A Modest Proposal for the Homeless
by John Lawrence
"A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about dignity. It's about respect. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say everything will be okay. Too many people today can't do that — and it's got to change." So said Joe Biden and I agree. I have made suggestions about the homeless situation before. I'm all in favor of providing shelters, campsites, case managers, homeless outreach, services and public housing. But what none of the solutions offered by others fail to do is to offer the homeless the dignity of a job. There are attempts to hook them up with a job in the private sector, but there are a great many obstacles in the way of that. For instance, a permanent address, a prior work history, lack of skills, lack of a work history etc. So what I would recommend is that the public sector provide the jobs for those who can't connect with a job in the private sector much like the jobs that were provided during the Great Depression in the Civilian Conservation Corps. There are many jobs that the private sector doesn't provide, and there are some jobs that are very necessary but there is no money in it for the private sector. For instance - planting trees. Planting trees is one thing that can be done to ameliorate global warming. It's one thing that anyone can do regardless of prior experience or job skills. It is one thing that many volunteers are actually doing.
I contend that a homeless person who has not been a functional member of the economy and who is virtually unemployable by the private sector could become a functional member of the economy and society again if the work was organized for them. Having a job, just as Joe Biden said, would provide a sense of dignity and meaning to a homeless person's life while contributing vital, necessary work for society. While I'm in favor of providing housing and services for the homeless, my contention is that they would be better off also contributing to society in some way and planting trees or providing other essential but neglected services would be a way to do so. They could also expect a modest paycheck, and it would give them something meaningful to do. Too many homeless people just sit on their butts all day having no meaningful work of any kind and not contributing to society in any way. Even convicts are given training and offered the possibility of a job fighting fires for which they could become full time employees when they have served their time.
There is much work that the private sector does not deem profitable enough to engage in, but, however, would benefit society. Beautifying parks, streets, sidewalks and freeways by planting flowers, shrubs, trees, not to mention picking up trash that litters sidewalks and freeways. Joe Biden said, "It's about dignity. It's about respect." It's also about a sense of accomplishment. It's about doing something good for the planet. It's about filling in the cracks that the private sector isn't willing to do. It's about physical exercise which is essential to physical and mental health. It's about being able to look in the mirror and saying to yourself that you've been a contributor to society and not just a receiver of benefits.
Perfect Opportunity for the Homeless: The American Climate Corps!!!!
