Publishers Weekly
09/06/2021
Environmental Progress founder Shellenberger (Apocalypse Never) faults progressives for “the breakdown of civilization on America’s West Coast” in this alarmist account. He claims that San Francisco’s homeless problem resulted in the city spending $100 million more than Chicago (which has 3.5 times more people) on street cleaning in 2019, and blames liberal lawmakers and homeless activists for prioritizing “permanent supportive housing” over funding for shelters, and for insisting that “poverty and housing prices,” rather than “mental illness and substance abuse,” are the primary drivers of homelessness. He also notes that San Francisco’s maximum cash welfare benefit is $400 greater than New York City’s, and alleges that homeless services providers have a financial stake in encouraging people to stay on the street. Elsewhere, Shellenberger questions whether “racial bias” explains why Black people are disproportionately killed by the police, suggesting that it could be because African Americans are “more likely to end up in a situation that involves lethal force,” and analyzes how cult leaders and dictators have used compassion “as cover for darker motivations.” Though the author includes plenty of statistics and horror stories about drug addiction and crime, he exaggerates progressives’ belief in the “secular religion” of “victimology” and underplays the historical abuses associated with a “law-and-order” approach. This one-sided screed overstates its case. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
San Fransicko is outstanding. Michael Shellenberger pries loose the truth about homelessness and housing in America in this myth-shattering book — and proposes tested, humane alternatives that work.” — Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb
"San Fransicko is a lucid lesson in how self-serving ideological fads yank progressivism into a ditch, creating misery in the name of enlightenment. Shellenberger shows us one of the keys to running a city: knowing the difference between virtue signaling and getting results." — John McWhorter, linguist, writer for The Atlantic and The New York Times, and associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University
"Civilized urban life is a precious accomplishment — difficult to achieve and easy to squander. In this humane and reasoned book, Michael Shellenberger diagnoses the mistakes progressives made and maps out a practical, evidence-based path to improvement.” — Steven Pinker, author, Enlightenment Now, and Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
"In his compassionate, pragmatic, and truly indispensable book, Michael Shellenberger takes on the devastation of the urban environment. The sprawl of chaotic tent encampments populated by psychotic and addicted people is a daunting problem — one that too many progressive authorities don’t know how to solve. Or, worse, don’t really want to. Shellenberger lays out a humane blueprint to help the suffering, revive the cities, and restore civic order.” — Sally Satel, M.D., Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, and Lecturer, Yale University School of Medicine.
“In this compelling and well-written book, Shellenberger challenges many long-held shibboleths about how we think about cities and social policy. Required reading for us liberals as we try to reimagine what cities should do, look like and whose interests they should serve.” — Dalton Conley, Henry Putnam University Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
“What explains the shocking breakdown of public order in many of America’s leading cities? Michael Shellenberger, with the erudition and iconoclasm he is known for, shows how catastrophe can result when good intentions are combined with bad ideas. San Fransicko is devastating.” — Michael Lind, author of The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite
“San Fransicko peels back layers of “progressive” rhetoric with peer reviewed science and data to show that the vast majority of California’s unsheltered residents suffer from drug and alcohol addiction, and complex medical conditions, that cannot be solved by a key to a hotel room or higher cash stipends. Fierce bullies who make a living “protecting” the homeless status quo are the villains of this catastrophe, enabled by the feckless electeds and hippie nostalgia of Baby Boomers. Enough.” — Jennifer Hernandez, civil rights lawyer
Richard Rhodes
San Fransicko is outstanding. Michael Shellenberger pries loose the truth about homelessness and housing in America in this myth-shattering book — and proposes tested, humane alternatives that work.
Jennifer Hernandez
San Fransicko peels back layers of “progressive” rhetoric with peer reviewed science and data to show that the vast majority of California’s unsheltered residents suffer from drug and alcohol addiction, and complex medical conditions, that cannot be solved by a key to a hotel room or higher cash stipends. Fierce bullies who make a living “protecting” the homeless status quo are the villains of this catastrophe, enabled by the feckless electeds and hippie nostalgia of Baby Boomers. Enough.
John McWhorter
"San Fransicko is a lucid lesson in how self-serving ideological fads yank progressivism into a ditch, creating misery in the name of enlightenment. Shellenberger shows us one of the keys to running a city: knowing the difference between virtue signaling and getting results."
Steven Pinker
"Civilized urban life is a precious accomplishment — difficult to achieve and easy to squander. In this humane and reasoned book, Michael Shellenberger diagnoses the mistakes progressives made and maps out a practical, evidence-based path to improvement.”
Sally Satel
"In his compassionate, pragmatic, and truly indispensable book, Michael Shellenberger takes on the devastation of the urban environment. The sprawl of chaotic tent encampments populated by psychotic and addicted people is a daunting problem — one that too many progressive authorities don’t know how to solve. Or, worse, don’t really want to. Shellenberger lays out a humane blueprint to help the suffering, revive the cities, and restore civic order.
Dalton Conley
In this compelling and well-written book, Shellenberger challenges many long-held shibboleths about how we think about cities and social policy. Required reading for us liberals as we try to reimagine what cities should do, look like and whose interests they should serve.
Michael Lind
What explains the shocking breakdown of public order in many of America’s leading cities? Michael Shellenberger, with the erudition and iconoclasm he is known for, shows how catastrophe can result when good intentions are combined with bad ideas. San Fransicko is devastating.
