OPINION: The Costs of Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Mental Illness in Burien

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‍Part Nine in a Series on Burien.

When we think of the people we see on the streets, some seem crazy on drugs, some are living in tents, some are committing property crimes to buy drugs, but really, what is the cost of all this? What is the cost of all of this to Burien, to the State, and to the nation?

First, there is the cost to us taxpayers of an increasing bureaucratic complex that is providing services for the growing number of homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicts. This bureaucracy keeps increasing and the costs of sustaining this bureaucracy keep growing. Yet, as big as that cost is, there is another huge cost being borne by local businesses due to shoplifting, vandalism, hiring security, stolen shopping carts, plugged toilets, and more. All of this is passed on to the consumer, and in some cases, businesses are fleeing Burien altogether.

Then there is the toll on our sense of humanity in witnessing human beings in such conditions, along with a rising sense of fear, social unease, and anxiety over becoming victims of assaults and/or theft. But perhaps the biggest cost of all is the destruction of human beings that drug addiction and homelessness cause. To have any future, our society and communities need the education, the labor, and the skills of those being destroyed.

So why are the current leaders of King County and the State of Washington permitting this, especially in Burien? The answer is simple. They are being influenced by well-funded and promoted ideologies of powerful globalist, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that seek to use drug addiction, homelessness, crime, mental illness, and the disintegration of communities as a battering ram to conquer and subjugate our people to their globalist agendas. As Burien stands up for itself, the battering ram of lawsuits and lawlessness continues to besiege the city.

‍Mr. Glumaz is former US Congressional candidate who has been analyzing governmental systems for over four decades. As a former Marxist and former committed atheist, he brings a unique perspective to societal and governmental structures. His primary concern is Washington State and King County, and he has recently become acutely aware of the unique oppression that Burien, a small business centered community, has been experiencing. The recent lawsuits by the KC Sheriff, homeless and homeless advocates, King County's sanctioned homeless encampment, and the "Raise the Wage Burien" initiative, have caused him to question, "Why Burien?"

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