Definitely. I'm by no means saying "Do nothing, let them die." But I'm also saying "We have to rehabilitate them" is not a good enough idea either - you can't make people want help.
You can make people receive help. We just don't do that anymore because we've adopted a principle of radical autonomy, which apparently includes the "freedom" for the mentally ill and addicted to literally rot on the streets.
Many homeless advocates seem to have similar fears as gun rights advocate. Whereas some people vociferously oppose gun restrictions because of an irrational fear of helplessness in the face of crime if they couldn't carry a gun anywhere and everywhere, some homeless advocates vociferously oppose forced psychiatric and drug abuse treatment because of an irrational fear--obscured by a simplistic, self-serving sense of empathy--that they'll somehow be forced into such treatment or otherwise lose their own autonomy.
The boogey man of big government out to get you isn't just a motivating fear of the right, it's also a motivating fear of the left.
