How a homeless shelter drove me away from the far left

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 goods from local stores to pay for their next high.If you showed MacArthur Park to people from Europe or Asia, they would never believe it was part of the glamorous culture capital they hear so much about.Each evening, a van delivered 70 packaged meals, and about half were usually eaten.

I was instructed to throw away the rest.It was when I was disposing of freshl...