The Homeless Problem in the United States

Throughout the world, the homeless exist. They do not have steady jobs or homes. They are usually on illegal substances, like marijuana, and often alcohol as well. They have to exist outside all the time while those of us with homes exist indoors. Working people resent the homeless population and look at them with disdain. Even low-income people who have living arrangements, or pay low rent as part of their situation, can’t often give the homeless their “spare any change.” Many of us tell them no. Homeless bums have no other options other than being a bum when the shelters are full.

They put up with mistreatment. If there was an organization devoted to helping bums get off the bum dole, then we could make a dent in the problem. Small houses do work on occasion. Sleeping outside can make somebody a victim to crime or hypothermia, which in extreme cases, can lead to death. Drug addiction or alcohol addiction is another easy way to get rid of homeless bums. Bums are a problem because they smell. What if we set up outdoor showers, latrines, and sinks where they congregate? What if the organization could set them up on SSI so that they can have medical care for their mental health problems?

This job doesn’t belong to one person, it belongs to everybody who thinks they can make a dent in the San Jose bum population. Not everybody is willing to help such eyesores as the homeless. What if the human race could be rid of homelessness by 2,100? Is that even a possibility? Couldn’t we at least try to launch a worldwide effort to help rehabilitate bums? The cops are often focused on evicting their tent cities in San Jose.

Homeless people do not contribute to society in any meaningful way even though there are plenty of free job training scenarios out there. People who are stuck living in tents have nowhere else to go. They are forced to leave one region, only to be forced to find another one. Their lives are harsh. Sometimes they manage to set up encampments at Kelly Park. There are organizations you can volunteer with to help them, but some demand change that many people do not want to give. There is that saying that "beggars can’t be choosers" because nobody wants to give a homeless person a break.

This is why working people do not often help bums; the money will go towards alcohol or drugs. Drugs are very hard to kick. There are plenty of rehabilitation facilities out there to help people quit usage, but the only way to qualify for rehab is if you start drinking or doing drugs again. Sometimes addictions come back if you crack and use the substance even once more. Homeless people are probably addicted to homelessness. They all need steady employment. If we rehabilitated them in a legal tent city where they could stay only if they improved their financial situation, then we would whittle down the problem to a handful of people left homeless. But no, society doesn’t want to help them at all. Not even organizations that claim to help them feel like they are changing the problem much. Many homeless people need access to psychiatrists in order to treat their mental illnesses. Addiction requires treatment. Drug addicts have a lot of trouble stopping use on their own; it is why they overdose and die, like Carrie Fisher who was also on prescription medication when she stopped breathing on that airplane. Drug addiction is very treatable these days but many do not feel the need for treatment. We have to come up with better ways of dealing with the homeless problem.