People are embarrassed when their otherwise pretty cities have homeless beggars on main streets. On the contrary, they should be proud. Their presence on the streets, asking for money from every passerby, indicates the presence of lots of disposable income in the city, which in turn is a sign of prosperity. These "homeless" people are not stupid; they go where the money is. I had a nice conversation with a homeless woman in Salt Lake who explained to me how it all works. She came to Salt Lake to stay in the shelter at night and earn tax-free money from begging during the day. She expects to get enough so that she and her two daughters can move to live with her grandmother in California whereas they are now stuck with another family member in a neighboring town in Utah. There are as many different stories as there are homeless people of course. Yes, many are crazy and many are feeding various addictions. But the point is this. The surest way to get rid of the homeless in a city is: 1) get rid of the shelters, and 2) get rid of the vast presence of disposable income that draws these people to the city in the first place. (If you are wondering, I gave this nice person $5 because she talked so freely and at length and gave up alternative income streams during this time.)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 06:08:27 +0000
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