Mark Wilde says: I heard loud and clear what you want people in positions
of authority to do for the homeless, but nowhere did you say what you
want the homeless to do to help themselves. You want the government to
provide jobs for all these people, as well as three meals a day and clean
housing? Not asking for much are you? I know a lot of people who have
gone through hard times and become successful with little or no help
from the government. In fact I know many illegal immigrants who can't
get food stamps or public assistance or any other kind of help from the
government who are not homeless. There needs to be some level of
personalresponsibility in your argument, or I am not buying it.
Peter Schmitz responds: I'm certainly NOT asking for much when you
consider all the public funding that goes to defense contractors, sports
stadium proprietors and housing developers.
(BTW, thank you, Ronald Lequin, for a brilliant post. It is rather
absurd that we are giving developers lots of money to build more housing
when there are all these rental vacancies all over town. Funding for
rental vouchers, rather than funding for developers, would serve the
homeless and poor better.)
People are homeless for a variety of reasons. Many have lost their jobs
due to a bad economy. Others experienced a serious catastrophe,
illness, injury or disability that wiped out their savings and assets
after their insurance ran out. And others are afflicted with a serious
and persistent mental illness and have not been able to find the right
combination of medications to control their symptoms with minimal side
effects.
True, some are homeless because of chemical dependency and I suppose we
can blame them. Blaming is always fun.
Then why not blame those who have developed lung cancer or diabetes on
account of their tobacco addiction and poor nutrition choices?
(Diabetes, by the way, is the fastest growing epidemic among white,
middle-class Americans.)
I'm sure my health insurance premiums have gone up because of all those
diabetics and cigarette smokers who made "poor choices' in their lives.
In fact, lets save more tax dollars by cutting diabetics and smokers off
all health insurance programs, economic assistance, medicare and medical
assistance. I mean, it's their fault. They obviously had no sense of
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY when they smoked their Camels or ate their
Hostess Twinkies, washing them down with Coke or Pepsi.
But seriously, homeless people do a lot to help themselves. Especially
the ones who have survived several winters in Minneapolis.
A confession: I went to one of Margaret Hasting's camp outs for the
homeless early this year and only made it for half a night even though
temperatures were slightly above freezing. Keeping in mind how I wimped
out, I have nothing but awe and respect for those who have endured
unbelievable hardships night after night.
Also, Mark, have you ever tried getting on disability, food stamps or
any other form of economic assistance? It really takes a lot of work and
persistence, not to mention above average literacy skills.
As for the immigrants you talk about, what they don't get from our
government, they get from strong family and social networks, something
that is too often missing in the middle and upper classes of white
American culture.
Another point I like to make: Many homeless men are veterans. Veterans
who have been grossly neglected and abused by the country they served.
Don't even get me started about VA hospitals. Then there are the stories
about veterans with mental illnesses (that occurred while they were
fighting for their ungrateful country) who are offered a very limited
array of treatments for their symptoms (traditional psychotropics like
Haldol).
So please, Mark, think twice before you claim that homeless people aren't
doing enough to help themselves. This is not to say I'm particularly
fond of the homeless. I'm no saint by a long shot. (Another confession:
When I was in San Francisco last month, I deliberately moved away from a
homeless person on the bus because his blanket was touching me and I was
afraid of getting lice.) But at least I try not to underrate their
resiliency and the hard work it takes to survive on the streets or in the
shelters night after night.
Because what we as individuals can do is very limited, it's imperative
that our government entities, our collective resource, address issues of
poverty and homelessness. Otherwise we'll be seeing more violence in
places like downtown Minneapolis (which, I hate to admit, is not media
hype, or the figment of former list member Victoria Heller's
imagination). When society fails to look after its most vulnerable and
marginalized citizens, everyone loses, except for the very rich in their
gated communities.
-----------Peter
Schmitz CARAG
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