Why is Homelessness a Problem?

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Homelessness is the state of lacking permanent, regular, and adequate housing. A problem is a situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful. So to puzzle, "why is homelessness a problem?" is to wonder why the state of lacking permanent, regular, and adequate housing is unwelcome or harmful. Homelessness is a problem for six main reasons.

HOMELESSNESS IS UNHEALTHY

"People who are homeless have higher rates of illness and die on average 12 years sooner than the general U.S. population." - National Healthcare for the Homeless Council

it is unhealthy for the individual

Poor diet, disease, and mental and substance abuse disorders are all often created and or compounded by the stress of sleeping on the streets. The homeless are two times as likely as the housed to suffer from diabetes, hypertension, and heart attacks. They are more than twenty times more likely to suffer from HIV, and hepatitis C.

Without housing, it is also more difficult to recuperate from infections and physical and mental illnesses. Because the homeless cannot maintain proper hygiene, they often suffer from infections. Wounds do not heal properly. Pneumonia and hypothermia are commonly seen in emergency rooms. The homeless lack access to proper medical care so the emergency rooms are where they end up. The picture this all paints is clear; Homelessness is a problem because it poses a health threat to the individual.

homelessness is unhealthy for society

When one is homeless, not a single business in the world will allow them to use their restroom. Park restrooms are closed and locked outside of park hours. Most cities have laws against loitering or sleeping near parks. Thus, when nature calls, what is a homeless person to do?

Public defecation creates unsanitary conditions. Lacking a place to use the restroom, homeless people are often forced to relieve themselves on the street. According to the San Francisco Gate, between ten and twenty thousand instances of public defecation are reported each year. What's shocking is that those are only the incidences that are reported. The fact is that public defecation is a health issue because bodily excrement transmits bacteria and disease.

Thus, homelessness is a problem for both the individual and society because it is unhealthy.

HOMELESSNESS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS EXPENSIVE

In his essay, "Million Dollar Murray," Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of Murray Barr, an alcoholic homeless man who spent most of his days drinking and gambling. Barr, over just 10 years, cost taxpayers one million dollars in emergency room visits and correction facility expenses. While Gladwell's example of Barr is extreme, it illustrates a point: The problem with homelessness is that it is expensive to society.

the expense to taxpayers

A homeless individual costs taxpayers around 35,000 each year. To put that into perspective, the average American earns little more than 50,000 per year. This means that for every three people experiencing homelessness, the average salaries of two working Americans are needed to support them. Reasons for the high cost of homelessness include governmental food assistance, emergency room visits, and government-granted programs geared to end homelessness. So homelessness is a problem because it is expensive to society.

homelessness' effect on sales

Not only is homelessness expensive to taxpayers, but most businesses say it is bad for sales. To make a sale, a customer needs to feel good. That's basic human psychology. Seeing the homeless begging for food does not feel good. So when homeless people are starving in front of the store one is shopping at, shoppers tend to feel less motivated to make purchases.

Its effect on tourism

I once lived in a city with a lot of tourism and every time tourism suffered the city blamed it on homelessness. I suppose officials figured that tourists don't like to be hit up for change so when they saw all the homeless people they left. Regardless of how illogical that is, many people believe that homelessness is a problem because it impacts sales.

HOMELESSNESS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS DANGEROUS

Because the homeless are prohibited to sleep in city streets or parks, where they lay their heads at night are often in places in which wildlife, people, and the environment pose a threat to personal safety.

The Danger of Wildlife

coyotes

When I was homeless with my dog Taz, coyotes scavenged the fields for rabbits every night. I would be just dozing off and then hear something tussling in the bushes. Sometimes it was a bird or a mouse. Other times, it was a family of coyotes, their green, glowing eyes beaming at me through the darkness. I always kept Taz close. But I worried that one night coyotes would attack him while we slept. He was small and white, (a chihuahua, Jack Russell Terrier mix). Thus he looked like a rabbit. That worried me a lot.

snakes

Snakes also make homelessness dangerous. When my dog Taz and I were homeless, we slept right next to dozens of snake holes. It was the only place in the city that cops didn't kick the homeless out of. (Every homeless shelter in the area was full.)

One night my dog Taz went to take a leak and a rattlesnake bit him. First, his foot swelled, then his throat. The vet said there was nothing they could do for him. Taz died because we slept with the wildlife. A snake would have never bit him if we instead slept in a home.

the danger of other people

Not only is homelessness dangerous due to wildlife, but other people can be dangerous as well. One man told my pastor a story of getting bombed by motif cocktails in the middle of the night when he was homeless. Sleeping out on the streets at night is no joke. Other people can be dangerous as well.

the danger of freezing temperatures

Finally, homelessness is dangerous because of hypothermia. About 800 homeless people die each year from it.
Thus, homelessness is a problem because it is dangerous. It is dangerous due to wildlife, people, and the cold.

HOMELESSNESS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS UGLY

Ever heard of beautification projects? These are projects that aim to make the city more beautiful by removing the homeless people who make it ugly.

In her paper, "Urban Makeovers: Homeless Encampments and the Aesthetics of Displacement," Dr. Spear suggests that beautification projects are sometimes attempts by society to drive out the homeless, attempts under the guise of beauty. The implication? Society thinks that homelessness is a problem because it is ugly.

HOMELESSNESS IS BORING AND INCONVENIENT

Homelessness is extremely boring and inconvenient because the homeless have no electronics, no kitchen, and no bathroom.

the issue with electronics

Homelessness is no fun. No electricity means no way to power devices. So no watching Netflix, listening to podcasts or catching up on the latest news. The homeless can't even watch TV. Being homeless is like waiting for the bus. One just sits there, stares into space, and thinks.

the kitchen problem

Besides boring, homelessness is also inconvenient. No stoves or refrigerators exist outside in the cold. Forget about cheesy lasagna or meaty, mushroom spaghetti. Forget about ice cream cake or brownies. With no refrigerator or stove, the homeless are limited to non-perishables like french bread and hot Cheetos.

the no bathroom issue

Also, being homeless means no bathroom as well. The homeless lack a place to shower, shave, and defecate. One might think that the homeless could use park bathrooms, but they are mistaken. How often do you see the homeless washing up in your local park bathroom? Not often. If they're caught, they are told to leave.

HOMELESSNESS IS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS DEPRESSING

When homeless, it can be hard to get out. For the same reasons that make homelessness boring and inconvenient, getting a job can be nearly impossible. No phone or internet device means no filling out job applications. It also means no way for an employer to request an interview. Lacking a bathroom makes it hard to maintain hygiene. How in the world is an unbathed, unshaven man or woman going to get hired without proper hygiene? This is very depressing because it feels like no way out of one's situation exists. Once homeless, it feels like one will remain homeless forever. That can be very depressing.

BUT HOMELESSNESS IS ALSO A SOLUTION

Homelessness is often the result of the problems just mentioned, not the problem itself. Being without a home is not necessarily problematic. Homelessness can be more of a solution. It can be a solution because of the time it gives the person.

Homelessness as a solution to time

Homelessness can be a way out of a terrible job, for instance, because the individual need not pay rent while seeking the dream job he or she wishes for.
Choosing homelessness can be a way for a person to pursue hobbies that the time spent working never allotted. For example, many people wish they had the time to learn how to play the guitar or develop skills as a painter.

Homelessness offers time to experience nature, marvel at its beautiful essence, and ponder its hidden mysteries. Ordinary people rarely get to experience nature for what it is. They never get to see the way the vast array of beautiful reptiles, insects, and mammals that inhabit the wildernesses outside the cities live. But homeless people do. They live with nature. That can be a solution to the deception of the "isness."

homelessness as a solution to the "issness"

The "isness" is the current way that things are, the current way of reality. Most people take too little time to question or challenge. Reality presents itself as just the way that things are and so it's easy to not see things for the way they could be. Never seeing the world for the way it could mean never seeing the world for the way it should be.

The problem with the "issness" of society is that the current way that things are, is not the way that society ought to be. Society is like a cold machine that is powered by selfishness, economics, and greed. Becoming homeless and stepping out of the economy for a moment, suspending attempts to perpetuate the cold machine's programmatic motion, the homeless get a chance to see life for what it truly is: An existence that is independent of a job, money, and living in homes. A life that is perfectly beautiful to just exist in.

SO WHY END HOMELESSNESS?

We should end homelessness because it is a problem and a problem by definition is something that ought to be overcome. Homelessness should be overcome because health, abundance, safety, beauty, entertainment, convenience, and happiness are all hindered by the state of homelessness. Most importantly, we should end homelessness because it causes suffering.

Conclusion

Homelessness is an issue because it is unhealthy, expensive, dangerous, ugly, boring and inconvenient, and depressing. It is unhealthy for both the individual and society. To the individual, poor diet, disease, and mental and substance abuse disorders are all reasons. Lacking a place to use the restroom, the homeless are often forced to relieve themselves on the street. This makes homelessness a health problem for society.

Homelessness is also expensive to taxpayers. Businesses believe that it loses sales. City governments say it negatively impacts tourism. Additionally, homelessness is dangerous because wildlife, people, and freezing temperatures pose a threat to safety.

Beautification projects are sometimes attempts by society to drive out the homeless under the guise of beauty. They see the ugliness of homeless encampments as a problem. Moreover, homelessness is boring because an individual has no way to charge electronics. It is inconvenient because one has no kitchen or a bathroom to use. Finally, homelessness is depressing because once homeless, it is difficult to get out.