During a recent TV appearance on the Seattle Channel I
learned first hand why radicals on the left consistently fail to connect with
the public – they don’t listen.
Earlier this month Seattle homeless advocate Tim Harris and
I appeared on C.R. Douglas’ high-quality City Inside/Out show on the Seattle Channel (on February
5th, at http://www.seattlechannel.org/CityInsideOut/videos.asp?program=3061006
Afterward, Mr. Harris wrote that I had seasoned the
discussion with my “anti-tax, government-solutions-to-poverty-always-fail,
there is no society, there are only individuals, and we should fear them”
message. The problem is his description
doesn’t remotely reflect what I said. Let’s
look at what I actually said.
Paul Guppy: “To the
extent that the homelessness is being reduced…that is good news. From a taxpayer point of view, the point of
view of the public, the community that wants this to be solved, to the extent fewer
people are living on the street, that’s progress in the right direction.” (in
the video at 15:40).
Tim Harris then said I’m the problem. Tim Harris:
“As long as this guy [pointing to me] is basically O.K. with the
structure to funding the ten-year plan, we’ve got a big problem,” referring to
Seattle’s End Homelessness in Ten Years program. (at 19:31).
Here’s what I said in response.
Paul Guppy: “You cast
me as endorsing a public program, which I did not do. Instead, what I’m doing is holding a public
program accountable for what it promises.
So if a public program is taking tax money and saying to the public, ‘We
are going to end homelessness in ten years,’ then I think it is reasonable for
people to say, ‘What is the real result from that’. I didn’t choose this approach, but since our
leaders have taken us down this path, I think the people of Seattle should
expect a real result from it.”
Paul Guppy: “A lot of
homelessness is based on behavior, so without addressing the mental illnesses,
the substance abuse, the dependencies people have, simply providing them with
homes is not going to be enough…there are social services that go along with
the housing units, so it all has to be done together.” (at 19:55).
I don’t see how celebrating the progress of a government
program that is reducing homelessness can be seen by Mr. Harris as my having a
“government-solutions-to-poverty-always-fail” message.
And I don’t see how providing support services to address the
causes of homelessness can be seen by him as a “there is no society, there are
only individuals and we should fear them” message.
How could Tim Harris get it so wrong? The reason is simple. Radical advocates like him simply don’t
listen to others. He would rather cling to
his comfortable, narrow-minded stereotypes than take the risk of actually listening
to someone with an alternative viewpoint.
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