The whole situation is disturbing. Are we going back to the barricaded castles for the Haves and the dregs for the Have Nots? The middle is shrinking and that’s worrisome.
It’s not that I haven’t seen how some end up homeless. I was the director of an outreach to the homeless in one area I lived in very long ago. Since then, the situation has exploded. Some truly just need a hand temporarily. Some need serious substance abuse help….IF and Only IF they reach for it. Some need to relocate out of the severely high economic areas!!! Sadly, some need a little higher basic I.Q.
But what concerns me at this point is how large the percentage of our population is now homeless….compared to decades ago. As if……can I say….a second “Great Depression” type of era has snuck up on us slowly? It has for more and more of the population.
In former eras, some folks drank away their troubles ….and their chances. Today there are so many more ways to dump your troubles and your opportunities down the drain. A lot are WAY more addictive than alcohol, unfortunately. It worries me cuz potentially productive folks are sucked in while young/stupid and could be lost forever…..and now will be a drain, instead. Tho it’s not my personal or professional problem anymore, THIS does drag down all of us.
And quite bluntly, while DH and I are not out on the streets, I am very aware that it would not take too much misfortune for that to happen, despite our productive lifestyle. Age, disability, and medical bills can put you there too. While I cannot fault those who do not want druggie encampments across the street, boulders and barriers are not going to be a solution for this mass of folks not in housing. Certainly not all are addicts and some are the working poor.
It’s worrisome! More so as the population grows. More so as our prices for basic living increase and purchase power shrinks.
OldMtWoman
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This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by
OldMt Woman.