"By order of the Chief and the Council, every home and warehouse and shop, any building that could hold a person, was filled with the overflow of refugees. All food had gone into a common store, and the town gave a grudging ration out of the kitchens it had taken over." (p. 129)
This can be done during a war or other emergency but what constitutes an emergency? It is a matter of priorities. Why are there homeless people and empty buildings in Britain now? I spoke to a homeless man who said that he had a place in a "squat," an illegal occupation of an empty building. Sheila bought a sleeping bag for a homeless young woman who said that she would pass it on to someone else if she herself got a place in the Night Shelter. People of goodwill help the homeless but why is anyone homeless? A relevant question at any time and also at Christmas.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
There are so many complicating factors and reasons for why a person might be homeless. One being that some people are unable, due to mental illness, to take care of themselves. And other reasons, of course.
Sean
Sean,
Of course but helping them could be prioritized more.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And that will come with its own complications, costs and trade offs. Are we to FORCE mentally ill persons, to name a clear example, to let other people help them? Even if these sick persons don't want to be helped?
Sean
Sean,
No. The Housing Action volunteers find that some do not want help but they must at least be offered it.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, assistance should be at least offered to such persons. And you can try to PERSUADE them to accept assistance, but not force it on them.
Sean
Kaor, Paul and Sean!
Aside from the mentally ill, there are people homeless because of low wages and high housing costs. Regulations and tax tax codes that make it expensive to construct buildings and cheap to hold land on speculation are at leas5 partly to blame for these problems. I have fulminated about this before, I know.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Nicholas,
Thank you. Please fulminate more. Some problems could be better addressed even within the present set of social and economic arrangements. I hope and believe that better arrangements can be made in future. Education and technology should be on our side.
Paul.
Kaor, Nicholas!
I agree, burdensome taxes and crushing regulations too often gets in the way of reasonably priced new housing being built. As for speculation, I would argue that it's precisely these taxes and regulations which makes it profitable for speculators to game the system. Lower taxes and fewer and more reasonable regulations would lessen the incentive for such speculation.
Regards! Sean
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