Americans living in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco see first-hand on their streets the results of ideology and failed policies: the homeless encampments, skyrocketing crime, and open-air drug markets. In a recent episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek discusses the causes and possible solutions to this ongoing ruination with Michael Shellenberger, author of “San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities.” Jan Jekielek: Today, we’re going to talk about “San Fransicko.” This is something you’ve been working on for a long time, the issue of mental health and homelessness and the intersection of this. What is really happening out there? Michael Shellenberger: In the late 1990s, I did work on the decriminalization of drugs. When I stopped doing that work around 2000, my understanding was that we were advocating drug rehabilitation as an alternative to prison. Around 2017, when drug overdose deaths reached 73,000 a year, up …