On the streets of Los Angeles the homeless have set up their furniture. And, of course, contention has flared, particularly among those who cannot understand why there are homeless at all: as if these people without access to showers; comfortable, safe living environments; and healthy food could just go out and find a job that will pay enough to cover the high cost of housing, electricity, etc.
People don't want the homeless to be this visible (Just as they haven't wanted war fatality caskets returning to the US to be shown on media outlets.)
People who are "getting by enough not to worry" (In the US, less than half the population), prefer the adage "out of sight = out of mind." In the case of the homeless, they aren't welcomed on city streets. Residents with homes claim that city streets were not designed for bedding and furniture.
Behind this ongoing dispute (that in New York resulted in the sweep of homeless from city streets) lies the question of why we have so many homeless at all. Certainly, I have been told by many an IPhone-toting individual that homeless should pull themselves up "by their bootstraps" and get a job. Never having "walked a mile" in the steps of the homeless, one-half the American population agrees: the portion that has not yet fallen through the social safety net, which has always been thin in the US, but is now frayed beyond repair and promises to become all but extinct, depending on political candidates yet to be elected.
One question we might ask is What systems worldwide promote wealth for a few at the expense of the majority, and ultimately foster homelessness?
The underlying social structure or system that breeds destitution and homelessness is rarely touched on in the wake of countless symptoms of these structures, such as hunger, poverty, lack of health care, and ultimately homelessness and its consequences.
Most who have never teetered on the brink of poverty cannot believe that the person who is struggling financially is not at fault: It is the system, the very system that enables the wealthy to remain so. These Loss of job, no family to fall back on, health issues and resultant medical debt, which continues to skyrocket in the US, exorbitant rents, and working-poor wages may be but a few of the "reasons" for homelessness, but only symptoms of the corruption of an underlying structure which favors the wealthy few at the expense of the suffering many. The torn fabric of the US economy is but one system which has (with the exception of a few years here and there where constant poverty burgeoned to a scope too great to ignore, even by the rich and powerful) lacked compassion.
Without changing this structure from the grassroots level, the numbers of poor and working poor will continue to burgeon, in spite of bright, promising expectations promoted by the media. One area that needs immediate attention is the disproportionate ratio of low wages to exorbitant rents with few rental protections.
People don't want the homeless to be this visible (Just as they haven't wanted war fatality caskets returning to the US to be shown on media outlets.)
People who are "getting by enough not to worry" (In the US, less than half the population), prefer the adage "out of sight = out of mind." In the case of the homeless, they aren't welcomed on city streets. Residents with homes claim that city streets were not designed for bedding and furniture.
Behind this ongoing dispute (that in New York resulted in the sweep of homeless from city streets) lies the question of why we have so many homeless at all. Certainly, I have been told by many an IPhone-toting individual that homeless should pull themselves up "by their bootstraps" and get a job. Never having "walked a mile" in the steps of the homeless, one-half the American population agrees: the portion that has not yet fallen through the social safety net, which has always been thin in the US, but is now frayed beyond repair and promises to become all but extinct, depending on political candidates yet to be elected.
One question we might ask is What systems worldwide promote wealth for a few at the expense of the majority, and ultimately foster homelessness?
The underlying social structure or system that breeds destitution and homelessness is rarely touched on in the wake of countless symptoms of these structures, such as hunger, poverty, lack of health care, and ultimately homelessness and its consequences.
Most who have never teetered on the brink of poverty cannot believe that the person who is struggling financially is not at fault: It is the system, the very system that enables the wealthy to remain so. These Loss of job, no family to fall back on, health issues and resultant medical debt, which continues to skyrocket in the US, exorbitant rents, and working-poor wages may be but a few of the "reasons" for homelessness, but only symptoms of the corruption of an underlying structure which favors the wealthy few at the expense of the suffering many. The torn fabric of the US economy is but one system which has (with the exception of a few years here and there where constant poverty burgeoned to a scope too great to ignore, even by the rich and powerful) lacked compassion.
Without changing this structure from the grassroots level, the numbers of poor and working poor will continue to burgeon, in spite of bright, promising expectations promoted by the media. One area that needs immediate attention is the disproportionate ratio of low wages to exorbitant rents with few rental protections.
