Wellhiem wrote:
We have our fair share of mental illness, but up until the 1980s, we kept dangerous people in mental hospitals, (not prisons), where they were taken care of as far as possible. Unfortunately in an attempt to save money, Margaret (Burn the Witch) Thatcher, came up with the idea of "Care in the Community", and the violent crime rate has soared.
In the 80's here in the USA we started the "deinstitutionalization process" which was as you say "an attempt to save money" The homeless population jumped because the families had no way to care for their family members who had problems. The government's answer was and is to medicate them. Now the institutions have been torn down and there are thousands of people who have no real care and society is paying the price. However, society in general, bought into the inhumanity of people being institutionalized where they could be protected and keep society safe so society shares the responsibility to thinking with emotions instead of knowledge.