As the old saying goes: “The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions,” and I can’t think of many things that fit that better than the way we as a country handle the problem of homelessness.
I love this country and one of the reasons is because the American people are arguably the most generous people on the planet. Granted, it sometimes takes a disaster like the tornadoes that just hit the Midwest to activate that nationwide generosity, but all in all the American people are ready, willing and able to help others who are legitimately in need of assistance to get back on their feet, whether it’s directly by private donations or through our taxes paying for assistance programs. But the KEY element for most of us is those legitimately needing assistance.
Unfortunately, whenever politicians get involved by using tax dollars to supposedly help people, the problems start to pile up rapidly and the government programs being used to supposedly help homeless people are most certainly in that category.
Talk to any law enforcement officer and ask them what percentage of the homeless population in any given area are drug addicts, alcoholics, severely mentally challenged and/or career criminals, and they will tell you that 50%-plus would fall into one or all of those categories. When you give them prepaid debit cards that renew each month and other public financial assistance, it should come as no surprise that thy have no real incentive or reason to change the situation they are in because they are being paid to stay right where they are.
Economics 101 is pretty clear that when you subsidize something you get more of it, and we need to take a clear, dispassionate and objective look at the way the government is subsidizing all of the problems they claim they are trying to fix.
Rick Barker
Valencia
