The homeless are going crazy - and I think the streetlights are to blame

For context, I live in Los Angeles, which is the epicenter of the homeless problem in America. There have always been tons of homeless here, but over the past few years they seem a lot more aggressive than usual.

A large portion of them seem almost feral - closer to animals than people. They’re muttering to themselves in the streets as if they are speaking tongues. They can’t speak, listen, or understand English. Everything seems to trigger them into aggression or hostility.

The common belief is that is a combo of drugs and mental illness, specifically the “new” meth. But meth isn’t just limited to the homeless, but only the homeless seem to be going “feral”.

I’m thinking it has to do with the new LED lights that cities have been installing. The replacement of the old incandescents with LEDs correlates with the increased violence in the homeless population. It’s well known that lighting can have an effect on mood and behavior, so is it too far-fetched to believe that replacing street lights is driving homeless into a frenzy.

Now the deeper line of questioning is - why? There are claims of energy efficiency and longevity here, but could this is a test run for something greater? If lights can really alter the human mind, maybe they are simply testing it on the homeless population. Think about how all the new houses have LEDs. And all the screen usage - kids these days are basically born in front of a screen.

Could this be subtle social programming at work? The average person spends 10+ hours in front of a screen, so it’s very easy to reason that even a slight adjustment in the lighting over such a long period of time will fuck with your mind.

Maybe that’s why so many people (homeless or not) seem so much more agitated and aggressive nowadays. And why kids have so many mental illnesses.

Do you think it’s intentional or incidental?

At least for me, I’ve been taking some precautions. Blue light filters on all my screens. I almost always wear sunglasses or blue light glasses outside. Candlelight or old school incandescent lighting at night. Another thing I’ve found helpful is extended sun exposure - basically get outside in the middle of the day when the sun is brightest and expose yourself.

Let me know what you guys think.