When I first became a police officer we had a dozen or so people who lived outside. Fifteen years later, with a good economy, we had hundreds. What changed? The government started subsidizing bums. A lot were getting SSI for "permanent emotional disabilities." For awhile, being a drunk or a junkie qualified you for SSI, as long as you didn't clean up. I think they changed that and now the drunks and junkies have to see a psychologist who will, for two of your SSI checks, give you a permanent emotional disability. All got food stamps. Some had Medicaid cards. Our city, after the Californians arrived, kept building homeless shelters that were basically for visitors from other places.
I was taking a guy to jail one night and I said, "You're young, educated, and still have your teeth. Why don't you quit drinking, get a job, and have a life." His response was, "Oh, man, if I quit drinking I'd lose everything." He listed what he would lose, starting with his SSI, and went on down through subsidized housing. Can't quit drinking or he'd lose all of it.
When times are hard some people try to make ends meet but the government stops them. Remember the woman near Houston who dared to sell home-made tamales? She got a $700 fine delivered by post card and an order to stop. A young couple in our town were cutting lawns and they were forced to stop, too. No business license, no landscaper's license, no sales tax permit. Working in the U.S. isn't easy and the government doesn't like it.
It's a lot easier to be a bum when someone if giving you a bed to sleep in, food to eat, free medical care, and cash to buy your favorite drug.
