As someone who lived through it, the 1980s were fucking rough.
You can tell a lot about the zeitgeist by the dystopian future that is envisioned in their movies. And look at the dystopian-future movies from the 80s (and going back to the 70s)--they're all about crime. Escape from New York, Robocop, fuck--even Back to the Future Part II--they're all envisioning a future of rampant crime.
Crime statistics nationally start dropping precipitously right around 1990. There are a number of theories as to why, including access to abortion and the elimination of lead in gasoline. It's an absolutely fascinating question as to why that happened.
Yeah--I'm really very liberal. And I'm generally very sympathetic to the homeless.
But these aren't the people who are down on their luck and find themselves unhoused for a few months until they get get back on their feet. These are the chronic homeless. And I'm goddamned sick of it and ready for a rather draconian clean-up.