San Francisco Democrat says homelessness is caused by capitalism and arresting drug addicts is 'counterproductive'

A Democrat politician in San Francisco claimed that capitalism is to blame for homelessness and said that arresting drug addicts is counterproductive.

"I think it's completely counterproductive to be arresting people for doing drugs, yes," said San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston during an interview with UnHerd. "I think that does not. Like, what's the objective?"

"So you can't arrest people for openly doing drugs?" asked interviewer Freddie Sayers. "You can't move or clear away camps. I can't see how it's gonna change this. Surely it will just get worse and worse?"

"Well the thing is, it has gotten worse, right?" Preston responded.

"Because the approach that we've taken is very inconsistent as a city, ramping up enforcement activities, whether it's against, you know, sweeps of homeless people or drug use, doing a series of arrests, usually timed with some new cycle and then, a few days later, a few weeks later, a few months later, the same thing happens," he added.

He went on to explain how capitalism had failed San Francisco and caused the homeless crisis there.

“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 said.

“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," he added. "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."

Preston had previously supported defunding the police force, and he reiterated his extremist belief despite the movement losing steam among more mainstream Democrats.

“I think we have a very, very bloated police budget. All kinds of waste in the police department. I could cut $100 million out of the department,” he added.

Here's part of the interview with Preston:

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!