San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston blamed the city’s homeless population on capitalism in an upcoming documentary with UnHerd.
Preston ignored the role of the open-air drug market in District 5’s homeless crisis, explaining his belief that it is “completely counterproductive” to arrest drug users under his jurisdiction (which includes the Tenderloin District), according to the New York Post (NYP).
“I think what you’re seeing in the Tenderloin is absolutely the result of capitalism and what happens in capitalism to the people at the bottom rungs,” Preston told UnHerd in an interview.
“The biggest driver of why folks are on the street is because they lost their jobs, income or were evicted from their homes, usually for not being able to pay the rent. So you have major landlords literally causing folks to lose their homes, and real estate speculation making it impossible for folks to find an affordable place to live,” the Democratic Socialist supervisor continued.
San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston will look you straight in the eye and tell you “the city’s homelessness problems are “absolutely the result of capitalism,” and it is “counterproductive” to arrest people openly doing drugs. https://t.co/ZJMlGL9iYk pic.twitter.com/lMpTOsmDz5
— Noah Fencebutt (@Noah_Fencebutt) December 12, 2023
Preston said the “inconsistent” enforcement of San Francisco drug offenses and removal of homelessness encampments “has not made our city any safer.” The supervisor claimed this approach made the city “less safe” and “increases overdose,” according to the outlet.
“I don’t think every instance of poverty or addiction or behavioral health issue is a safety threat to someone walking by. I mean, there’s a lot of people who are doing things that are very harmful to themselves on the streets, who aren’t necessarily a safety threat,” Preston explained to UnHerd. (RELATED: ‘Just Trying To Get To Work’: Protesters Block Traffic Ahead Of Biden’s Meeting With Xi)
The supervisor believes in defunding San Francisco police, which he said has a “very bloated” budget, the outlet reported. He suggested cutting $100 million from the department, per the outlet.
Nearly half of crime goes unreported in San Francisco, a poll published in October found. Approximately one-quarter of city resident respondents reportedly said they were victims of a crime, but 47% chose not to report the incident to police.