A homeless San Francisco man said during an interview with author Michael Shellenberger that the city pays him to be homeless and boasted about having a cell phone with Amazon Prime and Netflix in a video posted Wednesday to Twitter.
“If you’re gonna be homeless, it’s pretty fuckin’ easy here” the homeless man, named James, said to Shellenberger during their interview. “I mean if we’re gonna be realistic, they pay you to be homeless here” he continued.
People say lack of housing forces local residents into the streets, but James says he came from Texas to San Francisco for the drugs, the non-enforcement of anti-camping laws, and the $820/month in welfare & food stamps. James says he sold fentanyl, 2 weeks ago, to a 15-year-old. pic.twitter.com/5qMr6tmlWs
— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 9, 2022
“When you said that San Francisco pays people to be homeless, what did you mean by that? Did you mean that literally?” Shellenberger asked.
“I get $620 a month, dude,” James replied. (RELATED: San Francisco Will Pay People Not To Shoot Other Citizens)
Shellenberger pressed James on how hard it was to receive general public assistance.
“A fuckin’ phone call, bro. A fuckin’ phone call. $200 food stamps and $620 cash every month. Forget about it. Why wouldn’t I do it, you know? It’s fuckin’ free money, dude. This right now is literally by choice. Literally by choice. Like, why would I want to pay rent? I’m not doing shit. I got a fucking cell phone that I have Amazon Prime and Netflix on,” James replied.
The video with James is the most recent in a series of interviews Shellenberger has conducted with other homeless people throughout major cities in California. Shellenberger’s most recent book, “San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities” addresses issues surrounding progressive policies on how social programs have transformed from toleration to the enabling of homelessness, drug dealing, and crime.