My neighbors where I lived in Mass could be called the classic case of people using every system. It was the mother and father, the old dad (who lived in the basement), a son with brain damage, 3 teenage daughter (two with babies). I got along well with them, but often wondered about all the checks that were coming into that house. When the old man died and the girls left home, the income dried up and Alvin and his wife were in a tent by the river. Of course, there as a lot of addiction in the house too.
But, in thinking about it, I realized that these were people with very low I.Q. We tend to judge people on their intelligence as though it is something they did themselves - an achievement, and that recognizing low I.Q is a put down. The FACT is that people with an I.Q. of 75 or below are eligible for a variety of services, but what about those with 80, 90, 100 who are trying to navigate a world that was designed by people of high intelligence. What does someone do who has difficulty even setting an alarm clock to get up in the morning? What do they do when so much, now days require computer literacy? I don't think of myself as stupid, but my mind literally goes blank when reading a legalese form or intricate instructions - something in my brain just isn't there. I don't even try and read an electric bill (when I had one) - I just pay the bottom line. So, what do those other folks do?
There was a time when a guy who wasn't a brainiac, could get a job at the plant, pick up his pay envelope on Friday, go, in person to pay his various bills and provide for his family. There wasn't a 100 page employee handbook or a stack of HR forms to fill out, or a mailbox full of paperwork to understand. Putting aside that there are few of those 'plant' jobs anymore anyway, is there a point where life becomes so complicated for some people that they just give up?
Back on the homeless front. Do the "buddy, get a job" people believe that there are employers lining up to hire toothless old men with a lifetime of alcohol under their belts? When fresh faced college grads can't get jobs, do they think those guys have a chance? And, what are the prospects for someone released from prison with a felony record, just the clothes on their back and not a dime to their name? How does one start a life over from complete scratch?
When I was in AA, I heard hundreds and hundreds of stories of the struggles people had to pick themselves up from the depths they had fallen. It is a lot harder task than for those who came from good homes with parents interested in education, finished college and followed the prescribed path to a secure life. Personally, I have been on my own since I left home the week after my 17th birthday. Fortunately I have never had to ask for government or family assistance, but my life has been one of stumbling around, trying to find a path (God, if I were to write out a list of the things I've done I wouldn't believe it myself.), many times been a hairs breath from homelessness. It was help that came from very kind people along the way that kept me off the streets.
