Just got back from LA--why so many homeless people?
 

Just got back from a week in Southern California. So many homeless in Santa Monica. Disgusting!

Probably because the cost of living in California went through the roof in the last few years, making housing very unafordable. In addition, the economy is suffering now, so a lot of those people may have lost their jobs after 9/11. Not only that, but if you were homeless, wouldn't you rather be in Santa Monica than somewhere cold like Seattle or Chicago? I wouldn't call it disgusting though...better words would be sad or shameful.

Sant Monica has been "home of the homeless" , to use Hary Shearer's (sp)words, for years. Depending on whom you ask, you'll get various different reasons, but its not a recent development.

Absolutely cannot speak for California, but I live in a midwest city with homeless people also. I know I will be blasted for this comment, but here, I see no reason other than choice. Checking into the Want Ads, fast food work pays $6.50 hr. and you can get "a room" for $250.00 monthly that will permit a hot plate. Our unemployment rate is 2%, anyone who is unemployed here and homeless, wants to be.

Many people who are homeless are mentally ill, or dependent on drugs and/or alcohol. There are many reasons for being homeless, and saying it is a choice is a very specious response. It is nice that in Kansas you can get a single room for $250 a month, but in certain large cities, like NYC, a single room is $1000 a month. And what do you do if you are a woman with 3 kids???? There are many people who do work who are homeless also. Unless you have been homeless, or work with the homeless you should not talk about things you know nothing about.

It often IS a choice for many who prefer to remain outdoors rather than in any sort of church or shelter. Shelters do not allow them to indulge in their drug and alcohol habits, so they prefer to remain outdoors, beg and panhandle, then trot over to the nearest 7-11 store for some booze. Just about any California store sells any kind of liquor, day or night, seven days a week. No blue laws or restrictions as many other states have. That plus weather that is warm enough to sleep outside in make it a darned convenient place to be a bum.<BR><BR>

I've been working with mentally ill, homeless, and addicted people for the past 30 years. There is a point at which choices are made, for some (not all) of these folks, but by the time they're truly down and out, choice isn't part of the scenario. I went to a workshop a couple of years ago at which a very articulate woman who is also an addict talked about what it feels like to need a fix and not to be able to get one because of the rules of the shelter. She totally understood why the rules are there; she was just explaining the desperate feelings that go with this problem. I think there is more than one way to look at this issue, and dehumanizing people by labelling them or generalizing about them isn't very helpful.

You selfish, bigotted people who have NO CLUE how people get to be homeless. More than 50% are mentally incompetent but your good buddy Ronnie Reagan closed all the custodial care facilities (good thing he has money now for himself, huh?). Another 30-40% walk into circumstances where they've lost everything and once that happens, it's VERY hard to get back into the cycle. For example: if you get kicked out of your apartment because you've lost your job and can't pay the rent, where do you get mail, telephone messages, etc., and how do you get your clothes cleaned, etc.? Even if you get a job flipping burgers, it takes a LONG time before you can save up that 1st and last month's rent plus security deposit.<BR><BR>The remaining 10% may be the freeloading "free souls" whom you think are so despicable, but don't be fooled when someone says he just likes to live outside. Sometimes he's saving face; sometimes he's just nuts.<BR><BR>There are lots of homeless people because they don't have homes! <BR><BR>Before you spit on them, make sure there is plenty of low-cost intermediate-term rent in the area for people trying to climb back on the economic ladder. Make sure there's enough health-care insurance so that someone whose kid has a chronic disease or whose wife dies of a complicated cancer doesn't have to give every last penny to the hospital. And make sure there's a place for the homeless to get a shower, do laundry, get mail, and get phone messages -- then offer them a job and see how many take it.

There are so many sad stories in the world of people living on the streets. By the grace of god you aren't there yourself. For some (cd and Larry?) it is too painful for them to actually ask a homeless person their story and offer help and kindness to a stranger. Easier for them to just think all homeless people are choosing to live on the street, or choosing to be mentally ill or dependent on drugs. The Dalai Lama tells us we should look at another human being and try and find what you have in common with them. Maybe you are around the same age, or you both have children, etc. If you look at other human beings with an eye to what you have in common with them rather than all the ways they are different from you it will be easier to feel compassion.

"By the grace of god you aren't there yourself."<BR>So, you are saying that I have God's grace but that the homeless do not? Think about that statement.....You have just condemned the homeless to not having the grace of God. <BR>I'm not trying to be arguementative, but what good has your compassion done to help? Unless they are feeble, they need to work to support themselves, therby earning their own self esteem, and self worth.

CD,<BR><BR>There is no sense in arguing with you. You simply have no clue about what you are speaking. At least you have no first-hand clue about it. Blackjack summed up the situation very nicely.<BR><BR>Get back to travel!<BR>

Yes, it must be Reagan who did it. He was governor of Calif from 66 to 74, and in spite of the fact that we have had a Democratic led legislature for the next 27 years, they were unable to overcome his evil plot. It can not have anything to do with the fact that the city attorney of Santa Monica announced a formal policy of not prosecuting for "victimless" crimes. It is a pure coincidence that the problems of Santa Monica are mirrored by SF, and their similar political bent has nothing to do with it. Although maybe Reagan's acts as governor in the early 70's are what led to SF's problems in that area also.

CD, the saying "by the grace of god go I" could read what you want into it, but I meant it to say that all of us are subject to bad luck and unfortunate circumstances. If you can consider the possibility that by some cosmic luck you have narrowly escaped the fate of a homeless person, but are just as likely to have it happen (because you are not a better person, just a different person) than perhaps you can feel compassion for that person rather than superiority. Your justification that one must only find work to get out of the trap of homelessness is simplistic and uninformed. I hope you take care of those in your family who are unable to take care of themselves (for instance, my son who is autistic will not be able to work to support himself). Some others aren't as lucky to have family care about them.

I Was on the bus in Santa Monica when I heard 2 of the homeless talking about why they stayed. Warmer weather, lots of places to sleep without being run off and the foreign tourists are more generous with their donations.

cd; fyi; in many towns homeless people actually have jobs but the wages are so low they can't afford a room or apt. How sad for them that they work all day and then can't afford to go back to their own home. I used to live in Santa Monica and that was often the case. (by the way to Can'tbelieveit: they've cleaned out the homeless from Santa Monica at least twice that I know of)<BR><BR>My Aunt Claire always said with compassion: " there but for the grace of god go I". It doesn't mean that the grace of god does not exist for the homeless but that luck and grace are often what seperates us from those who live without their own homes. I often look at them and see that that could be me if I hadn't been lucky in certain circumstances in my life. <BR><BR> Many people, besides the mentally ill, have had a stroke of bad luck, due to lay-offs, etc, and never manage to get back on their feet. It is tragic. There are many categories of homeless, as well. Some are slackers, no doubt, but many deserve our deepest compassion.

Jean, that's what I meant about generalizations. Okay, so you heard 2 people talking on the bus. Maybe they were being honest, maybe just showing some bravado. Maybe they weren't very nice or responsible people. Is it reasonable to draw conclusions about a huge situation based on an overheard conversation on the bus? There's lots of stuff you could read, written by people who talked to more than 2 individuals, that would give you more insight.

To all who wrote about my lack of compassion toward the homeless...again, I ask....if you truly believe that most are not there because they choose to be, what are YOU doing to help them????

Actually, it was Jimmy Carter, more than anyone else, who was responsible for the great increase in homelessness.<BR><BR>His policy of "Deinstitutionalization" emptied the nation's mental hospitals and threw thousands of folks onto the streets and into terrible circumstances.<BR><BR>The bottom line of this policy was money saved by ending state custodial care for the mentally ill, who are not able to politically defend themselves. Community Mental Health was supposed to protect the chronically mentally ill, and CMH has been a joke from day one.<BR><BR>I wrote my thesis on it in 1979, when I still worked in that field. Thank Gop, I have long since left and joined the much less cynical business world!

I meant God, not Gop, who is a republican.

You know what they say... the difference between most of us and homelessness is about 6 months worth of paychecks.<BR><BR>Seriously, I know of a case in fact where the homeless person was offered $100+ for a days work and he refused, saying he could made 2 or 3 times that amount panhandling.