Why does the UNITED STATES have homeless people & staving kids should we help our COUNTRY first?

Answer 1

I think the issue of the homeless and the hungry is more a local issue than a national, after-all, who should be more moved to compassion, the guy sitting in Washington, or the neighbor who sees the person on the street. As far as helping other countries, there is the moral issue, we are not on this planet alone and we do have a responsibility to the rest of the world. But we have to see the practical side also, people who are desperate do desperate things. Terrorism is as much battled by humanitarian efforts as it is by war.

Answer 2

The first part of the question is actually kind of complex. There are a variety of reasons why a person becomes and remains homeless. Some are very mentally ill and have no resources or abilities with which to better themselves. Others were born into poor homes, had "disadvantaged" circumstances (drug use among their parents etc), were poorly educated if at all, and therefore lack the ability to rise out of their lot. Can you imagine having to get out of the streets (first month rent deposit, utilities etc) on minimum wage? Some assistance is available and so some of this second group do rise above their situation.
Others don't want to have anything to do with work in any form. They've found ways to survive, through shelters, living in the woods and "soup lines" and are content to live as "urban outdoorsmen".
The second question is simpler to me. Of course we should help our own people before we try to export or force our ways on others. Rebuild Iraq? How about New Orleans first?

Answer 3

I have heard this argument often, and it generally indicates to me that the person making the argument has never really involved him/herself directly with the issues at hand. I grew up in a poor, rural part of the U.S. Family members and friends would help one another out with food, clothing, etc. when there was a need, but the majority of the people in that part of the country maintain a sort of personal pride which wil not allow them to accept food assistance and the like. I went to school with some very hungry kids who were offered free lunches and breakfasts, and many of them turned down the offer. In the U.S., we DO offer food assistance for starving children. Unfortunately, those programs are often used by people who defraud the system to receive assistance, even though they could live well without assistance. Many states have initiated "work-fare" programs for this reason, because the public backlash against assistance fraud finally reached levels where politicians felt they could no longer ignore their constituents' complaints. The difficulty with such programs seems to be that, when they are administered by our top-heavy, bureaucratically entwined government, they are most appealing to people who look for ways to defraud the system. Community charities seem to do a better job, mostly because they involve people who know their neighborhoods and can identify needs as they arise.

As for homeless people, I have encountered quite a few in my life. Most, but not all of them choose to be homeless. Often this is the result of mental and emotional conditions, and the freedoms our country afords will not allow these people to have treatment forced upon them. I have seen many, many homeless people offered temporary housing, only to refuse it immediately or leave a shelter shortly after being invited inside. For those folks, the best thing all of us can do is try to make sure they are offered food, medical attention and a way to keep warm.

I have also encountered people who are homeless because of some tragic economic impact which left them without a place to live. Most of the folks in this category tend to seek out available assistance (and there is a LOT of it, both government and charity based) and eventually find a way back on their feet.

Answer 4

I hear you. Why do we have homeless people? Well, SOME of them might have run into hard times and lost everything. Maybe a person developed a serious illness, got whopped with a hundred thousand dollars in medical bills, had inadequate medical benifits, fell behind on mortgage payments, credit card bills piled up, the house got repoed, they are on the streets.
And for the person who said they all got a chance to be something, you are ignorant to the plight of the working class people in this country. You must be one who had Daddy pay for college, Daddy pay for this, Daddy pay for that. let me tell you, there are millions of people out there who are only one paycheck, or one illness from living on the streets. could be your brother, could be your uncle, could be the pool cleaner.
We are supposed to be a compassionate, forgiving society, yet, we spit on our neighbors and ridicule them when things go wrong.
Take off the blinders, and look around, you will see the real world.
hope it doesn't scare ya.
Some of the others are homeless Veterans. That is a National tragedy, and disgrace. Americans should be ashamed of themselves. We asked them to serve, and kicked them when they came home. Disgusting.

Answer 5

Yes we should. But:
Its not monetarily beneficial to help those people. Sad but true, if there was money in it the government would right on top of it. If the homeless people were sitting on top of the national oil reserves more people might sit up not turn their eyes away from the problem.
.

And as for guitar chicks comment; you must have lived a pretty sheltered life. Obviously you were given oppurtunity but sadly everyone is not. There are thousands of reasons kids are disadvantaged and cannot achieve the same as those upper class kids. Schools in bad neighborhoods are not the same and do not have the same resources as those in rich neighborhoods. Especially not now that money comes from test scores. If your parents are uneducated and cannot help you or are on drugs or make you work to help the family they have barriers to success as well. Bias from the comunities and from teachers who might have the same attitude as you also put kids at risk for failure when people assume they will automatically fail.

Most Homeless people are mentally ill and this prevents them from living the blessed life you so easily snacthed up with the help of your parents. Many children live with mentally ill parents as well. Illness and injury prevent many hardworking people from feeding their families.

Many parents are called to wars and this traumatizes them for life, effecting their entire families.

Parents die all the time. Tragedy effects families.

Hospital bills become unmanagable. The healthcare system is structured for the rich like everything else.

Its hard for me to believe someone could be so uncaring and callous toward their fellow humans.

GC:Your attitude perpetuates the problem and is really rather sad.

(Im going to make wild guess and say our friend guitarchick is somewhere between 18 and 23 and came from an upper middleclass family and is at college on Daddys money at this moment, oh wait no shes in her condo daddy is paying for relaxing by pool unless she is at the beach in Mexico on her family vacation)

Its not easy to come up fromt he bottom. If you havent worked no one wants to hire you and the advantaged people get all the advantages. Who wants to hire a homeless person?

Answer 6

Yes, we should.
However, our government has divereted taxes that we pay for services for the homeless and to feed impoverished families to programs for Illegal Immigrants to educate their children, begin businesses, then maybe later, they will apply for legal status.
I know that in Lubbock Texas Illegal Immigrants recieve free medical care, but I have cancer and a bad heart, but I don't qualify for help, because of all the cut backs on benefits for American Citizens.
If I were an Illegal Immigrant, I would haul butt the other way.
Americans are in a very bad mood these days.
We have been attacked by Illegal Immigrants, and terrorists, our government, and cities attack us, and they can take our homes and land at their will.
These are the very corruptions that created the American Attitude, and the people are saying they have had enough.
I am more for the non violent approach, and I hope that it will work, but if it doesn't, I fear that it will only anger the American people more.
I am one of those impoverished Americans.

Answer 7

i could say the exactly the same thing about england..but i wont. because which ever country you go to its exactly the same. its the parents responsibilty to feed there children to fetch them up to be hard working adults. for there children and childrens children. america has a higher job rate than england being of course a larger country with 2 times (no doubt) population. even more. so if every one made a effort to go to work then the poverty and homlessness will fall. ok some people may not be as fortunate as others. there are disabled people who would like to work but cannot. people who are haveing financial difficulty. who are finding hard to keep there necks above board its a part of life. and no one can help the people if they dont want to help them selfs.

Answer 8

The US has homeless people because even in acountry where Anyone can reach the highest levels of wealth, most people are to lazy. Also %90-%95 of homeless people are mentally ill and/or hooked on drugs. That is the real reason. They won't even take help when it is offer to them.

Answer 9

'help' is a strange word, because sometimes the right way to 'help' isn't immediately obvious. Some people need a hot bowl of soup, others need a foot in the ***. Which one you are depends on whether or not you're giving forth some semblance of an honest effort of forwarding your own existence. I don't ever expect herculean feats of financial wizardry or incredible works from people of no means, just that they're trying to hold down some kind of employment and not wasting their lives/resources.

Answer 10

if only some americans will work only and not too choosy for menial jobs then there willbe no more homelss and starving children in this country, we hate mexicans or asians that go in this country illegally looking for the jobs we dont want to do but we ewant benefit even dont work for it, we must change our attitude to get rid of hoemlees and straving children