Yes, I saw a video recently of 50 blocks of homeless, living in the streets of either LA or San Francisco, can't remember which. I have very mixed emotions...I didn't see any children...all older people, many wino's and bums.... I'm a firm believer....if you don't work, you don't eat. I think they should create some work for those people and they should be made to work.
I used to live in California. Yes you are partly right. There are a lot of bums. But there are also a lot of homeless children, they just aren't as noticable as the beggars front and center. I was walking in LA and as I passed by a homeless shelter, a woman with a baby was begging to be let in. They said they were full and shut the door. The woman slept in the street.
Welfare and food stamps are a big part of the problem. High housing costs are the main reason for homelessness. I talked with homeless and had homeless friends in California. Some of them are elderly men on SS or disability, but their income is not enough to rent anything, so they just rough it in the streets. They don't cause any trouble.
Others are drug addicts on welfare. These are the beggars you see on roadsides and on busy streets. They love crowded places and lots of attention. They hold us signs begging, when in reality they are probably on welfare and food stamps already. These are who most people see as homeless and it's a bad stereotype. A righteous man does not beg. He works.
And others are families whose house burned down, or the dad died and the mom has no one to help her. Or a guy whose wife divorced him and the court gave her everything. These type of homeless hide from public view and have good hygiene, and they often work too. These are the homeless you don't even know as homeless, because they are ashamed and hide it. It comes up often on job applications and student applications when they have no physical address. And the shocking part is, these are about 4 in 5 homeless. Yes. There are that many. What you see on the streets are just the obvious ones who don't care anymore who sees them.
That video you saw was an area where normal people, homeless or not, would not stay. So that explains why you saw no children there. LA and San Fran are 2 of the worst cities in California. Anybody else would have moved somewhere else at that point.
The best ways to reduce homelessness are to eliminate welfare and food stamps entirely, and instead have "work for food" and/or "work for shelter" programs for men
and women. It may sound mean but it works. No work? No food! As you quoted from the Book of James.
But the biggest help would be if cities would invest in low income housing and make sure it is a drug free zone. Low income housing has become a sterotype of drug and prostitute ridden slums. Welfare contributes to drugs more than anything. When people have to work they use less drugs because working under the influence is asking to get fired or arrested. Safe low income housing is the best solution. A single mom making $7.25 cannot afford a 3 bedroom apartment in LA for her and her children. Have you seen the rent prices on the west coast? It's turning into a master and slave class system with homeless workers and rich business owners. I was surprised at how many homeless people had full time jobs. It was sad. Of course, those are the "clean" homeless. The ones we have no idea are homeless.
