&gt; “We are not going to criminalize people for being poor,” he said. “That criminalization is only going to make it harder for them to get out of poverty.”<p>Underlying this sentiment is the idea that the poor are a monolith. That someone stealing from cars or someone with mental problems who can&#x27;t maintain a job or relationships is a good representation of &quot;the poor&quot;.<p>The guy in the article who had his BMW broken into can afford to be blasé about the incident - he&#x27;s insured, whatever was stolen he can replace without blinking an eye. The poor person who is robbed can&#x27;t just replace whatever was stolen. &quot;Poor people&quot; aren&#x27;t just perpetrators, they are also disproportionately victims (unless SF is different, which it probably is because it&#x27;s so weird) - and I think they yearn for safety and stability MORE than wealthy people, they just can&#x27;t do much about it. We mistake the complacency - which is the natural and probably healthy reaction when you don&#x27;t feel you can affect social change - for a comfort with all aspects of the urban environment.