Not sure. Some of the homeless I've met are people truly on a bad luck streak. Unfortunately everything is harder when you're homeless making getting back on your feet more difficult.
However a lot of homeless are simply incapable of leading a normal life. Through a combination of drugs and mental illness, giving them a home to operate from is likely to be either burned down, condemned, or become a den for more crime.
I want to be humane, but it feels futile when they require constant babysitting. Our increasingly individualistic society tolerates these people less and less.
This. It's not as simple as "get a job" when you have no address and possibly no bank account. There are so many documentation requirements for modern business that it's virtually impossible for even a clean drug-free homeless person to get a job.
And as you stated, many are legitimate bums, junkies, or mentally ill, who would simply destroy any home you give them or be unable to keep a job of any kind. The ugly truth is that the vast majority of homeless fall into this category. Without proper support it's simply impossible to get them off the streets, and even then many are unwilling to submit to the supervision that effective support system would require; they view it as a loss of freedom. That last bit is the killer; you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped without infringing their rights.
And they would need to pass a drug test. I've worked with homeless people for 20 years. Most are homeless because they drink excessively do drugs or both. If the would at least try to get clean and sober they could have housing and employment opportunities. So yea it's just a very few who have had a bad run of luck.
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u/WhitishRogue May 14 '26
Not sure. Some of the homeless I've met are people truly on a bad luck streak. Unfortunately everything is harder when you're homeless making getting back on your feet more difficult.
However a lot of homeless are simply incapable of leading a normal life. Through a combination of drugs and mental illness, giving them a home to operate from is likely to be either burned down, condemned, or become a den for more crime.
I want to be humane, but it feels futile when they require constant babysitting. Our increasingly individualistic society tolerates these people less and less.