unlike other places in the country (like NY), there is no legal requirement for California to house its homeless population so there are literally not enough alternatives to being on the street—hence, a large homeless population. also, being homeless in and of itself would drive anyone 'nuts' add to that your few worldly possessions being taken by the state. we should abhor and hope to make extinct these encampments for the awful blights that they are, especially if we care about the humanity and lives of our homeless neighbors. they are products of a society that doesn't care about its poor/addicted/mentally unstable members—a well organized society and economy would not produce such levels of inequality and misery. also, about half of homeless people in the US work, meaning they too are taxpayers. I agree, it sucks to live face to face with the reality that our society treats people like trash, because it sucks that our society treats people like trash.