Shutting down tent cities is really amazing to me. I really have trouble figuring out how somebody could think that's a good idea, or sleep at night after they do it.

That said, the folks I work with aren't in a tent city. Mostly, they're drunk. (Not always.) Far from being a "self-governing" community, they still matter. They get tickets from the cops for drinking beer in the park. Then, they get excluded from the park, so they have to sit on the sidewalk instead. Then they go to jail for going back into the park after being excluded. 

It's a very weird world we live in, I think. I get tired of the lack of compassion, too. But I can't help but think that our love does make a difference. So, I just keep trying to do that.