The politicians and leaders have failed to protect the sick and poor. When a problem becomes so large in scale, the only answer is to change the system. The homeless problem will change, only when society changes.
Does our society want to help the homeless? Most peoples experience with the homeless consists of handing them spare change, or avoiding eye contact with them on the bus. If you drive a car to work, you probably will never have to interact with one. Why should you care? The truth is sad. Most of us are so self involved. We are so concerned about our own lives; we just don't have the time to deal with someone else's problem.
The majority of the population makes just enough money to live. How can they afford to support thousands of homeless people? The average individual income in Canada is about thirty thousand dollars a year. The average price of a home in Vancouver is about five hundred thousand dollars. The average, healthy, working Canadian, can't afford a mortgage to buy a home. There are a lot more homeless in this society than you think. More of us are closer to becoming homeless than we would like to admit.
The homeless are viewed as beggars and thieves. Most homeless people are mentally ill and cannot work. The only way to survive on the streets is to beg or steal. The welfare system is failing. Welfare provides just enough money to support a drug or alcohol habit, or at best live a meager existence. The system treats these people with little respect. If you, or I had to live off the poverty paycheck handed out once a week. We too would start to feel hopeless. Living in poverty is a horrible experience, it cannot be explained, or discussed in a short essay. Only those who have been there can understand. Imagine what it means, to go days without food, to sleep on the cold sidewalks and to dig through garbage for empty cans. The rich politicians, who create the social systems of our society, are in no position to solve this problem, because they don't understand it. This epidemic is growing in cities all over the world. There are more people living on the streets than ever before.
The lack of compassion and care for the poor and sick people of our world, country, city, or community is a wake up call. We must begin to look at, and analyze these social problems. The time has come for us as individuals to demand our politicians, and community leaders, to make the changes necessary. If we care about ourselves, then we need to care for others. We are all connected. We can change society, and we can provide help for the poor and sick in our community.
