My philosophy regarding homelessness

What is my philosophy on the homeless issue?

I can best say that my views are complicated.

Years ago when I was a kid I can honestly say I didn't think anything about it because it didn't concern me. I thought similar t a lot of people in that you see them, smell them and just don't bother with them.

However...during the mid-eighties....during Ronald Reagan's presidency, I noticed a lot of people displaced and living in the street, parks, train stations or where ever they can get a few hours of sleep.  Eventhough I still had never experienced homelessness I couldn't just not acknowledge I saw these people.  I didn't do anything but I no longer made fun over the way they smelled on a train or how they may have acted.I realized that the guy living in the street was a human being who for some reason was living in the street. to this day I blame his policies for people being displaced like that because I had never seen that many people in the street before he took office.

It came to a head during the late 90s when my friend Mike Littlebear let me know he was living in the street at some point with his girlfriend.  It was then I really noticed how fortunate I am.  Since I became aware of his story I know a few handfuls of friends, associates and aquaintances who have lived on the street or who have no real place of their own to live.

Contrary to popular belief it doesn't take much for a person to be living on the street or to not have a place of their own.  A report came out today in the news that only 27% of Americans have money set aside for a rainy day.  According to the study this means having emergency cash set aside for at least six months.  I don't know anyone in that 27% bracket.  I know I would have no way of surviving if I lost my job tomorrow.  When I was working half time hours for a couple of years because of my father being ill it was HIS income that kept us alive

To make matters worse our government has allowed for policies that make it easier for an employer to terminate an employee.  This means that you can be fired for almost any reason and in a climate where people feel you should just get a job you can be stuck.

Personally:

 1)  Not everybody is employable-  There are people for whatever reason cannot be hired or cannot keep a job.
 2)  Despite what you may think there are not that many jobs out there.  It is easy to tell a person to just get a job when you have one already and you are not subject to hiring policies.
 3)  Though there are a lot of people with mental health issues living on the street not everyone living out there has a drug and /or alcohol problem.
 4)  Our government adds to the problem.  The believe that people should just help themselves is not going to help the situation.  Yes, you have to get people to do for themselves, but cutting them off social programs is not the answer. 
 5)  Ending welfare was a mistake. This is a little complicated but you have to have something in place for people to be able to live.  Yes there will be some who abuse the system but $500 a month plus food stamps is less expensive than sending someone to jail or a hospital.  And this is for the wefare abuser.  If you put programs into place to encourage self help maybe folks will succeed
 6)  Workfare is just as demeaning as welfare.  Having an adult to do hard labor for a welfare check is similare to slavery.  Workfare, if it must exist, should consist of training classes and/or drug/alcohol programs.
 7)  Society needs to abandon the selfish feeling that if you don't work or if you can't make it then you live on the streets.
 8)  Before we help any other country or any non citizen here the United States needs to make sure that all of its citizens are taken care of meaning that people born in this country are fed and have a warm and dry place to sleep.  After the citizens are taken care of then you look after everyone else.
9)  With the amount of money and food wasted by this country  we should make sure that people living here have access to food and stop thinking that $30 in food stamps in a month is sufficient for a person to survive.

About a dozen years ago it became popular to think that everyone living on the street were lazy.  At the same time we (in general) became haters and  felt that if we had to work so should they. In theory this is correct, but in reality not possible.  My friend Stephan is a college graduate and a former officer in the Marines.  He has held a job for as long as I have known him and he has been out of work for 19 months.  He has lost his house and it is only because of family that he and his son are not living on the streets.  Nobody is hiring him.

We allow our politicians to have us believe that human beings are not worth $600 a month until we end up in a situation.