used to have business cards made of the local shower station, and then when I tell you that you stink, I at least can hand you a solution to the problem as you leave! Customer service at it’s finest!

The BANNED LIST

Owners and staff need to be educated on who has been banned from entry. Owning a business in the “wild west” portion of my city, I have banned hundreds of CDA’s in my life. Keeping track of the bans is not easy! It’s tricky because people change appearances, you may not have a good mugshot from your cameras and CDA’s are experts in disguise and subterfuge! I have one CDA that will even try to walk fast and hide in one of the corners of the showroom in hopes that I won’t see him! Bans only work if the banned are confronted when they try to re-enter.

Watch out for passive employees. Typically what happens is there will be one or two employees that are burdened with being the “enforcers” of these rules. A CDA walks in and instead of instantly confronting, the employee goes to the “enforcer” co-worker and asks them to go to talk to the CDA. This is a natural and understandable circumstance, but the ideal is for all owners and employees to immediately address threats and show their commitment to using strong verbal, physical and policy strategies. I think we can agree that it’s not fair for one or two employees to do all the “heavy lifting” with CDAs! What if these employees quit and you are left with a staff that is too passive and not confident?

As the owner, you are responsible for this, along with everything else! At the very least make sure that your more passive employees are at least taking part in the process. In modern jargon, I suppose you could call it a “teambuilding exercise.”

CREEPY

Some CDAs exhibit “Creepiness in the 1st Degree.” You have the right to kick people out for being creepy!

Staff Inclusion

Your employees need to “read between the lines” and keep up the standards.

Daily Mitigation: Real Steps you can take to deter CDA

There are basic steps you can practice every work day to protect your business. Here are daily activities that are easy to do that can pay off in the long run.

1) Check to see who got arrested yesterday. There should be a local news source that lists who got arrested and for what. Join all the social media “thieves” groups that often have pictures of suspected thieves. In addition to helping identify threats, you will also have specific reasons for denying criminal drug addicts access into your store. As criminals, they often have records you can see. If you are in a rural area, its not hard to figure out who gets in trouble with the law. Using this method I have blocked many bad actors, including a serial burglar!

Usually when confronting a CDA about his published criminal record I will begin the conversation with

“you were really rowdy last night!”

The CDA will be shocked that you are aware of their bad behavior, and usually they will act apologetic before they get defensive. This is a prime opportunity to tell them “im not comfortable with your bad behavior, you need to go get cleaned up and relax at the shelter.” Many CDA’s are looking for the path of least resistance, and by surprising them in this manner, they are simply not ready and will usually comply. Keep this conversation short, as if it runs too long then they will get a backbone and toughen up.

This overall conversation should be no more than :30 seconds.

2) Get a metal enclosure protecting your front door. Many businesses suffer from having bums sleeping in their front entryway. An iron gate sends a message that you are not offering free places to sleep. If you are renting and not allowed to install a gate, then before you open the store you must confront people sleeping out front and move them along. Letting them stay in place will only invite criminal drug addicts to hang out. Even though the person sleeping out front is likely not a threat to your business, his presence creates a permissive atmosphere that CDA’s will exploit.

3) Get to know the homeless shelter. The director of your local rescue mission can be a huge help in keeping track of who is naughty and nice. When you have to ban someone, make sure to send a picture to the local shelter, so that they can prepare their staff for a potentially dangerous person.

4) Don’t Setup any permanent seating areas on your block. Don’t allow the city to build any “parklets” or other things that attract CDA’s to loiter. While some parklets look really cool, if you are in a rough neighborhood for CDA’s then this is just a luxury you don’t get to have!

5) If you are a retail goods business, develop relationships with the pawn shops so they can help you recover stolen gear when that ugly situation happens.

6) Security needs to be bold. Windows should have bars in them, and cameras should be visible. If you are in business, you have enough to worry about, don’t give CDA’s any opportunities for a smash and grab.

I am surprised how many stores refuse to get bars in their windows and special security for their entryways. As long as your goods and service are excellent, customers will not be bothered by gates and bars.

7) Watch out for Drug Vans and Decrepit Winnebago’s!

Pay attention to when the “drug buses” come to your street. While these buses never completely go away, you can work with police to make sure they are not parked right outside your business, dealing their poison out the window.

Sometimes druggies looking for their next fix will steal from you and run with the item to one of the loitering Winnebagos. These large rust buckets are great places for CDA’s to store stolen goods. I will never forget one of my first shop lift chases, and sure enough it was a guy that fled from me and dove into the safety of a Winnebago that quickly drove away.

It’s tricky to always watch the inside as well as the outside of your store!

Extra Strategies and Understanding the Homeless Pandemic

The Charismatic Criminal Drug Addict

One of the more difficult Criminal Drug Addicts to expel are the polite Charismatic Addicts. These Addicts put on a happy face but will bring their friends into your store if given half-a-chance. They tend to stick around and will not notice any subtle hints that they are not welcome. It is very important to talk to this addict and let him know he is not allowed to bring In people that stink, steal or otherwise don’t belong In your store. If you don’t have any good reason to ban the charismatic addict, you can hold the offenses of his friend against him. Either the store owner or a manager will probably be necessary in identifying and confronting the Charismatic CDA.

Perimeter Protection

Merchants need to raise the standards of what goes on outside their businesses. If tourists see Criminal Drug Addicts shooting up or dealing by your door or on the nearest street corner, you will lose business from the potential walk-in traffic. Solutions include:

1) Hiring a private security company that engages addicts and keeps them moving

2) Confronting the problems yourself

3) Calling the police

Private Security

Security is expensive, and most merchants would have to pursue pooling the costs of the security firm with their neighbors. Some parts of this country are so rough that the only answer is plexiglass and patrolling security. If your area is that level of bad, then I’m really sorry!

Confronting the problem yourself

I am a big proponent of confrontation, but always make sure to exercise caution with safety first. The impact of communicating what you won’t tolerate will send a clear message that standards are high on your block. Placing cameras on all outside doorways and alleyways is good, but there is nothing more effective than direct engagement. The downside is that your time is being taken away from the daily duties of running your business. But most businesses involve maintaining high, ethical standards so adding this to your workload shouldn’t be that hard.

Calling the Police

If you live in a region with a crisis-level of addicts, then calling the police is probably not going to be very effective. Long wait times won’t do anything about the dollars you lose as tourists and families decide not to enter your business. However there is still great benefit in keeping your local beat police officer up-to-date on the criminal activity in your neighborhood. Even if you are independently handling everything, it’s a good idea to at least email your local cop, keeping him up to speed. Local police are partners in fighting criminal drug addicts, so its important to recognize that.

Understanding the “Homeless”

Often we are too simplistic in treating the “homeless” as if they are a homogenous blob with all the same needs. This misunderstanding is why our nation has failed to solve homelessness. The homeless are made up of three distinct groups, and there are three sets of winning strategies that can help each group.

1) The Down on Their Luck

2) The Mentally Ill

3) The Lifestyle Homeless, AKA: The Criminal Drug Addict

1) Down on Their Luck

The original and correctly named: Homeless. Whether through their own actions or a steady stream of bad luck, the homeless are people that need help, understanding, compassion and access to quality services. The Down on Their Luck are often willing to help themselves and have an active interest in “getting back on track.”

2) The Mentally Ill

Different studies place The Mentally Ill at 20-25% of the homeless in any given region of the country. Without enough resources and a clear focus, most communities lack the capacity to manage their mentally ill population

3) The Criminal Drug Addict

Also called the “lifestyle homeless.” They will happily take your handout without any effort toward changing their ways. They are the largest segment of the homeless, and they will siphon all the resources that are intended for groups 1 and 2.

Ironically, the more money and resources given to Criminal Drug Addicts, the larger this group will get.

Most cities have an out-of-control homeless population because they fail to divide the homeless into these three categories. Different solutions are required for each group

1) Down on Their Luck Solution: Local charities, welfare, low-income--results-based housing assistance, food stamps, job fairs, Free Showers and Homeless Camps with Triage Services.

2) The Mentally Ill Solution: Trained law enforcement and local mental health facilities and outreach

3) The Criminal Drug Addict Solution: Incarceration for crimes committed. Enforced camping ordinances and making sure they don’t sleep in public spaces . Mandatory Rehab. Closing the slums and depriving the addicts of drug dealing and “shooting up” sites.

Notice that the solutions for Group 3, differ greatly from the other two groups! If we ignore these realities and show compassion, handouts and resources to all three groups, then the result will be an enlarged group of Criminal Drug Addicts that prey on groups 1 and 2. This is one of the most important points I can make. The more we feed and embolden criminal addicts, the more misery and suffering they will force on the mentally ill and those down on their luck. Every Do-gooder that demands we treat all the homeless the same is only making the problem worse.

The Criminal Drug Addict prefers “heroin to a home” and will only use a home as a place to deal drugs, take drugs and store stolen possessions.

THANK YOU for considering these strategies.

This is real life, so please practice and reflect on the results. Train your staff. Encourage them to confront and run toward problems. Communicate your expectations. Make sure that every employee is familiar with keeping CDA’s out of your store. The CDA will exploit any weakness to gain entry, including an employee that is uncertain of the verbal, physical and/or policies that are expected.

Chapter 2 The Speech

I really hope you enjoyed the Merchant Defense Course. There is no written test to see if you paid proper attention or just scanned it, but either way--thank you! Now we continue with the expanded edition. Enjoy!

Consider what Jesus had to say in Matthew 25:31-46

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

There should be no doubt that part of our purpose is to help others. Especially those in great need. Unlike real poverty, at that fateful time Jesus walked the Earth, we realize today so many of the homeless are not really hungry or thirsty but are simply craving drugs and a place to do them.

You want to help. It feels good to contribute. How sinister it is that helping a homeless man with a fistful of cash statistically leads to more abuse? Welcome to the complex problem of criminal drug addiction.

Words are powerful. Words are how we bend space and time. We can’t do everything with our hands so we speak into existence what we want done.

Certainly Jesus is correct; the homeless should not be ignored. And if possible you should talk to them. But proceed with caution because your words will be received differently depending which of the three groups you are addressing.

If they are a Criminal Drug Addict (CDA), the “window” to talk to them is clouded over; calcified by their craving for drugs. The typical conversation isn’t possible, for the CDA’s every waking thought is using their words to obtain drugs.

For those mentally ill, talking sometimes produces very good results. It may be precisely what they need; instead of being completely ostracized by everyone. Of course saying the wrong words can create big problems, too.

And the smallest of groups-- those down on their luck. They really need to talk; Especially if they have just moved to your neighborhood from parts unknown, they absolutely will benefit from the right kind of conversation with you. For this tiny part of the homeless community. There may as well be a time clock. Every minute is critical because they need shelter, food and care.

But of course nobody in the homeless community is wearing a sign spelling out to which they belong! That’s why having what I call ‘The Speech’ is a great humane way to proceed.

If you find yourself routinely talking to the homeless it’s important to have a short rehearsed set of concepts that you willingly share. It’s very powerful when you realize what you say could possibly get through depending on where their mindset is in the present moment.

As previously mentioned I get new homeless people visiting the store. A new batch each month enter my business. I’ve gained a few new friends this way over the years while unfortunately having to kick out many others! This rollercoaster of humanity is why this book exists.

I have a “little speech” when I process a new group of homeless each month. While typically it would take way too long to give the whole talk it is shortened to a very basic warning not to live on the Eureka streets and encourages you to find shelter at the next door rescue mission, or somewhere like it very quickly.

My speech talks about what I won’t allow, like if I see you hanging out at the very dangerous A and 2nd streets you could be on the road to disaster. If I see you dumpster diving, then I won’t let you handle the guitars. I tell people that you will be judged by who you hang out with.

Indeed there is no appeal in the court of public opinion.

My speech to the homeless is a set of standards. A clear warning that living on city streets will transform you into a CDA in short order. On the streets you will not find the pursuit of happiness--quite the opposite.

The speech is like good medicine--it tastes awful. It’s offensive. It’s very strong! And while I’ve told portions of it for 16 years--administered to hundreds of human beings that were in bad shape--there are a handful where it was appreciated. Sadly, it typically finds deaf ears.

Toward the end there is a critically important part of my speech where I tell the person about job opportunities including who is hiring locally. You’d be surprised how much genuine hope can come from an actual job lead! That job lays the foundation for the person to become proud of their hard work and see their struggle in a positive light.

One time I was walking back from the nearby Co Op and I heard a loud voice from a guy in a raincoat from across the streets, he yelled: “Hey I’m not a Druggie Yet!”

I gave him a big thumbs up and was very happy because apparently the speech hit home!

The speech is very easy for me because I’m a business owner with a very simple purpose: to sell musicians fun stuff. I won’t tolerate any criminals that get in the way.

Think about yourself. What do you want the homeless to know when you see them? When you give them a dollar do you just walk away, feeling warm and fuzzy? If you were to take an extra moment and talk to them, do you have any clue what you would say?

But for the grace of God go I. This is where true charitable opportunities pop up in your life. I am not saying you should put yourself in harms way but what if your well thought out words could save a life?

You can share the Gospel. I believe God compels each of us to work toward our unique potential each day. Christianity believes we are all unique in the image of God and that we need to be ready to fulfil his holy purpose for us.

You can talk about where available room and board is. You can tell them to stay off drugs. You can say any number of good things they really need to hear. You may be tongue tied because you’ve never even thought about the impact you could have.

If I see someone dumpster diving , I’ll often raise my voice any say “hey you are a person, don’t dig in the trash can, the Rescue Mission is right over there!”

Here in Eureka we have an overly permissive society that tolerates horrid behavior. If each one of us could agree to tell CDA’s that their behavior isn’t welcome, it would go a long way to moving them on to other pastures. As usual the solution to complex problems lies within each of us.

When was the last time you made a comment encouraging a homeless person to get help? When was the last time you called out a situation that was immoral? Are you acting smugly or saintly, from a distance your actions may look the same, but you and I both know the difference.

Chapter 3: The Unique Homeless Culture of Humboldt County

As mentioned in the beginning, our little part of the country took the national stage thanks to a mini documentary by Nick Johnson! Viral breakthroughs are nothing new to Johnson, but the unique nature of homelessness in Humboldt County had never been showcased. Our area’s temperate weather and geographical location, radically left-leaning political orientation, zealous homeless advocates, dangerous needle exchange programs and undermanned, depleted police force all lend to what I call Humboldt Counties “unique” form of homelessness.

Let’s consider the weight of each impactor.

1) Weather and Geography

Being on the west coast, the weather typically lacks the stresses of the four seasons and it enables a year long living free of frostbite, snow days on the one extreme to sun stroke and nasty biting bugs on the other. If you are homeless either of those extremes can present you with life and death consequences. Not a concern in temperate California.

Now the geography is underreported and interesting. I have talked to countless homeless who landed in Humboldt County simply because there was no more west to go. They might have decided in Chicago or Georgia or even Maine that they just needed to go west and figure out life. All they could afford was a bus ticket. They hitch hiked. There is a rugged freedom and maybe a little glimmer of hope when you choose a direction and go for it. It’s an escape from reality. A second chance. It’s that kind of feeling experienced in the Jack Reacher novels, a literal hobo hero that wanders the nation righting wrongs and living life on his own terms. Fantastic books but in the novels Mr. Reacher has a hefty bank account and no bills he handles the lifestyle fairly well. The many homeless that land here due to geography are not explorers as much as they are souls looking for a little less difficulty in life.

The Pacific Coastline is a firm barrier that signals the end of the road. By the time the homeless wanderer gets to Humboldt County they often have run out of money. They may have been robbed along the way. Or they brought their drug use with them and find themselves in a bad situation, but the common theme I see is the same. they have no where else they can imagine going. And while this is difficult to prove beyond the logical and anecdotal I believe the category of geography should be added to the list of why the homeless come to Humboldt County.

2) Radical Left Orientation

“Getting Political” is a quick way to lose some of your audience. I hate to do it, but in this context there’s no choice but to point out the interdependent relationship between radical left politicians and their enabling of the Criminal Drug Addict. From “Housing First” to the refusal to require drug testing for services and support, the left wing set of theories have made homelessness worse.

Local police departments wither from years of left wing governance as they find themselves in an impossible situation, dutifully enforce laws that city hall doesn’t want them to be too hasty on enforcing. A very unfair set of expectations for LE community.

There are mountains of evidence that link radical left policy to the fall of once brilliant Portland, San Francisco, Vancouver and countless other cities. Some of it will be covered here but going deep in that rabbit hole isn’t really the aim for our book.

3) Homeless Advocates

Perhaps the gravest obstacle reformers face are the Homeless Advocates, whose mishandling of homelessness occurs from a codified set of misguided beliefs. These include “Housing First Extremism” and unwillingness to demand drug testing for services as well as the Needle Exchange Programs.

Above you have the theory from the Housing First advocates. Using what we have learned about Criminal Drug Addicts, lets take a look at the diagram below to see how this theory impacts with reality.

Many years ago there was a temporary container camp near my music store. There was no drug testing but homes were readily provided. When I left work I would drive by the camp and notice drug deals going on around the fence. As I learned who was housed in the camp I lost faith in the project because many of the residents were known drug addicts and throughout the process I never saw any change in behavior. After a period of time presumably the funds dried up and the camp was shuttered, its residents continuing their lifestyles afterwards with little noticeable change.

Let’s go through the results step-by-step. A CDA hunting for his next fix is given a bag of food and a hug from a social worker. He is then escorted to his new home. It may be a studio in an apartment complex or a tiny home in a trailer park style setting. At this point everyone is full of joy and good feelings. However, the next action is where reality rears it’s ugly head! That first night where the homeless advocate is assuming all is well, the Criminal Drug Addict gets on his phone and texts his local drug dealer. An arrangement to drop by the home is made and that night the first criminal activity in the home has occurred. Nearby residents all notice that someone very unsavory has visited their complex. Some of these other residents were down-on-their-luck and are not criminals at all! The moment that CDA was made their neighbor, their quality of life began to plummet. This vicious abuse of the CDA to the less fortunate is one of the great unseen calamities of how we have been misguided with the homeless.

In quick time the addition of a dealer relegates the housing complex to a slum. My definition: dangerous to walk by at night, not fit for children and an overall affront to nearby property values.

Initially the location may have been built with government funding to assist those that are homeless or on a low income. However thanks to the Housing First model it’s no longer about lifting good people up, instead it becomes a net exporter of drug dealing, prostitution, assault and property crime.

Those residents choosing to live in the location have a choice. Stay and risk damage to themselves, their families and possessions, or leave and try to make it somewhere else. For those down on their luck, this may be a heart breaking return to homelessness. All because of the Housing First model.

For the Criminal Drug Addict, they are in a grand position where they get cheap housing, government and local charitable assistance on the one hand, and whatever illicit income they can earn on the criminal side of the line, the aforementioned theft, prostitution, assault, etc. Thus Housing First gives us the worst kind of entrepreneurs.

On Culture

One of the criticisms I receive is that housing first models work well in Finland.

Indeed, there are models that work better in other cultures. The Invisible People provided a documentary taking a look at the program and it’s great to see it save some lives.

This is where the importance of culture plays a critical role. In Scandinavian countries the residents tend to prefer a very socialist approach where individual liberty takes a backseat to the common good. Watching the documentary it seems the advocates are extremely involved and manage to get deep into the criminal drug addicts space making it very hard for him to call his local drug dealer and act out.

If true, kudos to the advocates for running a tight ship. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) in America the individual rights, the privacy and the legal separation of person from state is a hardened benchmark of our culture. As a result, just because something works in Europe or Japan doesn’t guarantee it will not run aground our cultural differences.

Certainly this isn’t a tax book, but its worth pointing out that the taxes paid by Finland residents are very high and the country spends a lot on “free” services as a result. If that is your cup of tea, I’m sure they would welcome you.

It may seem flippant but let’s recognize that every culture is great at some things and lousy at others. Personally I prefer lower taxes and more personal freedom, however I recognize that this limits the scope of governmental and charitable assistance.

4) Needle Exchange Programs

Most Americans would agree it’s a really bad idea to employ drug dealers to meet with drug addicts and exchange their dirty needles for a set of clean needles. Yet that is exactly what happened in Humboldt County!

Years ago a Needle Exchange organization setup shop in Eureka. It was a disaster.

Rather than refer to them in their complicated name, i call them The Needle People, and their focus was giving free, clean needles to drug addicts.

Back in 2018 one of the bitterest local battles was over The Needle Exchange. With the one side saying it provided the benefits of clean needles and counseling, while on the other hand it led to enabling and lack of a structured withdrawal.

The Needle Exchange concept is a core piece of the so called Harm Reduction model which purports to help drug addicts through the least amount of harm as possible. The idea first gained traction in Toronto in 1987 followed by Vancouver in ‘89.

Instead of aiding in recovery, the enabling led to addicts openly using their drugs in the streets--in open daylight, without a care who sees them. After a community has accepted that needle exchanges are safe and effective, the Harm Redux folks then push the “shoot up station” —where just like it sounds— a facility is set up for addicts to take their illegal drug under the watchful eye of a Needle Person. The same argument flows that this shoot up center helps addicts obtain clean needles and continue their illicit lifestyle in the most sterile environment imaginable.

Once a community has accepted these two programs, it’s game over on ending the local homeless problem. Is it any wonder that government encouraged euthanasia is now the norm in Canada? While we are tackling some tough subjects in this book, the right answer is never euthanasia!

Logic is your best friend in a world where science is undermined by group think. Discernment must be used when the Needle People tell you that the data backs up their methods. By data they are referring to the WHO and Canadian researchers that are friendly to their point of view. Sadly. Due to the nature of what we are talking about, it’s not possible to measure if harm reduction saves lives because you have the variables of illegal substances, medical-to-patient confidentiality, and a way of thinking that is now codified by the medical and scientific community.

That means the data isn’t trustworthy. There is trustworthy “watch dog” in this space. There is no research firm that does proper studies (and pushes back), and that’s a shame. Or to boil it down for the cynic, there is no money to be made opposing the Harm Reduction model, but with governments willing to spend big money on homelessness. The other side stands to make princely sums off the suffering of drug addicts.

DANGER: The three steps to out-of-control homelessness for a community

1) Allowing a “no man’s land” - this creates a dual society of laws that are enforced very differently, including vast differences in reform expectation

2) Needle Exchange - normalizes self medicating with incredibly addictive and damaging substances that permanently scar mind and body - creates a wall to traditional treatment and recovery

3) Shoot Up Station - the Criminal Drug Addict is no longer open to any positive influences and will only commit crimes to fund his habit. While I prefer the term Shoot Up Station, here are the official names that the Needle People will use to lull the public into acceptance:

Supervised consumption sites (or supervised consumption facilities)

Supervised injection sites (or supervised injection facilities):

Safe injection sites (or safe consumption sites):

Overdose prevention centers (or overdose prevention sites):

Drug consumption rooms:

For Humboldt County, the Needle People enabled many criminal drug addicts who worsened the quality of life for nearby residents. In 2018 I was running for city council and I knocked on some doors of people living near the needle exchange and sure enough there were reports of negative activity In the neighborhood, including CDAs shooting up outside the center in full few of passerby’s.

5) Undermanned Underfunded Police

When a police force is undermanned and underfunded you can’t expect a lot of preventative maintenance when it comes to the homeless. How is there time to explore and shut down homeless camps when there are too many regular service calls to manage? That is a serious concern for small cities that are burdened with a lot of CDA. Imagine it being quite the game of “whack a mole” as the CDA continues to offend while the fundamental chaos of the environment remains unchanged.

Easy to call for enforcing camping laws, but where is the legal manpower going to come from?

Unique homelessness defined! Who better than Humboldt County residents to advise federal policy makers on tackling homelessness? At the very least I hope you understand why we should be part of the conversation. Without our input at this critical time, the phenomena of CDA will grow in small town America. Rolling out smart policies backed by enforcement must start now.

Small towns have an additional challenge with law enforcement and that is the “stepping stone” reality of small town America, where a likeable police chief runs things for a short while and then takes a higher paid gig to parts far away. This lack of leadership has a large opportunity cost to solving long term problems like homelessness. City Councils should always think about the long term intentions of police chiefs instead of other factors like political orientation, public demeanor and overall likeability. While those categories are worth considering, I think choosing people that are actually invested because this is their home, should always get preference over those looking to pad resume for a better paid job.

Police departments in general have this issue because of the low pay and its extremely competitive with salary bonuses being dangled by sheriffs as well as other towns.

Electing a counsel that isn’t all about Defunding the Police is probably also a good idea.

Chapter 4: On Fraud

We cannot understand the scale of homelessness without studying fraud and the wide expanse of creative paths to commit it.

Housing First

Let’s begin with Katherine and one of the worst cases of ‘Housing First’ I’ve ever seen.

A real life example. I had an ukulele stolen by a criminal drug addict (CDA) named Katherine. I learned her name after posting the video of the theft and a helpful community comparing notes -- very quickly reaching the conclusion.

The investigation moved quickly. As my phone lit up and I actively talked to her family and associates. I learned that while she had been a mom of four children, she had lost custody several years ago, instead deciding to orient her life around drug use.

I uncovered fraud when I learned that shortly after stealing from me, the government gave her a brand new home! And not just any home, a special large apartment with four bedrooms for each one of her children! Kids that she hasn’t had custody of for years now.

California has one of the highest costs of living in America and In coastal Humboldt County we pay steep rents for a four bedroom apartment, so expensive that multiple roommates usually team up to split the cost. But here in ‘Housing First’ Humboldt; this criminal drug addict gets a taxpayer covered four bedroom apartment with no rules to entry. This may not be as exciting as the fraud going on in Somali daycare in Minnesota or what Nick Shirley is finding in Los Angeles, but it is still massive fraud!

A few years ago my beautiful Gorgeous and I bought a little house with what we could afford. Criminal Addict Katherine has a substantially larger living space than we do. And she doesn’t need to pay for it because its covered by taxpayers—including you and I.

Adding insult to injury when she was asked about her drug use by the home allocator, Katherine promised to go to rehab!

What a relief! Ah, good enough! The government marked down her sincere intentions and left it at that.

Now the danger escalates as this fraud committing tenant invites her drug dealing friends over. And they make a massive mess of the apartment and ruin things for the other tenants that are just trying to get by. Let’s pause and think about how many mentally ill and simply down on luck tenants live at this complex? Is Katherine’s dangerous lifestyle going to burn down their home? Are their possessions save from thieves that like hanging out with Katherine? How safe and secure do these tenants feel with the addition of addict Katherine?

As any purple haired City Council Member will feel: You are a horrible monster if you ask these simple questions!

Of course as we’ve discussed, there is no real compassion in Housing First. No one considers the unseen damages such as these. Is it any wonder that we have a class of criminals that are emboldened to steal destroy and not fear consequences?

A Van Down by the River

Let’s consider the real story of Adam. No, not the first man to ever walk the Garden, but an alcoholic that moved to Humboldt from New York. He was a customer at first but eventually his criminal addict lifestyle brought his life to ruin. I remember when he was so excited to get his van delivered from the East Coast. I misunderstood the importance of such a vehicle. Like anyone would, i’d assumed he wanted his wheels so he could become truly mobile and get his life back on track.

Alas, no! For in California a bum can get financial aid (Termed: General Assistance) for owning a van. In a unique way the owning of a vehicle helps argue that the owner is indigent. This program is tailored perfectly for the criminally drug addicted because it’s written specifically for the people that fall outside of the more traditional SSI and similar approaches.

I was disgusted when i realized the truth. Adam wasn’t interested in bettering himself, he just wanted to gain a new way to milk the taxpayers and keep the liquor flowing!

Next I started paying attention to all the trashed vehicles that plague Old Town Eureka. How many of them are similar stories as Adams? While not illegal, it is certainly immoral to financially gain from misleading taxpayers.

Critics will argue that there are work requirements to receive such funding. While true, there are also a myriad of health exemptions that a CDA can get.

The exemptions trump the work restrictions. It’s a game of cat and mouse and the mouse always wins! Important for these critics to understand that there is always a medical condition because it creates a federal monthly payment for SSI. If these clever CDAs always have a medical condition, than they can always counter work requirements of other programs.

Talk about good intentions gone wrong. Yes a homeless person often will own a car, and the law made room for it. Yet with no critical thinking oversight, there are all kinds of doors that open up for a CDA when they own a vehicle, and we quickly see that the options nudge toward milking the often broken down vehicle for monetary gain, as opposed to driving it onward to a better life. Policy makers in Sacramento need to overhaul this whole thing.

Chapter 5: Quality of Life

It’s OK to talk about Quality of Life

And the opportunity cost when you allow Criminal Drug Addicts to set up shop in your community.

Let’s discuss the opportunity costs when a neighborhood absorbs a subclass of CDA.

The typical crime index enjoyed by CDA isn’t just petty theft, vandalism and stealing an unchained bicycle. It makes it so your kids can’t go outside and play. No late night walks for senior citizens that want to get some air. As the problem intensifies so do those unmeasurable “intangibles”.

For example, the simple pleasure of seeing a neighborhood with no graffiti! For those of us living in an area heavily oppressed with CDA, you feel serious emotions when you travel to a region that is lawful, beautiful and full of good community. When you get home and see the CDA it really makes you realize that the devastation is preventable. The horrid scene is man made destruction. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Typical crimes of Criminal Drug Addicts

Property Crime. Includes petty theft, porch piracy, work truck theft, as well as animal-napping.

Petty theft is disgusting and directly tears at the fabric of society. When I was younger I’d talk to old timers who remember when you could leave your front door unlocked at night. Leave the keys in the ignition in your vehicle and many other similar instances of communal trust. When I was younger I always thought this was silly and naive. As I’ve grown older and reflected, now I understand the deeper reality. These old timers had such pleasant regard for their neighbors and overall town that there was simply no need to lock up. People looked out for each other and in perhaps a subtle way the lack of security was some sign of good faith? By the same token the alliance was real and if trouble makers did arrive, matters were handled briskly and not always with the direct help of law enforcement. That this used to be the norm and police had a much more subtle role could be a subject for a whole other book.

And Arrrrrr the Porch Pirates! There’s good reason that mail tampering is a federal crime. Many receive their life-saving medical supplies in the mail while for others the stolen loot may be their monthly paycheck or car license renewal. Bottom line, an attack on the mail system hurts everyone in a direct and certainly intangible way. If you can’t trust a safe mailbox, then can you also not trust leaving your potted plants out? Or kids toys??

Indeed with ring camera videos we see that nothing is sacred anymore. Criminal drug addicts only care about their next fix and if they think your child’s teddy bear or that rose bush in the planter will make them enough money for their next fix, it’s game on!

I always enjoy the videos of YouTube pranksters rigging these packages to explode with paint bombs or confetti or other things. Well deserved, but we need some more tools for home owners on this one. Expanding Stand Your Ground legal framework to include perimeter theft, could help.

(Photo Credit: PHPI Magazine)

Work Truck Theft makes me think of the Old West and what the Sheriff used to do with cattle rustlers. The loss of a ranchers cattle was life or death for livelihoods and bellies, and so was the penalty.

I refuse to purchase tools for sale on local Craigslist because I can’t shake the feeling that many of them are stolen--lifted from a truck bed or Job Box when no one is looking.

When you steal a man’s tools you disrupt what keeps him employed. He feeds his family with those tools. If you want to buy quality tools for any of the main blue collar pathways (plumber, electrician, HVAC) it’s thousands of dollars. Therefore the punishment for this crime needs to be much more substantial than presently.

Most of you probably won’t agree with me that it should be the death penalty but maybe we can meet in the middle?

The intangibles of rampant tool theft are rising costs of labor to replace tools and strain on really hard working people.

(Photo Credit: Gazette, Cedar Rapids Iowa)

Pet animals are money makers on the streets. Often neglected and abused, the dogs astride their CDA owners pull at our heart strings and make us more likely to give money. I’ve certainly fallen for it. A few times if I go into a grocery store I’ll have a can of dog food in my hand that I’ll hand to the CDA.

Some people will go even farther. I know of one local case where a woman offered to purchase a dog from a criminal bum and was talked up to almost a 1000 dollars! While she may felt good for saving the animals life, there’s little doubt that the money was used for alcohol and drugs. To make matters worse it’s likely that CDA found a new dog in short order.

Good works are nice but as Winston Churchill once smirked: you don’t want to be so open minded your brain falls out!

As for where these animals come from? Who knows? It wouldn’t surprise me if many are stolen.

Most people without a home have no business owning a dog. Forgoing Veterinary costs, monthly proper feeding and just the cold reality of street life is wrong for dogs.

While unpopular I do think if you are a recognized CDA you should forfeit the right to own a dog. Maybe pass a town ordinance if you commit 4 property crimes in two years you lose the animal?

Why organizations like PETA remain silent on this topic is interesting, too. You’d think the staunch animal rights organizations would be chomping at the bit to regulate street animal ownership. If you have a membership with these groups maybe ask?

Public Intoxication - a useful tool for law enforcement to detain CDA. Civil libertarians hate this but as a legal structure its all about preserving the intangible quality of life.

Arson - to stay warm CDAs have no problem starting fires. It’s scary because these fires are often in building alcoves (like at my business before we got a metal pull gate). While it would be nice to imagine that the only fires lit by the homeless are safely done in the forest, the reality is that many commercial businesses and even some multi family residences are at risk to this illicit behavior.

In 2024 twenty percent of fires that burned in the City of San Diego were from the homeless. While wide sweeping data on this metric isn’t tracked very well, if you search around it’s not difficult to discover.

(Credit: Slate:: Courtesy of the Industrial District Business Improvement District, Los Angeles)

Street fires are bad for roadway asphalt. Sidewalk fires may not do as much damage but on 3rd and A street in Eureka, building a bonfire on the actual roadway is a popular practice. It does permanent damage to the pavement. Considering that dysfunctional small towns might pave a road once every other decade, this damage is extremely unwelcome!

Remember that if the Criminal Drug Addict wanted to warm up, they could give up their need for drugs and walk into the Eureka Rescue Mission, but as we say, the CDA cares more about their next fix, then a place to live. Their entire psyche is dedicated to the pursuit of drugs, at the expense of anyone that gets in the way.

Vandalism deserves its own category from property crime, because besides just occurring from boredom or as a by-product of stealing, vandalism is also a benchmark of gang activity in a neighborhood.

Financial Crime - CDA that get money from panhandling do not pay taxes. They spend much of their time using our roads and yet they don’t pay for them. Some studies have shown a yearly income of $55,000 a year from panhandling. When combined with welfare and other charitable sources of revenue, you start to see an absurd situation unfold where the typical CDA makes more take home income than most regular people!

I don’t enjoy paying taxes, but I pay them. Why do CDA get to prioritize drug use more than paying their fair share?

The average length of time for a CDA is 15 years. Sadly this isn’t the sort of thing you put on a resume.

Just as a little bit of confrontation from a store employee or a cop is enough to a CDA “moving” so it should be noted that a theme to their approach is to extend the least amount of effort when committing crimes. This is a simple way of determining how high rates of property crime could indicate a higher number of CDAs in the area.

While many CDAs arrive in Humboldt from across America, once they choose our area to live, their average area of operation is thought to be fairly small. I found reference to a “distance decay” that requires too much risk and effort.

(Photo Credit: Grok)

The GMOB (Grown Men On Bikes)

Like a severely discounted version of desert brigands ripping across the desert looking for targets of opportunity, the Grown Men On Bikes canvas neighborhoods seemingly at random, watchful of unlocked car doors, packages on porches, unattended bicycles, an open truck bed with tools hanging out. Anything near the streets are fair game.

When GMOBs settle in, there is no point reporting your stolen bicycle to the police. It’s gone forever. In the world of CDAs bikes are a form of currency.

Chapter Six: The National Approach We Need

Up until now the federal governments interaction on homelessness has been one of confusion. With no clear guidelines and a jaw dropping amount of money spent on the problem. There is no evidence that this response is working at getting people out of poverty let alone off of criminal behavior.

I propose completely discarding the failed programs and monies of the past. The federal government should provide clear headed leadership and expectation , not monies that go into the pockets of advocates and the homeless industrial complex.

A proper federal response will include many parts from law enforcement to economic and even cultural.

1) Strong Borders

The first role of government is to secure the border and protect its citizens from enemies foreign and domestic.

Regarding our discussion a secure border means many positives for reducing the number of criminal drug addicts. Obviously less illegal immigrants will take some pressure off of local hospitals and first responders. Economically, less illegal aliens will leave more available jobs for homeless people down on their luck which gets them on a path to renting a home and getting their lives back.

Culturally a reduction is illegal residents will also strengthen the American culture as we can relate to each other a little better and find the needed common ground to solve problems.

2) The federal government must encourage a slight cultural shift toward the homeless. In the western mind an individual should not be bothered unless judged in a court of law. His liberties should not be suspended unless he breaks the law and of course there is a predictable process to the lack of a persons free movement.

Criminal Drug Addicts present a unique problem to our understanding of Habeus Corpus especially in underfunded police areas where a CDA must commit dozens of offenses before finding a long term stay in a jail cell. Precisely our precious individual rights are what ironically protect these bad actors, ensuring they get many opportunities to abuse law abiding citizens before facing any level of justice. Our culture must shift and treat CDA with more preventative measures so this cycle of trauma is stopped.

There is no way to put into words how difficult that culture shift is going to be, but I think it starts with defining the problem and acknowledging that a change is needed. Likely federal policy will need to attempt several attempts and the US Supreme Court will likely need to help shape how it looks.

When a person uses certain drugs over an amount of time, there is a point of no return where they will hurt their neighbors through property crime or violence. While violence may be more common in highly urban areas, for areas like Humboldt County its property crime that brings in the jaw dropping data and attention.

I don’t think we will ever shift the culture to the extreme opposite which I think of as Japan or Singapores approach to homeless. Will we ever be ok with a government van that just picks CDAs off the street and shuttles them away, without any of us making a fuss? It’s perhaps impossible to imagine but it’s precisely the direction that we must go.

This is as serious as it gets. Each American has sacred God given rights and we are tasked with the need to over ride these rights in order to get CDAs off the streets.

One would love to know what Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers would say about how we handle Criminal Drug Addicts today. I don’t think they would approve of allowing them to commit violence and property crimes.

3) Shovel Ready Projects Reimagined

In the 1930s FDR pushed large labor force projects partially to get more people working hard. While I have concerns with government “make work” programs I believe there are a few ways to reimagine what this could look like and benefit the different groups of the homeless population.

High labor and low pay work camps.

Criminal Drug Addicts need to do work and set out from whatever drug(s) they are on. They must be separated from society into work camps. It must be an environment sterile of corruption. The only way to do this ridiculously harsh penalties for guards that smuggle in drugs, etc.

it’s understood that the work matters and its labor extensive. It is not something to be worked long term as a career. It’s is never to be eligible for unionization. Yet is not slavery either, it’s simply hard work for people that need to get clean, sober and sweat out their issues. The pay sucks because it’s not the tax payers fault that you chose to be a criminal drug addict.

There are many jobs these laborers could do, and The federal government is the largest owner of property in the country. Plenty of opportunities!

Some include basic woodworking of benches, desks and other useful fixtures

Rock gathering, grinding, mining

Assisting forest rangers with debris and dead tree removal, an extremely important type of work to prevent large forest fires.

Trash clean up.

Protecting Americas energy grid. Instead of power lines up high, we should probably dig trenches and put some of these lines underground. Expensive linemen should be laying the wire, not digging the tench. That menial labor should be done by CDAs.

Working in the many government “black” sites. Underground cities, the extensive tunnels and military bases.

Landscaping on government property to reduce costs

Of course there are many more.

Work Missions

And the creation of “work missions”. As part of the aforementioned culture shift, a CDA could be placed on a work mission where they are sent to remote, desolate far away places to do something important. The idea would be to force new experiences and rewrite the troubled mind with new and valuable experiences. Partnering with the third world to save the rainforest and sending our CDAs to help would do good for humanity and also leave them with an experience they would never forget.

The CDA could learn what societies that live in real poverty are like and maybe it would improve their own outlook on things?

I’m not imagining a fun peace two week peace Corp sort of thing but a CDA maybe working for a year or two digging a canal or building a dam or planting a forest. The dignity slowly comes back after months of swinging an axe and using your hands in work.

4) Local Food on the Vine

A) Fruit Trees on Public Land

Owning so much land throughout the nation presents a great opportunity to enhance food security. Mandate that all federal properties plant fruit trees. With many people hungry we can do with a little less manicured lawns and with a little more fruiting trees. By making a federal policy to plant such trees on federal lands, the government provides a low cost but simple path to food security.

Again we find the need for a culture shift. Life saving food can be grown in public places but some laws or executive orders need to happen to make it so. While this would take some getting used to, would any of us object? It’s not like the grocery store is going to lose money, as many people are not going to immediately start foraging for their food as long as we have stores to offer it to us.

Of course all public schools should already have fruit trees. All schools should be mandated to have gardens planted by the kids. Certainly some of these gardens should be viable after school programs integrated with high school and collegiate support as well. Making sure no child goes hungry is important but teaching them how food grows makes sure that they might even want to garden at home too. In fact make it homework that they hav a home garden too.

Regarding growing fruit trees on public land, certainly Liability protection rules will need to be made, but with a little leadership it can be done.

In some neighborhoods the fruit will be gathered quickly and with others it will fall to the ground and rot. In the areas where it is gathered up quickly the solution is simple--plant more fruit trees! In areas where it is going to waste, call your local food bank to send some volunteers. These are the kind of problems we should be having in America.

B) Repeal any food restriction laws that don’t make sense. Cottage kitchen restrictions are way too limiting. Your well intentioned neighbor should have the ability to sell kitchen made food without rigorous health inspections. All this needs reviewed and cleaned up.

C) Public campaign to encourage victory gardens similar to WW2 where people that had chickens and little veggie gardens were smart.

5) Dismantling the Homeless Industrial Complex

From the War on Poverty to Section 8 housing, There have been a large number of NGOs benefiting from monies that ostensibly are earmarked for helping the homeless. A full review and tightening up of who gets this money is in order.

Disrupt corrupt state mandates

States like California distort a local governments ability of self government with some of their directives, like forcing low income housing on areas of the state that don’t want it(or need it). This goes on despite the fact that the federal government has plenty of empty property that In some cases could be converted to low income housing.

The History of Homelessness in America

For some reason everyone thinks Europe has a better approach to homelessness than Americans. Finland is lauded as the best with its housing first approach with a heavy emphasis on counseling.

It’s easy and requires no critical thinking to point to another country and say that they have all the answers and “if only we could be just like them.”

Selling ourselves short. The unique culture of a country plays a decisive role in the methods for dealing with homelessness.

America, The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave; a culture of as much independent movement of its members as long as they don’t hurt anyone else, with an ironclad set of rights granted by God. While the upside of individual liberty are vast wealth creation, the same freedom leaves a lot of room for mischief and chaos.

Back when the Declaration of Independence was written, American colonies were not a place that you would ever want to be homeless and living on the street. The mostly northeastern climate would be death in the winters if your only purpose was somehow getting high before finding warmth and food.

During the Revolutionary period our country deeply frowned on homeless bums, in some cases referring to them as “sturdy beggars”. Here are some examples of how such able-bodied lazies were handled.

(Published by: University of Massachusetts Press)

As the Colonies were under English Law, we find a well thought out approach that is similar to recognizing the different categories of homeless. Early colonials separated the “worthy poor” from the “sturdy beggars”.

As you would guess, worthy poor referred to orphans, widows and the disabled. English sensibilities encouraged these worthies to receive aid from local government as well as church’s and even some personal homes of local volunteers who would generously open their homes to help. There was compassionate care and support from several directions.

The sturdy beggars represented perhaps a less dangerous version of the criminal drug addicted that we contend with presently. These beggars were barely tolerated and often towns would identify and use the practice of “warning out” transients. Just as it sounds this practice was to warn the bum that their lazy lifestyle was not a fit for the town and they would need to relocate.

If the study beggar refused to leave there were several different forms of punishment sometimes used such as forced labor.

(Find picture of pauper badge) shame culture?

From grok: • By 1750, Boston had a notable number of “homeless poor” who sometimes wore identifying badges (like a red “P” for pauper).”

(Find pic of New York poor house)

From grok “• Almshouses, workhouses, and poorhouses existed in some cities (e.g., New York experimented with relief systems by 1775), but these were small-scale”

And here we have a perfect example of cultural importance when selecting an approach to the homeless!

Many of our fellow Americans would be outraged if our communities went back to these original practices. Somewhere along the 250 year span of the United States our cultural view of homelessness changed. This shift is important. The very culture we are a part of will accept some homeless solutions while dismissing others.

Compared to other parts of the world, the old English Common Law is harsher than modern American but still much more forgiving than what he see in parts of Asia (See World Map Chapter).

While this author would love to see a culture shift allowing a harsher approach, I recognize that we have to work within the sensibilities of the American citizen!

Getting back to the late 1700’s. While there was vagrancy the number of homeless as a proportion of the whole population was certainly smaller than it is today.

Unfortunately that would change after the Civil War, or the War Between The States depending on where you lived at the time. Important to note that the war was a conflict of at least two very different cultures.

Despite those differences the new nation took care of its poor the same way after the war. Local community shouldered much of the burden. The use of poor houses for the worthy poor and the distaste for sturdy beggars continued. And for the freed slaves there were also special efforts made as well that lined up similarly.

However by 1870 a new socioeconomic group emerged whose existence challenged this approach to the poor.

(Insert picture)

Enter the Railroad Tramps.

Typically no home address, therefore no community support in a world where the local culture was everything. The railroad tramps were not sturdy beggars as they certainly worked to earn money. Tramps traveled a lot because the seasonal work required frequent travel.

Towns were not set up for a working subclass of men with no place to live. Before the tramps it was firmly established that a persons value was in their home and community--not just their work ethic.

(insert pic) (anti tramp propaganda)

So many tramps and with no framework to support the societal change, many states cracked down on these wandering homeless.

Over the following decades the Tramp faded away into obscurity and the criminal drug addict took its place. The biggest difference is that where before there was at least some measurable hard work being done, the CDA takes without contributing anything.

This conversion is complicated and can be analyzed from the point of view of NAFTA where American jobs were ended, replaced by foreigners overseas in order to lower the cost of goods for consumers and raise profit margins for the powerful. Arguments could easily be made that the War on Poverty failed, setting younger families on a miserable path. Even the severing of the Gold Standard in the 1970s began the slow disempowerment of middle and upper class families as each year the value of their monies plummet. The ever rising minimum wage also destroys low income job opportunities as well.

Most people agree the future of robotics and problem-solving capabilities of AI will put many people out of work.

A new multitude of Americans with no job prospects, a diminishing dollar coupled with an unsolved growing mass of criminal drug addicts, is a devastating problem.

Chapter 7: On National Security Implications

Question from Devin: Are the policies and attitudes concerning the homeless providing an umbrella under which criminal drug addicts are able to operate and could it possibly be wholly or in part by design?

The chapter on national security highlights the tactic of growing a homeless class in a country. China degrading our society through fentanyl and other means is a long term method for weakening our nations social and economic fibers.

Is the government knowingly behind the homeless pandemic? Could it be a way to strain local and state resources to add influence to federal funds that solve the issue through friendly NGOs?

Probably not, but the immortal nature of government programs struggles with what should be the short term of homelessness. Put another way: it’s unheard of to ask a government program to self terminate after the mission is accomplished.

While federal funding certainly adds energy to the fight against homelessness, our focus should be on who is spending the money and for what aim, rather than creating a new program or federal entity.

Since the War on Poverty in 1965 the level of homelessness have spiraled to out-of-control levels with the latest total surpassing seven hundred fifty thousand homeless nationwide. Yearly increases since ‘65 inform the reader that the government has lost this war. During the entire duration of this crisis the federal money has never been spent correctly, as there are no clear data points that show success. Republican and Democrat congresses, administrations, court decisions, nothing in the policy field has worked to reduce homelessness at the federal level.

(Photo credit: Townhall.com ‘Why We Lost The War on Poverty’)

Giving these federal monies a direction to save lives is what this book is about. Misuse of government funding trickles down to the Non Governmental Organization (NGO). These organizations often get comfortable with yearly funding levels from a government that is all-too-happy to offload the problem. You can see the slippery slope where NGOs treat the homeless like cattle instead of actually treating to reduce the number to oblivion.

Some of the more notorious examples of corruption, include:

Abundant Blessings

According to the government, In 2026 a Los Angeles homeless nonprofit called Abundant Blessings allegedly committed fraud obtaining $23 million in public funds that were supposed to help people experiencing homelessness — and then misappropriating at least $10 million for personal use.

United Homeless Organization

Serving (perhaps just themselves) from 1985 until 2010, United Homeless Organization was shut down by a court ruling for fraudulent operation. Monies collected from sidewalk solicitors were kept by the founders rather than used for services.

Providence Foundation of Sam Francisco

When running shelters turns into submitting fake invoices and misusing six figures worth of public funding, it may be illegal. Providence Foundation reached a million dollar settlement and was suspended from new contracts from the City of San Francisco. There were criminal charges in a kickback scheme. Similar to other examples, this was a long standing NGO.

The Corruption continues when politicians choose which NGOs benefit because they are buddies with whomever runs the group. Kickbacks to politicians also occur as NGOs seek to cement influence.

After more time passes it’s easy for all involved to forget what the original goals were!

When it comes to the leadership there are founders and managers. An NGO builds credibility with a Founder who eventually hands it off to a manager, and at that point the management makes sure that finances are safe and the company becomes risk averse, instead existing primarily for its own existence.

In fashion similar to the well known Human Resources book called Topgrading (by Bradford Smart), a founder can choose a manager for successor, but a manager will never willfully choose a hard charging entrepreneur.

The funds pour in from the federal government, but if the faith and trust in long term NGOs wilts and fades, then we find ourselves wondering who to trust with our money.

The answer is transparency and a wiki style oversight. As of this writing the money lavished on NGOs toward homelessness is lavish, crass and impossible for public review. A Wikipedia style page that merges the transparency of GuideStar (a site that reveals public documents on non profits) with the document cataloging and citation tools of Wikipedia could create an honest government, better NGOs and ultimately a pathway to making sure the federal money is being spent wisely.

The complicated web of funding and assignments is overwhelming and the average volunteer has no place at the table. A federal website that merges ease of use and transparency with the added function to report anything suspicious with documentation would be a very valuable tool.

As of this writing an auditors report had concerns about estimated 42 billion dollars of waste in the State of California. Instead of tying up thousands of federal employees to investigate, take advantage of volunteers from a willing population that can sniff out the problems and report their findings. If some of these volunteers show promise, the government should consider hiring them!

In addition to the role of concerned citizens, the proposed wiki site would get a lot of traffic as rival NGOs would report on each other. Good government recognizes the conflicts of rival factions and employs measures to let these inevitable rivalries play out. It’s similar to why our nation has always been a two party system. Any opportunity to let natural tensions work toward public betterment is a good thing.

The goal of NGOs should be to do such a great job saving lives that they put themselves out of business. A wiki site should publicly display the stated goal of the group, the success rate and what the final goals are. If the final goal is reached then there should be an understanding of fulfillment and termination, or all the resources should be sold--acquired by another NGO toward a larger goal.

With this in mind, the proposed site should have a Rotten Tomatoes style rating system where we can see at a glance if the NGO is good, average or rotten. Any NGO sustaining a rotten review for three consecutive years should be turned over to the government for disposal.

There needs to be a cost for failure, especially if your NGO has misused taxpayer funds for multiple years. The waste is connected to lost opportunities to save lives and we should all care about that.

We can’t trust our government to accurately monitor a massive problem like homelessness. It needs to be part of the solution, but the implementation of monies is where we all need to watch.

Chapter 8: Diplomatic Export of Addicts Around The World

“Poverty is not just a lack of money, it is not having the capability to realize one’s full potential as a human being.” —Amartya Sen

Poor nations around the world often rely on manual labor where machines cannot otherwise be purchased.

Some of these countries could benefit from more workers.

I can’t think of a better way to dry out Americas drug addicts than hard work abroad! Removing a person from their familiar environment can go a long way, just look at the French Foreign Legion!

The program would be two years. Paid for by the corporation that is running the project, and the visa travel would be a special arrangement made between counties.

A cobalt mine in the Congo needs 1000 workers. Instead of prison time in The United States, repeat offending CDAs could be paid a small sum to stay in Congo for two years and work in the site. The jobs at first would be as simple as it gets--maybe just lifting and carrying a bucket. As the addict gets through the withdrawals, maybe more assignments could be added. By the time the two year obligation ends, the addict is clean and sober, has some work ethic and maybe even some extra bonus skills for his future. As harsh as this may seem, isn’t it better than a voluntary rehabilitation clinic where a buddy tries to sell you drugs when no one is looking? Do we want to save lives or not?

(Photo Credit: National Public Radio; Cobalt Red)

I gave the cobalt mine as an example because there are horrendous human rights abuses reported there. With a program like this, these countries would need to take some steps to improve the working conditions for the American workers. There would be some degree of media attention on the project. Therefore these nations would have an interest in making the conditions a little better because they wouldn’t want to lose their contracts with the United States. The steady flow of American drug addicts ready to work would force the corporations and world nations to improve health and safety conditions as there’d be big trouble with US State Department. The incentives line up nicely for this program to therefore pushback on the slavery and horrid conditions we are seeing today.

(Photo Credit: National Public Radio; Cobalt Red)

I won’t promise improved living standards overnight for the world’s worst work environments, but at least America would be paying some attention to where her citizens are working.

We could utilize our vast amounts of criminal addicted homeless to make harsh work environment’s around the world a little better. There are countless opportunities for the nearly 300,000 criminal drug addicts currently residing in America. Instead of being a total deficit these people could do something a little bit positive on their road to recovery.

(SIDEBAR: According to the National Alliance to End Homeless, there are over 770 thousand homeless living in the United States. A conservative estimate after separating children and the elderly from that number, leaves you with at least 300,000 criminal drug addicts. As 70% of the average homeless population engages in criminal activity. (500,000 homeless x .70 = 350,000 cda))

Occasionally China uses North Korean day laborers for really cheap labor. There is certainly a price where they would borrow American workers if the price was nice and low.

(Photo Credit: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - China’s mass internment camps in Xinjiang.)

A brief note on China: We just need to make sure they keep their hands off the organs! These cdas we are sending over are still American citizens that are entitled to our protection while abroad!

As wealthy as the United States is, such thoughtful approaches could put our people to work while working to solve some of the worst humanitarian crisis around the world. The only limits are of our imagination--and our diplomacy.

I can’t stress it enough. These jobs would be awful and grueling. Don’t entrap your thinking to Americorp or church mission trips or serene sabbaticals; no, what you and I are talking about here is uncharted territory for a rich nation. We are not importing cheap labor, instead we are exporting it and hoping that it benefits all parties, including the criminal drug addict. There are tensions with this approach as one can imagine the first extreme is slavery while on the other is a thoroughly insulated sort of vacation and opulence. We need to thread the needle and not allow either of those unacceptable extremes. This has never been done before, but if well executed could go a long way to solving America’s problem with criminal drug addiction.

The types of work other countries may need:

1) Digging in mines requires machinery and skilled labor but there are plenty of opportunities for unskilled to assist. Cobalt, lithium, coal, precious metals and more are waiting to be discovered.

2) Farm labor - seasonal crops to picking food in difficult terrain

3) Sweatshops making clothing, bags. Simple things.

4) EARTH FIRST. Terraforming the desert or helping expand rainforests. We have too much desert and not enough rainforests. Employing ten thousand addicts for each job would change the face (and climate) of the planet! For example, America could easily help China’s Kubuqi desert project, where the nation is reported to have already greened up over 30 percent of that desert in the last thirty years. You are telling me our addicts are not capable of sowing seeds and digging into the Earth?

Rainforest restoration opportunities abound as well. As affected nations pull back on the harmful incursions into these forests, the tropical climate should make it easy to regrow itself with thousands of reforming drug addicts lending a hand. Talk about sweating it out!

5) Building underground cities.

(Photo Credit: See my Substack article ‘Tunneling Humboldt’)

6) Digging canals and artificial lakes. Digging trench’s for impoverished villages. It isn’t always cost effective to move the earth with machines and their skilled operators. Some countries would hire hundreds to thousands of American reforming drug addicts, outfit them with shovels and picks and send them on their task. China would likely be our biggest customer, as they have canals planned for their cargo ships.

7) Foreign films could hire hundreds to thousands of CDA for motion picture masterpieces. Part of why 1950s Ben Hur film was so special was because all the film extras. At current actor rates, such films are impossible today. Candidly, I’ll admit this idea may be “jumping the shark,” but it’s not out of the question.

Point to ponder. As nations trade, protect citizens rights and engage in cooperation; national standards of living increase. Declining birthrates, robotics and AI also add to the new reality: super cheap labor is disappearing from the human condition. Creating a special rehabilitation path for Americas worst addicts could be the beginning of giving the world the cheap labor that it craves .

Poverty in 4th world Mongolia is vastly different than living in a tent on skid row in California. Ultimately This forced work program restores gratefulness. It’s been said before; if you are born in America, you’ve won the lottery!

Maybe some need a reminder.

While you and I understand these programs as a form of rehab, there could a pathway to employment if the corporation wants to employ the addict after his sentence is carried out. Reformed criminal drug addicts sometimes go back to their old lifestyles when they get out of jail. Voluntarily extending their work for many years more than they need may provide the focused purpose needed to not fall off the wagon.

Dual citizenship

More than a couple years of hard work, the friendships and cultural enrichment might prompt the reformed CDA to want to take up residency in the foreign country. This should be encouraged as it’s another incentive for nations to make sure there is an acceptable standard of safety for the worker. Over the years even a few thousand American citizens enrolling in the country will help their economy. Some nations make the journey to dual citizenship expensive or otherwise challenging. Nations working with the US state department would be encouraged to offer incentives to our CDAs because ultimately we would rather give these inmates more options, not less.

Russia would benefit greatly from our addicts and likely would be interested in having dual citizenship. The nation has a majority urban population and has rich deposits of minerals in hard to reach locations in Siberia. An American Addict having worked a few years and picking up a little Russian, may find a calling for a longer stay.

There are many examples where American addicts could do meaningful work in Russia. The country has the The Baikal–Amur Mainline (known as The BAM), and the special tracks require a lot of physical activity. Threats of declining permafrost and trends toward economic growth along the line find a Russia that needs to solve shortages in laborer and we can rest assured they’ve probably never thought about hiring American CDAs! There are also plans on the table to connect the railroad to Japan, and such ground breaking work will require many laborers.

(Photo Credit: By Трансмашхолдинг - БМЗ получил сертификат на самый мощный в России грузовой тепловоз, Attribution, Wikpedia)

Then there are the massive mining operations, like Norilsk Nickel specializing in many metals including nickel. For the paid workers such companies employ, the incentives are quite lucrative. After their two year work stint, its not hard to imagine these companies offering a gracious set of bonuses and vacation days for reformed CDAs that wanted to switch from forced labor to permanent happy employment.

Diplomacy manifest. Hard working people crossing borders and bettering themselves whilst working difficult jobs that have tangible benefit. The cynic will point his finger and mock the effort, using words like slavery and corporate greed, but the well intentioned understand that the process of leaving behind drug addiction and the criminal lifestyle requires a difficult set of decisions and a soul that is ready for fulfilling work. While forced labor overseas is not the answer for all criminal drug addicts, it is perfect for some people that need the radical change in environment and structure. I imagine this option for the guys that have “tried everything else to no avail.”

However I could be wrong. The potential for future financial employment and knowing your crimes are taking a permanent backseat in your life, might make the overseas forced labor a top option for many criminal drug addicts.

China has several hundred thousand college-aged students attending American colleges. Certainly this dynamic is a layer of the diplomatic ties between East and West. Why shouldn’t we strengthen our relationship with additional countries by sharing our labor force?

Chapter 9: On Mental Health

Karl: Both sides demand reopening hospitals but neither side agrees as to policy changes.

Studies suggest roughly 25% of the homeless are mentally ill. Politically the desire to reopen mental hospitals finds easy agreement. Contention begins when we discuss the policies.

It’s not compassionate to let the worst of the mentally ill live on the streets, as they cannot take care of themselves properly even with a home.

It’s as cruel as it gets. The criminal drug addicts abuse the mentally ill--from stealing to much worse. This leads to marginalized violence because it’s out of sight, out of mind. As the current policies to treat the homeless alike continue, the irony is that the criminal drug addict population grows and the mentally ill are abused exponentially.

Good luck explains that last paragraph to a sociology graduate!

Clinically, a mental health hospital that could scoop the serious cases of mental ill off the streets and forcibly keep them under continuous home rest, treatment and observation; would be the best medically for the patient. However as discussed in our culture chapter, what’s medically best is not always possible in the current culture.

Gradually shutting down the large mental asylums. What replaced the effort were called Normalization units and typically the smaller, the better. Staying small helped with shaping treatment personalized to each patient. Get too big and it’s easier to slip into the dreaded “one size fits all/institutionalized” approach.

Over time the transition from large to small treatment centers has been a failure, with many of the mentally ill ending up in jails and prisons, relying on unprepared family and of course--the dangerous streets.

That’s because solving this issue requires strategies that run counter to the current so-called best practices of social workers. Not to mention a lot of funding.

Enter again the Thesis of this book, the need to separate the population into smaller groups so we can apply the right diagnosis to each.

Segregating mentally ill is a requirement as one wrong type of person can upset the whole applecart. Multiple normalization units per region might be needed to work through this reality. While this is costly, it’s still better than the cruelty of leaving them all on the streets.

Notice I did not say “isolate.” But simply group people that get along with each others conditions and be willing to keep doing it. While that’s a simple concept, it is steeped in controversy.

Commercial zoned buildings are widely available. The post Covid era, rise of online shopping and other factors have reshaped our society to typically have a lot of such buildings available. With a goal of keeping operations small it shouldn’t be that hard to convert some of these to mental health facilities.

These solutions could be implemented quickly with the right leadership. Unfortunately our culture presents many hurdles. Nobody is going to welcome such facilities near their homes as they will worry for property values. Social workers who disagree with the changes will work at these places and ruin them. And the blue states where perhaps these institutions are needed the most have the most red tape when it comes to permits, environmental impact reports and other silliness.

Only federal urgency and clarity of purpose can cut through these objections.

But perhaps we need to take it a different direction. Let’s try thinking bigger.

Beyond rigorous empowered medical facilities across the nation I think a complete city needs to be built that can handle the functional mentally ill. Let me explain

We need to manufacture a city in Utah, a few hours away from everything and give it everything it takes to make a community. The city will be designed for the mentally ill to work and live in. Mormons will run the city and make sure all the “trains run on time.” In exchange they get to proselytize to the mentally ill and aid them in feeling a sense of community.

Only the very worst metal ill patients belong in constant watch in a hospital, with treatment and medication and a routine, such an environment would be the best fit.

At first glance this city would look just like any other, you’d have fast food joints, grocery stores, gyms and everything else. The jobs would be mostly serviced by the mentally ill and the ownership would be entirely Mormon. While it would not be perfect, we all know it would be better than today’s world. And it would certainly be better than government run camps.

Outside visitation would be welcomed but there would be a toll road so anyone visiting would be making an investment in the city. There would be toll waivers for truck drivers bringing supplies, etc.

If we can make large parts of Utah look hideous with solar panel farms, I’m sure we can create a city to take care of the mentally ill.

I’d suggest build in the footprint large but build the area small and with purpose. Remember that as the decades go by there will need to be proper retirement areas for residents as they age.

Chapter 10: On Spiritual Health

You and I are certainly not the center of the universe!

Addiction, laziness and criminal conduct all flourish when a persons spiritual health is weakened. If your relationship with God is strong it means you are grateful in life, ready for challenges and you know great tasks await.

While a strong spiritual relationship with Jesus doesn’t immediately make you a good person, it is a path that gets you there. A verse in Romans notes the shift; Romans 12:2: Encouraging transformation by the renewal of the mind, rather than conforming to worldly habits:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will

The original Greek translation of Romans 12:2 employs the two words syschematizo for conformed and metamorphoo for transformed. In addiction recovery the Holy Spirit embodies an uncompromising positive influence that gradually makes a person break away from the chaos of the world and transforms toward working for Gods purpose.

I am not pretending this is easy. Following Romans 12:2 is hard enough for a regular person, for the CDA it highlights the value of Christian Rescue Missions whose aim is to assist the breakaway from evil deeds to the transformation. Government is not equipped for this guiding support. Christian charities unique role aiding Romans 12:2 makes their efforts unique in the world of rehabilitation.

As we consider how to reform the criminally addicted, it would be an obscene oversight not talking about Christianity. Everyone knows that the Scriptures demand we help the poor. But what does The Bible say about those who choose addiction as a lifestyle? And who steal from others instead of work?

God doesn’t go for that. And the evidence is overwhelming.

(SIDEBAR) I am advocating for Jesus teachings as Christianity has the best track record with helping bring people away from the evils of criminal addiction as they walk the path that delivers them to salvation through Christ.

Getting right to the point with Proverbs 10:4: “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth”

And Paul adds in Thessalonians 3:10-12: “if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat”

A few words on self control are found in Titus 2:11-12 ; teaching us to live “self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age”.

Moderation in Ephesians 5:18: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless living. Instead, be filled with the Spirit”.

This verse isn’t saying don’t drink, it’s just advising not to get sloshed. Moreover we can remember from Romans 12:2 that the filling of the Holy Spirit is a worthy medicine for a person, but excessive alcohol hinders it.

The path leading away from criminal addiction is not easy. As we see in Corinthians10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

In other chapters we discuss rehabilitation, especially the “dry out” period for criminal addicts. This Corinthians passage informs that getting clean is possible.

The Saints

The Catholic faith doesn’t have a great example for ‘Patron Saint of Criminal Drug Addiction.’ While The Church has two Saints that are assigned the role of attending to drug addiction these two saints already have a laundry list of more appropriate focuses they are more known for. Sadly it’s almost as if these Saints were each given the extra duty of covering drug addicts as an afterthought. While one of them certainly had his own struggles with heroin, the other died in a concentration camp heroically taking the place of another inmate.

I am not taking anything away from either of these incredible Saints, but neither of them seem quite right for the unique problematic people this whole book is so keenly focused.

With how dangerous criminal drug addiction has crippled much of America and other nations, the Catholic Church would certainly benefit by finding a Saint that talks directly to the root of the problem. Better yet, a Saint who performs miracles pulling CDAs out of the darkness and into recovery.

Thankfully a strong example of such a Saint can be found in the Orthodox, with Saint Ephraim

https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/05/st-ephraim-and-greek-american-drug.html?m=1

Saint Ephraim reportedly intervened in a CDAs life, directly countering a demon that also visited the man in a dream. The story was featured in Greek newspaper, Orthdoxos Typos and is a good read.

With full recognition belonging to the aforementioned paper it is shared here:

###

The following account is a timely story which occurred in 1990 to a young Greek-American teenager, heavily addicted to drugs. The Athenian taxi driver wrote this word-for-word as the young man in the story told it to him while being driven to a drug rehabilitation center after an encounter with Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri, who is the patron saint of those suffering from drug addiction. The taxi driver then had the story published in the Greek newspaper Orthdoxos Typos. It was afternoon, one of the usual tumultuous afternoons in downtown Athens. There was a line of people at the Omonia taxi-stop. “To Koukaki, please!” “With pleasure,” I answered. And that was the extent of our dialogue until the end of the drive, because my passenger’s expression and manner did not leave any room for conversation. He got out at the summit of Agios Ioannis (in Gargareta) on Veikos Street and, a few meters further on, another hand stopped me with the characteristic wave. My new passenger was young — around twenty-five to twenty-seven years old — and of medium height, and he was holding a suitcase. As I put his things in the trunk, the young man sat down in the front passenger seat. And with a poetic phrase that I infrequently used to use in the past: “While departing on your journey to Ithaca, I wish that your road be long and your voyage great.” I meant: “Where to?” “Yes, my friend, to Ithaca, but not to the island, as you would imagine, but to the Ithaca Detoxification Center,” was his answer, which left me speechless for a few seconds. “To the Larisa train station, please,” he added. My young passenger’s reply was truly unexpected, because nothing about his outward appearance (eyes, expression, clothing, behavior) betrayed the accursed passion of his addiction to drugs. A multitude of feelings (pain, sorrow, sympathy, love) came over me one after another, an intense wringing of my heart made it move irregularly in my chest, and a tear rolled down my cheek over the plight of my brother, God’s creature. I tried to contain myself, as I wanted to learn under what circumstances he had ended up where he did, because I was also a father with children approaching adolescence. After we introduced ourselves to each other, I asked Paul if he could tell me something about his life and his addiction, if recalling such events would not hurt or tire him. He readily agreed to my request, for which I thank him. * * * “To begin with, it has been two months since I’ve taken that poison, and I now feel like any other normal person. I have no desire whatsoever to put it into my bloodstream again, and I owe this not to any effort of my own, but entirely to the wondrous power of God and His Saints. But let me take it from the start, since you so wish to hear about it. I was born in Athens, in Koukaki to be precise, where you picked me up, and lived there until I was eight years old. I am an only child and my parents love me pathologically and indulge my every whim. When I was eight, my parents and I left for America for a better life. My relatives there helped my parents find work and I attended school. As I grew up, however, my senseless desires and vices also grew along with me. On account of my character, I easily got mixed up in bad company and very soon tried marijuana and hashish. As the years went by, the light drugs no longer satisfied me or my friends. So we all threw ourselves into the heavy drugs, which we found in the same surroundings and just as easily as the light drugs. These, however, were expensive, and I did not have a job. At first, I stole from my parents’ pockets and wallets. But when, with time, I was in need of greater doses, and when my parents had found me out, it reached the point that I even beat them to take the money. I understood that my condition was critical, but there was no way I could turn back. My parents rushed me to doctors and psychologists in the hope that they could do something, but to no avail; there was no light from anywhere. Some of them, and eminent scientists at that, told them that if I did not soon get out of that environment, I would not have long to live. During that time, as I was home alone one day in a state of despair, a strange visitor, whom I had never seen before, appeared in front of me. He was of medium height, had large round eyes that rolled about, and black bushy fur that was over fifteen centimeters in length. He also had horns and a tail. His booming, firm voice and fearsome persuasiveness left no room for objections. He began to make a thoroughly detailed account of my life from the time that I was born up until that very moment, while I simply said, ‘yes.’ ‘You have enjoyed every-thing,’ he said to me at the end, ‘there is nothing more left for you but to come with me....’ ‘How?’ I asked. ‘You will take the car,’ he said, ‘and you will follow such-and-such a road. You will speed along so many miles an hour (I don’t remember the number), and I will be waiting for you there....’ The road in question was straight for many miles and at a certain point it had a slight bend, so that whoever was driving at too great a speed would go off the road and crash into a wall and be killed. I had heard about many such accidents at that spot in the past. Doing exactly as he told me, I, too, ended up smashing into the wall. The car was left almost unrecognizable, but they took me out with only minor injuries. After they gave me first aid, I went home. About ten days had passed since the accident, when the same strange visitor appeared in my house again, in the kitchen this time. A grimace of displeasure was on his wild and imposing face. With a nod of his head backwards, he said to me in the same distinctive voice, ‘You didn’t accomplish anything.’ I was sitting there staring at him, petrified, and could just barely ask, ‘What should I do?’ ‘Now you will take triple your usual dose, and you will surely come with me.’ He disappeared, and I did not even ask myself how he had entered the house or who he was. I immediately put the plan into action. I prepared the drug in the syringe and tried to find a place on my much-pierced body. The dose was a large one and I immediately fell unconscious. While I was in this condition, I saw a tall man wearing a cassock and a black monastic cap with a Cross engraved on the front. ‘Do not be afraid,’ he told me. ‘You will get well, and when you return to Greece, come to my house. I am Ephraim.’ I got up as if I had not taken the accursed poison at all. I felt a desire to leave for Greece and, when I told my mother of this desire, she marveled and considered it a miracle, because my parents had many times before unsuccessfully tried to get me out of that environment. I related to my mother all that had happened to me, and she wanted to accompany me on my journey. When we arrived in my old neighborhood, we went to the Priest of the parish there, and I learned from him who the strange visitor had been and what he had wanted from me. It was the Devil and he wanted my immortal soul. I thank God from the depths of my soul. Fifteen days after I had confessed and fasted, the Priest gave me Holy Communion. When I saw the Icon of St. Ephraim, I understood that it was he who had delivered me from my terrible addiction. I went to Nea Makri and had Liturgy served and thanked the Saint. Now I am going to this institution to get away from the world for a while and to make sure that I do not need the drugs

###

If Hollywood cared more about good things, stories like Saint Ephraim wrestling a demon away from an addict could be great cinema. Such a movie would save lives, too.

Demonic Possession

Some forms of mental illness can come across as demonic possession. If 25 percent of the homeless community suffer from mental illness, that is a lot of unpredictable behavior at any given time. While demonic possession is always a possibility it should probably not be assumed until the more likely answers have been ruled out.

The Catholic Church has the best defense against demonic possession as they employ exorcists to educate people and irradicate demons. I’ve personally seen several cases of what is likely demonic possession in the homeless community. It’s absolutely heartbreaking and beyond just listing the problem I’m not sure what more can be said.

For more information I’d highly recommend reading The Liber-Christo Method by Father Dan Schneider.

###