Homelessness…a sad but true reality all cities around the world.
Some choose to be homeless but many others are forced there due to unforeseen circumstances.
In many areas across the United States, something once uncommon or unheard of at best, is popping up….Tent Cities.
We have all seen these on specials about Darfur, India and other 3rd world areas that have an excessive amount of homeless.
But now the world is seeing something they do not usually get to witness. Tent Cities in the United States. Places like Sacramento, Reno, Phoenix and even Nashville (ours has been around for years).
This is largely in part due to a lack of facilities and resources to aid the recent homeless and the increases numbers that have come into being over the past year. In many California cities for example, the shelters fill up rapidly leaving hundreds if not thousands out on the streets.
A few facts:
Roughly 10% of the US population is out of work right now…and thank God that seams to have started slowing and declining a slight bit. This does mean that 90% of us can still help.
The bulk of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. One of the leading factors to “middle” class America winding up in tent cities.
Most of the people in Tent Cities want to work but are having trouble finding it. The number is somewhere around 90% who want work.
All this known, what is one thing we could do that would make a difference in their lives? or Keep this from happening to more people?
I don’t think it has to be major…maybe as simple as a bag of food.
Let me know….
I’ll start. Start teaching financial literacy so the “middle” class can avoid these pitfalls. Pass out a copy of Total Money Makeover to someone you think could need the help right now. (my approach comes from prevention) For those already in need….serve at the rescue mission.
What about me?
This is my page and my chance to share with you all the crap I dream up on a daily basis. Here are the simple facts that make up my existence..live in Nashville...avid Hockey fan (one step from face painting), father of a 6 year old (genius child- she takes after me..I mean my wife), husband (I'm pretty sure my wife would kick me out if she could figure out how), and "normal" Christian. What is normal you ask? You tell me. I think I know what normal is but then again, we all think we are the normal ones.
My Favorite Web Sites
Bored Again Christian
Hockey Buzz
Nashville Predators
June 23, 2009 at 12:19 pm
hmmmm. sad indeed!
June 24, 2009 at 12:19 am
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (Old Proverb).
if you have the capacity to offer advice that can help someone prevent them becoming homeless, do what you can to share it with those who may need it.
Concerning your ’stats’ though (10 % – 90%) i’m afraid that is an oversimplification of the real size of the problem.
!0% unemployment does not mean that one in every ten people is unemployed and therefore 9 out of every 10 Americans are in employment.
The figure of 10% is ONLY of those people that have been ‘registered’ as seeking full time employment. It does not count Children of pre-working age, nor adults who have retired. It does not include those in military service or full-time study. it does not include most of the severly disabled or those in hospitals for chronic illnesses.
It does not include ’stay-at-home’ moms or those who are just no longer up to seeking work they can never find and just ‘drop out (like many homeless).
in short – there are VASTLY more than 10 % of Americans who are not ‘employed’ and therefore unable to help those homeless. There are far fewer than 9 out of every 10 Americans who can ‘help’ in this situation – at least financially at any rate – despite the US being the Richest country in the world in terms of money per capita. Because of the ‘aging’ population this situation can only get worse with more people needing to be supported by fewer people actually ‘working’.
George Bush could not see this clearly and ensured during his 8 years in office that America was set on the path to it’s own destruction and poverty through the rising cost of health care and pensions to the retired, simultaneous to the loss of industry to foreign employers and reducing the tax collection.
There is a serious case of inability to see the real situation of and in your country, from the top on down, i feel.
i don’t think any country has found a solution to the same problem of a growing proportion of the population that does not add to it’s productivity, but costs ever more to maintain.
<B
June 24, 2009 at 8:02 am
Unemployment rates are general by nature. Most people in fact do not know that a “0″ unemployment rate is in actuality about 4.5% since 4.5% of people are completely unemployable. Back in my old econ days, it was referred to as basis unemployment. Simply, it is impossible to accurately calculate a real unemployment rate…
The 90% I am referring to are the 90% of employable people currently with employment. Non-basis employment. These are the people who can make a difference.
As for President Bush…I am not a fan either and I think he did a lot wrong int his country. What I will say however is that he was not the cause of this. It goes back way way farther than that. The problem stems from a government that is focused on individual agendas and lobbyists rather than the people that elected them. Regan proved that in tough times taxes should be lowered to stimulate economies which is a tactic Bush failed at miserably due to where he applied it. Fiscal policy for the most part remained fairly bland after Regan and did not adapt. The main cause of the whole situation was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both Government Service Entities that do not fall under traditional or normal regulations. That couple with poor business ethic and a lack to regulate the banking industry, Fannie and Freddie fueled the poor decisions and froze up credit for the most part. The stem of these toxic loans did not come from Bush. They actually came from Clinton who in his term started an act to loan money so that “everyone” could realize the dream of owning a home. It started in 1994 after a meeting with then HUD secretary Henry Cisneros. This forced banks to lend to non-credit worth people to fall within the guidelines of this plan.. It sounded good until all of the toxic assets from loans to people whi could not afford these houses came flooding in under Bush. Bushes fault lies in that his Congress failed to act.
One other thing about American Government most fail to realize. Our President does not make law, legislation or bill. Our Congress and Senate do which is where the mass of our issues lay right now. You can look at some of the policy Obama has tried to enact, (not great policy) and it gets just brutalized and infused with “earmarks” by Congress and Senate and then comes out on the other end completely different than what it started and a whole lot more expensive. Bush may have spent into deficit but so far under Obama (just over 200 days) this administration has deficit spent 4 times that of the entire 8 years under Bush. Yuck!
So, after this complete essay on what ever it was about….our government from basically back in the 70’s till now, with the exception of Regan, all have had a wonderful hand in screwing up the economy. I do not think we are going to fall into depression or collapse by any means, in fact I think we will come out stronger, it will just take a ton of folks getting their heads on straight and electing a new Congress and some intelligent people to do so.
You do know what I mean Love? After all you Aussie’s have had some interesting leadership in the past as well have you not?
Always the love the discussions with you friend…wicked nice!
June 24, 2009 at 8:03 am
OK, that was way to long….
June 24, 2009 at 11:20 pm
not for me!
i accept your valid point about the US congress and legislation and also about my politicians ( but i bet you can’t name one off hand
) I do think though that your congress votes legislation into being (with those ridiculous amendments designed to ’sweeten the deal’ for certain senators or reps) largely along party lines and the Pres is the one who has to take the blame if they also take the glory for the good stuff. The buck stops where?
While no doubt that the idea of ensuring all Americans could live in their own home whether or not they could keep up the mortgage payments has had some negative effects it is a fact that in both your country and mine the private housing sector provides large input of economic wealth into our economies and the idea also put much money circulating..
The real problem with the credit crunch was not so much the people not paying their loans ( this always happens and banks make the appropriate balances to account for it) as the large financial corporations ‘hiding’ the true costs of defaults in CDO’s such that no-one was able to adequately detect or allow for the true size of the debt problem. basically fancy bookkeeping designed to give enormous organisations ‘healthier looking’ balance sheets for the shareholders by making it look like there was no bad debt. (no so-called ‘toxic loans’)
If this had not been done ( or had the government ensured a decent regulatory system was in operation over ’slack’ financial institutions chasing a fast buck) then the credit crisis would have been observed and dealt with in normal economic fashion long before the Sept ‘07 collapse occurred.
The size of the fault is indicated by the effect it has had on the whole world economy since it first ‘broke’.
like Obama, my PM has dug deep into the tax-payer purse to help keep finance flowing in the disastrous economy now being faced as a result and like you my country’s current enormous debt will over double in the next ten years before it is HOPED we can trade our way back into the black.
Unlike previous ‘recoveries’ i am not sure that America will have as large a part to play in it compared to countries like China and India so i don’t think the US will gain as much benefit as in the past. I don’t envy you living where you do – in fact i am somewhat fearful (not for the world – but for Americans; whereas once we might have been more fearful/envious OF them).
Getting back to your point (
) i believe America will have to get used to being much closer than ever before to being a third world nation with scenes like those shown above a permanent and growing feature.
How are the poor of New Orleans getting along four years on after Katrina? Any better than the Indonesians caught in the Tidal Wave of 2006?
June 24, 2009 at 9:55 pm
I’ve always liked the quotation from Lao Tzu: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” So my suggestion would be to reach out and help someone by volunteering as an instructor at a homeless shelter, shelter for abused women, etc., in the basement of a downtown church or community centre, etc., in whatever area you have a little knowledge or expertise.
June 24, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Good idea Carol
i would suggest also ( staying with the ‘prevention/cure’ theme) that there is a STRONG need today for people to help PREVENT people joining the ranks of the homeless/abused as much as to try to help those back into the community. Two decades of having lead a fairly ‘comfy’ life has made many people’s judgement on what a healthy, sustainable, lifestyle is somewhat skewed and few people understand how to manage in tougher times.
Those who have learned the lessons of previous depressions/recessions should be doing what they can to help those neighbours who could soon be joining the growing list of the dispossessed and out of work – they need help as much as those who have already joined the welfare society.
Or things will get much much worse than they are now.
<B
June 25, 2009 at 6:40 am
@love former leader was John Howard who was then succeeded by Kevin Rudd correct? I know my leaders fairly well because I sell Social Studies materials to the school systems so I am probably one of the few who can name them.
and no google here!
I also found John Howard an interesting fellow to watch. Sometimes controversial but always outspoken am I not correct?
What I do not understand and it may be reversed, I am unaware, is the constitutional monarchy ties to the UK. I know the history of it and the constitutional parliamentary ties but that is where I stop. It was somewhere around 1999 when you all had a push to cut the ties but I am unaware if it ever took place. Lost track.
June 25, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Dang – i lost my bet!
You are indeed correct and are, i believe, one of the ‘few’ who could actually name more than one Aussie PM without using google or Wiki 
( oustide of Aus that is).
Howard and Bush had a love affair – Bush referred to Howard as ‘a man of steel’ and that he was a close personal friend who he considered very loyal. Over here Howard was referred to as Bonsai by some – he was like a little Bush!
Howard was a pollie you either loved or loathed, it was hard to find a middle ground with him – very stubborn and uncompromising ( which is good if you are always correct but not so good when your views do not represent even half of the population of a country and are it’s leader).
has it been 10 years already? i guess it has but it seems less since Australia was almost given the chance to become an independent republic and not have the ‘constraint’ of being tied to Britains Apron strings.(even if only in terms of a mostly symbolic titular head of state who does not live in this country and who is not a citizen of it).
John Howard and his huge ego was responsible for ensuring that the will of over 70% of the voting population was denied it’s preferred option of becoming a republic with a citizen as it’s president.
How? Through the time honoured method of all leaders – divide and conquer.
His simple technique was to rig the decision beforehand by not allowing the question ‘do you want Australia to become a republic? to be asked ( to which almost 3 out of every 4 Australians would have shouted a loud “YES!!” – a fact he as well aware of). Instead HE chose the question as being: “Do you want Australia to become a republic with a President chosen by the Parliament ( =Congress)”
There had been a lot of public debate BEFORE the referendum question was selected by Howard over exactly what type of republic we should adopt if we did ( effectively putting the cart before the horse) and opinion was split roughly 50/50 ( making each camp effectively around 35% of the total population – roughly the same as the number who wanted to retain the Constitutional Monarchy system – ie Howards choice). One half wanted to elect the President themselves and one thought it best to let the elected Parliament select the Pres with a 2/3′rd majority choice.
This pre-referendum referendum resulted in the second option very narrowly being selected and when that limited option was voted on unsuprisingly less than 50% of the population wanted it and the referendum was lost as Howard knew it would be.
Now that He and his party are no longer in power there have been a few mutterings about making our country a republic again but the distrust and division the last attempt caused ’so recently’ still lingers and there are considered ‘far more important questions’ of Climate Change and our economy and now the ‘financial Crisis’ to worry about for any serious attempts being made by our elected leeches – sorry politicians.- to revive the Great Debate over a republic for Aus
<B
July 6, 2009 at 2:00 pm
“Bush may have spent into deficit but so far under Obama (just over 200 days) this administration has deficit spent 4 times that of the entire 8 years under Bush. Yuck!”
That is absolutely not true at all. Please get your facts straight before you spew wingnut talking points
The cost of the Iraq war, the Bush tax cuts the bank bailout(happened under Bush) make Obama look like an amateur when it comes to spending.
And you can account about 1/3 of what Obama has spent on things that Bushed passed the buck on.
July 6, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Obama’s spending is out of control and it has been documented. So before you come into my site and refer to me as a wingnut get your facts straight. None of which you provide I might add.
You claim I do not share facts but my dialog was in response to a healthy discussion Love and I were having. No posted or used as material for the actual post and no need for me to provide links.
And next time, please respond with a little respect.