Comments by "JLH" (@Kyarrix) on "Living Homeless in the Desert" video.

What are you saying? That if somebody is not clean and sober they don't deserve to have a home? There are.plenty of people from wealthy backgrounds who are frequently drunk or use drugs but never have to worry about a roof over their heads. Understand, I am not pro drugs or alcohol. But it's worth considering whether we as a society want to take the position that using drugs or alcohol precludes assistance, that having a roof over your head is contingent on perfect behavior, that any poor choice a person makes will define them forever. I have not met a person yet who hasn't made a few poor choices in their life. I've lived in two other countries. Both provide health care for everyone and in the event of homelessness, shelter. No one has to be without basic medical care or a roof over their head. If a society is sufficiently wealthy that should be the baseline. It's also cheaper. We spend a tremendous amount of money administering social welfare programs. There is an entire bureaucracy involving hundreds of thousands of employees. Providing health care, basic housing and assistance without all of the bureaucracy is cheaper. Cheaper and healthier for us as a society. People like those in the video have different reasons for finding themselves homeless. Some are veterans with PTSD. We thank people for their service but don't take care of them afterwards. There are the victims of horrific childhood abuse. Medical emergencies without health insurance, job loss, spousal abuse, there are so many bad things that can happen. Each one of us makes poor choices but the cost can be very different. If you're wealthy with good connections a poor choice or even a series of poor choices can be be made to disappear. If you are already poor or struggling though, if you have PTSD, been abused, don't have enough money in the bank or people to support you, if a thousand different things, you could end up homeless.
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@johndough6982 No one is poor or homeless by choice. A lot goes into making a person do what they do. Having a vice does not equate to choosing to be homeless. I think you may be misunderstanding on purpose. You don't know the backstory of every person in that shelter. You don't know what happened to them, what caused them to take up what you would call a vice. A healthy, happy, well adjusted person doesn't make a decision to start injecting heroin. People are resilient, by the time someone is homeless they have frequently been beaten down by life to the point that they give up.
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@johndough6982 I disagree. People make poor choices everyday. The issue is when you don't have money or a support system to bail you out. I'm not going to demonize a veteran with PTSD If they turn to alcohol and become an alcoholic because the system didn't offer them enough support. That's a systemic problem. People are different, some are stronger and more resilient. Your perspective, that only the strongest and most resilient, those who make the best choices deserve help is wrong. It is bereft of compassion and any understanding of human nature.
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