Homelessness: Does America Really Care?

America`s attitude and the de Iacto criminalization oI homelessness is unacceptable

Republicans and the like-minded consider homeless
people as something that can be discarded. They say
poor people dont create fobs, rich people do, and
so they uncompassionatly fudge homeless people as
worthless. Its Americas black mark.

America`s homeless are worthless. That`s the
attitude oI people like those in the Republican Party
who view anyone other than the upper crust in
society 'are oI less worth than others, or less necessary to the common good. Homelessness is
stereotypically associated with alcoholism, laziness, and drug abuse. It invokes an image oI an
American that waits Ior the government to bail them out. The people with this republican
mindset demand that beIore welIare recipients receive Iood stamps they should be required to
take a drug test. America became great, they exclaim, because its citizens possessed selI-
reliance, accepted personal responsibility, were industriousness and had a passion Ior Ireedom.
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain says ". iI you don't have a job and you're not
rich, blame yourselI!"

These types believe that everyone can achieve success through hard work. But this is working oII
the assumption that America is a classless society. That we are all equally Iree and have the same
abilities. However, human ability is genetically determined, and the extent to which one has
Ireedom is governed by one`s income. We are obviously not a classless society, and obviously,
we are not equally Iree. Success in liIe, the wherewithal to be selI-reliant and to accept personal
responsibility as well as the capability Ior hard work whether it is mental or physical is a giIt
acquired in the womb. These Iactors contribute to one`s Iinancial success while Ior some wealth
is simply a matter oI inheritance.

To add insult to injury, the greed and malIeasance on Wall Street were signiIicantly the cause Ior
people already struggling to lose their homes. They created an even greater hardship on them,
Iorcing many individuals and Iamilies into homelessness to live on the street or in a shelter.
Republicans say poor people don`t create jobs, rich people do. In other words, iI you are not rich
you are worthless. But without rank and Iile Americans, who would work in their enterprises and
purchase their products and services.

Be that as it may, how can anyone be so uncompassionate toward the liIe-and-death struggle oI
another human being to discard his or her existence as worthless? Homeless people have to
Iorage, beg, or Iind a shelter that oIIers Iree meals, keep warm at night by Iinding someplace
where they won`t get kicked out or else cover themselves with cardboard or tarp. They must Iind
a place to relieve themselves without committing a crime, which cities and towns make 'illegal
when perIormed in American streets -- not just peeing, but sitting, lying down, and sleeping.
America`s cities and towns would just as soon Throw Them Out With the Trash.

Homeless people are humiliated constantly by looks oI disapproval, disgust, as well as constant
harassment be police.

Michael Sullivan recalls, 'I remember vividly when I got the look.` My hair was grimy and my
clothes smelled Irom having been worn Ior three straight weeks. I buried my unshaven Iace into
my jacket as I stepped onto the E train in New York, clinging to my green garbage bag oI
belongings. I was homeless; 'the look' judged me worthless.

Individuals may uncompassionatly judge homeless people, however Ior local or Iederal
government to ignore, criminalize, and to be complacent with homelessness is unacceptable in
America. Accommodations should be made Ior America`s down-and-out.

A measure oI a great society is not its wealth, but how it cares Ior its weakest and most
vulnerable citizens, its indigent and down-and-out. Human Rights proclamations and Civil
Rights laws have not addressed the issue, and even though there are many non-proIit agencies
and HUD, who oIIer assistance to the homeless, overall America`s conduct and actions by
Iederal, State, city and town government have not stepped up to the challenge. In this respect,
America has been a Iailure.


$ource:
Barbara Ehrenreich, Throw Them Out With the Trash, TomDispatch.com
Michael Sullivan, I was homeless; 'the look' judged me worthless, CNN