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How a homeless shelter drove me away from the far left

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In 2021, I hit a breaking point. I was tired of working sales jobs, chasing money and feeling that none of it mattered. I wanted to do something genuinely good, something difficult that I thought might actually help people.

I found what I thought was my answer through a temp agency listing for a night-shift position at a downtown Los Angeles homeless shelter.

Politically, I was ready for it. I had recently paid $40 to hear Bernie Sanders speak in Glendale and bought his book “It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.” I believed that the suffering on Los Angeles streets was the inevitable result of corporate greed.

A society wealthy enough to produce billionaires, yet willing to tolerate Skid Row five miles away, seemed morally bankrupt. Tax the rich, redistribute the money and everyone could live with dignity — it seemed obvious.

Shortly before I had begun my new position, I attended a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) meeting. The politics were more extreme than mine, but the people seemed compassionate. After the meeting, I found the host standing beside his bicycle lock, which had been cut in half. His bike was gone. I offered him a ride home and he accepted.

In the car, he told me that it was unfortunate that our capitalist system forced people to steal like this. I was impressed by his grace.

I arrived for my first shift at the homeless shelter near MacArthur Park, home to one of the city’s most accessible open-air drug markets. It was a scene of despair: People hunched over on fentanyl, lying on the ground seemingly unconscious or huddling in groups to buy and sell drugs. Others sold stolen........

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