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I don't really know what they do. But this reminds me of a story that was in our newspaper yesterday- I live in NY (upstate, near Albany) and a local lady went to her basement to do laundry and there was a homeless man there- I guess that's how they keep warm here! I would have crapped my pants.
In Boston, homeless will hang out in train stations to stay warm. They're littered all over South Station. A couple weeks ago I was using the bathroom before taking the train home and a guy and girl got busted in one of the stalls tying-off. It was fantastic.
It is unbelievable that the biggest world's superpower (economic, military, technological, financial, etc...) has so many homeless. Why does this happen??
It is unbelievable that the biggest world's superpower (economic, military, technological, financial, etc...) has so many homeless. Why does this happen??
We tend to spend a lot of money on wars and aide to developing countries, while ignoring a lot of the problems we have right here at home. I'm not judging the right or wrong of either, but it's a fact. And it's not just homeless, there is a LOT of poverty in America. Just take a look at rural Appalachia and the deep South.
It is unbelievable that the biggest world's superpower (economic, military, technological, financial, etc...) has so many homeless. Why does this happen??
The United States has lower taxes than most developed nations, but also has much much more of an "independant" nature as far as individuals, and doesn't have the social services. There's less of a defined "path through life" than in most Western nations. This leads to more of a chance of jumping up through the social scales and going from poor to rich, but it also means if you don't make it for yourself - no one is going to be there to hold your hand.
You get a lot more extremes here than in many places. More extremely upper class, and reversely more extreme poverty.
In Europe many governments will throw an apartment and some money to live at you if you can't carry on yourself, while here they'll just give you enough food to survive and tell you to try and find a job. Although I think the US has a lot more services and chances to better yourself than it's given credit for. Many of them are privately run though, and also many people just don't ask for/accept help.
Then there was the massive closure of public psyhciatric hospitals on the 70s and 80s, with a lack of follow up services to help the would-be patients live dignified lives in the community.
Today, I drove past an ad placed in a bus shelter that said "This bus shelter shouldn't warmer than your home." I assume its talking about the homeless.
This got me thinking, what happens to the homeless on cold, very cold nights in Minneapolis? Where on certain nights, its possible to die from the cold in a matter hours. There are plenty of homeless shelters around, but I doubt they are able to take in ALL the homeless. Anyone have any ideas?
They get to sit on a sidewalk grate and hope to not freeze to death when the shelters are full. But that's okay, we've been protecting them fighting a trillion dollar war in Iraq! I'm sure they're grateful.
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I would have crapped my pants.
