waldenbound said:
This is exactly why I'm moving forward on the mobile lifestyle. Face it, no way could I afford to retire at 67, I don't know how far into my 50s I'll have a full-time job that hasn't been wiped out by automation or outsourcing.
Thats what burns me when talk of homelessness come up in news stories. It's always the heroin epidemic, or it's alcohol, or it's mental illness. The Big Three. Of course there are plenty of homeless with one or more of the Big Three, but there's a fourth cause of homelessness, ECONOMICS!
Excellent fourth addition. It is even more important if you come to see that economics is not only
one item on a list, but often the primary problem which causes or leads to the other three problems you listed.
I'm sure that those who love to beat the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" drum will screech at the thought, but in fact, society is responsible for the creation of most of these problems. On one hand, society is only us. On the other hand, it is a huge, barely thinking entity with the potential for huge, often negative impact on the lives of individuals. An entity that, despite what our national documents say, does not exist to help the average person.
In the U.S., our individualistic/self-reliant attitudes exacerbate all of these problems. As do other major influences which we are not permitted to discuss here. However, distilled, it becomes "screw you if you can't do it by yourself". Or if you want any assistance at all, you have to first prostrate yourself on the floor and give up any remaining shred of self-respect in order to qualify. There is something very twisted about the way we do that. Why do we need -- and it is a
need -- to see people so debased before we're willing to help them, and then, only help minimally? There is an answer, but again, we can't discuss it. Why do some of us preach about independence as if it is the silver-bullet solution for everything, without having the experience of suffering the opposite? Why is it so hard for us to admit that 90% of us are much closer to having nothing than the American Dream would indicate?
Other countries in the world -- Canada, UK, Europe -- have solved much of this. How? They just started creating policies that are people-centered and not money- or selfishness-centered. Instead of just creating million-dollar TV commercials about "caring" with world-class graphics and music, they actually just care and spend that money on action.
One example of the above relates to a subject discussed here -- mental health. In some European countries, their mental hospitals are minimal, but not due to lack of funding or wrong-headed policy. They are minimal because almost no one is in them. Where are they? Those people are still living in the communities, where family and friends care for them, with the help of medical professionals who do frequent home visits, and the larger community goes out of their way to integrate the person as a full member, rather than treating them like someone with Ebola.
Another example is medical care. I have lived abroad in places with much higher population density than the U.S, but with far, far fewer resources nationally than we have. Yet, because they had different priorities, and acted on them, they created a universal health care system that covers the entire population at a price that people can authentically afford, and which covers anyone less able as a societal responsibility.
Places with much less than us do much more for their people. There is a better way. It has been demonstrated. In our society, we collectively lack what is required to choose it. Instead of beating our chests because we developed the iPhone, maybe we should all be giving that some serious thought.
Vagabound
