Richard Hogan: A city in crisis must help the most vulnerable

"It is hard to describe the scene as you walk through a busy street. The incongruence of shoppers and restaurant-goers amidst heavy drug use and homelessness is quite jarring."

Cement barricades are fortified with chunks of concrete and tarps in Seattle. Picture: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

America is a concept. A place where dreams and fortunes can be made. You can go bust and just dust yourself off and go again, with none of that credit history malarky we love so dearly in Ireland. It didn’t work out, go again.

Things aren’t just big, they’re super-sized — cars big as bars and rivers of gold.