San Francisco Man Says He’s Paid To Be Homeless: “Pretty F***in’ Easy Here”

Author Micheal Shellenberger recently interviewed James, a homeless man, living in San Francisco and James told him that the city pays him to be homeless and gloated about having a cell phone with Amazon Prime and Netflix.

“If you’re gonna be homeless, it’s pretty f***in’ easy here,” James said. “I mean if we’re going to be realistic, they pay you to be homeless here” he continued.

People say lack of housing forces local residents into the streets, but James says he came from Texas to San Francisco for the drugs, the non-enforcement of anti-camping laws, and the $820/month in welfare & food stamps. James says he sold fentanyl, 2 weeks ago, to a 15-year-old. pic.twitter.com/5qMr6tmlWs

— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) February 9, 2022

“When you said that San Francisco pays people to be homeless, what did you mean by that? Did you mean that literally?” Shellenberger asked.

“I get $620 a month, dude,” James replied.

Shellenberger asked James how difficult it was to get general public assistance.

“A f***in’ phone call, bro. A f***in’ phone call. $200 food stamps and $620 cash every month. Forget about it. Why wouldn’t I do it, you know? It’s f***in’ free money, dude. This right now is literally by choice. Literally by choice. Like, why would I want to pay rent? I’m not doing s**t. I got a f****ing cell phone that I have Amazon Prime and Netflix on,” James replied.

The interview with James is just one in a series of interviews Shellenberger has conducted with homeless people throughout major cities in California. Shellenberger’s most recent book, “San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities” addresses issues surrounding progressive policies on how social programs have morphed from tolerating homelessness, drug dealing, and crime to enabling it.