There is no doubt that homelessness is a huge problem in the United States, and is only growing. According to the statistical research of Picture the Homeless, in New York City alone, 38,000 people are living in shelters, 354,000 families are living doubled or tripled up with friends and family because they cannot afford to pay their own rents, and 400,000 households are paying more than half of their incomes on rent.
Picture the Homeless is an organization that is dedicated to promoting the civil rights of the homeless population, as well as solving the homelessness/housing problem. This organization is run by the homeless people themselves. Two members of the organization—a former postal worker and a former public school teacher—came to Queens College to discuss the situation with the student body.
It was distressing to hear that these hard-working individuals had fallen on hard times, which is why they found themselves stuck in the shelter system. New York’s shelter system leaves much to be desired. Many of the individuals who rely on the shelter system are mistreated. According to the speakers, the shelters are thought of as first and foremost a business, and since the amount of money they make is proportional to the number of people in the shelter, the shelter owners make it difficult for anyone to leave the system once they are in it. The speakers also said that the shelters are owned by relatives of powerful politicians, so government officials are not exactly encouraging reform in this area. Personally, I think this government conspiracy theory is a bit too far-fetched to be a hundred percent accurate.
In any case, what struck me as most interesting about the talk was Picture the Homeless movement’s answer to the problem. The government spends as much money keeping people in shelters as it would cost in simply giving each homeless person an apartment to live in. The government claims that there is no housing available for this sort of thing, but Picture the Homeless, through extensive research, has proven that vacant buildings, warehouses that were originally built to house people, and vacant lots abound in New York City. Why, they ask, will the government not let us move out of the shelters and into one of these vacated apartments?
Well, for one thing, America believes in a Liberal Welfare System. That is, the system is not designed to lift people out of poverty, the way welfare systems work in socialist countries. Rather, the American system, as well as most American citizens, believes that the best way for society to run is for people to get out of poverty by their own hard work. There is a reason why “living on welfare” is stigmatizes in our society—we believe that people should be productive, and not resort to living off the state if they do not have to.
I am not saying that the two women who spoke last week are lazy, or that their mounting debt was in any way their fault. Rather, I am attempting to explain a flaw in their plan to fix the problem. If the government allowed the homeless to move into an apartment rent-free, there would be no incentive for people to keep a job in order to work for their own rent. The current shelter system acts a deterrent for people who might otherwise simply loaf off of the government and move into a rent-free apartment.
Clearly, the problem of homelessness is huge. According to the speakers, the majority of New York families are only a paycheck away from becoming homeless themselves. These are the types of problems that Occupy Wall Street is bringing to the forefront. In fact, Picture the Homeless is attempting to work together with OWS to ensure that their voice is heard (although, because of OWS’s loose structure, they are experiencing difficulty working together because no one is ever sure of who to talk to).
The homeless situation is unfortunate, and clearly major reforms are needed. However, I do not believe that Picture the Homeless’s idea of rent-free government housing is necessarily the answer. The economic crisis is complex and rapidly-changing, and it will take the cooperation of the public and the government officials to come up with a workable solution.
It can sometimes seem like a simple thing to put “need” and “supply” together. If Picture the Homeless can have a few small success in this regard, they will be making important steps forward. The power of grassroots organizations is doing big things with small innovations. Let’s hope.
I agree with Ilana that the American economic ideology is hard work pays off (literally). Potheads and homeless alcoholics who roam the streets of New York all day and night certainly should not benefit from government-paid homes and other amenities. However, what about the many other homeless and poor people who do put in a great effort to try and lift themselves to a better economic position, such as those ladies who spoke to us from Picture the Homeless. Is it fair that they should suffer because there are a few homeless people who are lazy and don’t deserve government help? As a human being with a soul, I care about the plight of other people who are less fortunate than us. Economic systems and ideologies are created so that the vast majority of people can benefit from them. Clearly, this is not happening, as there are way too many homeless people in the streets of New York and across the world. Therefore, it seems plausible that where the system and ideology fails, it is the people’s and government’s responsibility to work together to fix and modify the system and ideology so that it helps more people and gets them off their feet, even if it means a semi-socialistic system that will level the playing ground for the homeless people. The ultimate goal should be that they will be able to get back on their feet and continue to be productive American citizens.