Why Is Homelessness Not a Problem?

Homelessness is Not the Problem Homelessness is Not the Problem | In this video, Rosanne Haggerty suggests that homelessness is not what we should be focused on. Load video

First, let me begin by stating that I am a firm believer that homelessness is a problem. I think that, when homeless, people suffer. From being homeless myself, I know firsthand how being homeless is miserable.

But some reasons exist for why homelessness is not problem. These reasons, (though none enough convincing to abandon attempts to solve homelessness immediately,) are persuasive enough to consider.

Thus, here are the 4 most significant reasons why homelessness is not a problem:

4) BEING HOMELESS IS NOT THAT BAD

While homelessness may not be desirable, it is not a problem because it is tolerable.

To illustrate, if I have a toothpaste stain on my black shirt but have no choice but to wear the shirt to work, while the stain is undesirable, if I can tolerate it enough to work with it on, then the toothpaste is not a problem. The toothpaste stain on my shirt is simply not that bad.

Homelessness is the same way.

While it may be something undesirable to have or go through, homelessness is not an intolerable problem. So being homeless is not that bad.

people don't need homes

The first reason why homelessness is not that bad is that people don't need homes. People do need not to live in a modern home to survive and live comfortably. When I was homeless, I actually enjoyed many aspects of it. A person needs only warmth, food, and a place to remain to live well. So long as these three needs are met, homelessness is not a problem.

Not having electricity is of course a problem. Not having a place to shower and get a glass of water of course is a problem. But after one adapts to the situation of homelessness, as our prehistoric ancestors did, homelessness is not that bad. It only becomes a problem when one has no way to keep warm, eat, and remain outside.

the homeless rarely starve

Plus, the homeless rarely ever starve. If the homeless need food, they can go to non-profit organizations in almost every big city. Many governments offer food assistance to the impoverished as well. I was never hungry when I was homeless. And I earned not a dime. So the homeless are not always hungry. Most of them are well taken care of.

As for the other two necessities: warmth and a place to remain - without those, homelessness is, admittedly, intolerable.

Staying warm

Especially in regions where temperatures drop below freezing, it can be difficult for the homeless to stay warm. Further exacerbated in areas in which homeless shelters are full, staying warm and not dying from hypothermia can be challenging.

lacking a place to remain

In addition to lacking a way to stay warm in some regions, the homeless also sometimes lack a place to remain. Aiming to end homelessness in their communities, some cities make it illegal for the homeless to live outside. They enforce laws that target the homeless indirectly. They, for example, illegalize public camping so that the homeless cannot pitch a tent anywhere in the city.

In cities like these, homelessness is an intolerable problem. It is an intolerable problem not because the situation of homelessness itself is intolerable, but because in these cities the homeless lack a place to remain. They are constantly being harassed by law enforcement for having no "adequate shelter" to lie their head in.

But people living outside are not that bad. Homelessness is not an intolerable problem that society must eradicate. Laws that criminalize homelessness are wrong because they negatively impact the homeless in an attempt to please society.

when homelessness is not that bad

Homelessness is not that bad when a person has warmth, food, and a place outside to remain. In warmer regions of the world, in regions where non-profit organizations offer food donations to the homeless and the government offers food assistance, so long as homeless people are given a place outside to remain, homelessness is not a problem.

3) HOMELESS PEOPLE WANT TO BE HOMELESS

Because homelessness is not that bad, homelessness is also not a problem because many people want to be homeless. So long as they are warm, well-fed, and able to remain somewhere outside, to some people, homelessness is even enjoyable. The main reason why they do is freedom from rent.

freedom from rent

One of the luxuries of sleeping outside is not paying the rent. Some people prefer not paying rent so that they need not worry about work. Not working provides additional time for relaxation and hobbies.

Oftentimes, the reason why our greatest goals are never accomplished is that we let work and other responsibilities get in the way. Some people desire to be a better musician or to write a book, for example. But these goals take time, and working to pay the rent steals time away from us. So some people prefer to be homeless to pursue goals and passions.

In short, homelessness is not a problem because some people choose it. They do so to free up time to pursue things that a job would normally get in the way of.

2) HOMELESSNESS IS GOD'S WILL

A will is a want of an existence of a thing, place, state, or idea. So to will, something is to want its existence of it. For example, if Josh wills that all people eat chocolate ice cream, then Josh wants all people to eat chocolate ice cream.

Because God is all-powerful and could change anything that he wanted, if homelessness exists, it must be because God wills it. For if through God anything is possible, if God didn't will homelessness, then He would make homelessness non-existent. But homelessness does exist. Therefore, homelessness must be God's will.

Further, because God is infinitely wise if anything in the world exists, and because it exists God wills it, then whatever exists must be good. (The good of the situation of homelessness existing may just not be clear to us because we are not as wise.) Thus, because homelessness exists it must be good, and if it is good, homelessness is not a problem.

When homelessness is God's will

But homelessness may not always be God's will. Perhaps homelessness exists but God does not want it, and is not repulsed enough by it to end it. Or perhaps to God homelessness is not as bad as it seems to us. It may even, perhaps, be good for God's aims. Whatever those aims may be.

why homelessness is God's will

Maybe God's will is to create excellent people and homelessness, being that it is a challenge that one must overcome, complements God's plan. Or maybe God does not want homelessness at all, but he allows it to exist because he wants others to learn how to help the unfortunate.

Thus, homelessness is not a problem, because God, perhaps, wills it. But that doesn't mean that homelessness ought not to be solved.

1) HOMELESSNESS IS NATURAL

The final reason why homelessness is not a problem is that it is natural. A state is natural when it exists in nature without being created. For something to be natural, it exists by God, but it cannot be created by anyone else.

For example, trees are said to be natural. The reason is trees exist independently of creation by anyone else but God. Thus, trees are natural because they exist independently of anyone but God creating them.

The reason why anything natural is not a problem is that if it is natural then God creates it, and if God creates it then it is good. Of course, something that is good cannot be a problem. Thus, anything that is natural is not a problem.

who homelessness is natural to

Homelessness is natural to all of us, to all inhabitants of the earth. All animals, for example, live naturally without wooden homes with electricity and running water. Even Adam, the very first man created, lived somewhere that probably did not resemble a modern apartment. Homelessness is natural to every living being that walks the earth.

where homelessness is natural

Of course, homelessness may not be natural on every planet or place in the universe. If God intended all people to live in homes in Heaven, then homelessness would be unnatural there. If that were the case, of course, we could say that in Heaven homelessness is a problem. But on earth, because it is natural, homelessness is not.

Thus, anytime someone is homeless on earth it is not a problem. Homelessness, no matter when it occurs, because it is natural, is okay.

In short, homelessness is not a problem because it is natural. It has existed since the beginning of Time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It might be said that homelessness is a problem though. It is a problem because the homeless suffer. They suffer from not having shelter. Not having shelter, homeless people are often miserably cold or hot. They do not even have showers to bathe themselves.

To that I'd say, while it is true that many homeless people do indeed suffer, they suffer from not being able to keep warm in the winter or cool in the summer, showering is not an essential human activity. We, as modern citizens in wealthy nations, are so used to having the luxury of a warm shower that we forget that many people in the world live without one each day.

Plus, a warm shower is a rather new luxury to have. For most of human history, people lived without showers and did just fine. They bathed in running rivers or lakes or with a bucket of water that they'd pour over their bodies.

So while in some regions the homeless do suffer, people do not need showers, and they have always suffered from the cold. Thus, at least in these ways, homelessness is not a problem. It is not, at least, an intolerable problem that needs to be solved immediately.

summary

Homelessness is not a problem for four reasons.

First, homelessness is not that bad. Sure, in regions in which temperatures get too hot or cold for comfort is homelessness undesirable, but as long as an individual has food, warmth, and a place to remain, sleeping outside is not all that bad.

Next, homelessness is not a problem because many people choose to be homeless. Being homeless affords one the luxury to work on one's passions and interests rather than on an employer's.

In addition, homelessness is God's will. If it were not, then being as powerful as he is, homelessness would not exist.

Finally, homelessness is natural. Like animals, people naturally live and have lived for thousands of years outside of a wooden home with modern luxuries. Only homelessness seems bad because most of us haven't been it ourselves.

In short, homelessness is not a problem because it is not that bad being it. Thus, some people prefer it, and homelessness is natural and God's will.

conclusion

So the next time you think about homelessness, think "only in circumstances in which an individual lacks food, warmth, and a place outside to remain is homelessness an issue."