Jul 16 2009
Government My Arse - We Pay Them to Decide This Way?
I took a few days off from writing, my spirit was in need of some management - we have all been there. During those days I was thinking over any number of topics. The one I found to be most of a pressing issue is one I have heard mentioned from time to time in passing commentary. The issue is about why there are starving and homeless North American families - and why our governments spend all types of monies on non-essential services yet these people are not always taken care of. Is the government not elected to take care of its people? Are those that are able to pay their taxes of importance and regard, while those that cannot fend for themselves are not?
The government is supposedly acting in the best interest of all people and can spend millions of our dollars a year on things such as preparing to send spacecrafts off to God-knows-where, saving businesses that have already lost the fight once, spending more money than warranted on government wages across the board, spending millions on military issues - much of this in aid of other lands than ours, and investing in many other services less important than maintaining quality of life for individuals needing help most in our countries (U.S. and Canada). Are these other costly issues so much more pressing than our own peoples welfare?
If you look at the rates of homelessness in North America now, it’s heart-wrenching. Whereas for a few years the rate of homelessness in the U.S. has remained at a consistent rate, within this apparently consistent number there is a larger percentage of families than ever before. This means that there are more children involved than ever.
I tell you that this makes me angry. You see I worked hard all of my life, now I have come to a place where I can no longer hold a regular job. My husband and I have come close to losing our home on a number of occasions; so for me it is a case of ‘if not for the grace of God there go I.’ Our governments should not be able to commit this travesty. It is not civilized and we need to express outrage. There are many literally living in shanties or cardboard boxes and eating out of trash cans. It could be you on the other end one day. Wake up and do something.
I see the U.S. government began correcting the situation there, yet they have a long way to go. This must be recongnized as being the priority that it is. If it were you or I, we would not expect ever to have to spend one effing night in a cardboard box because there was no housing available. The entire system that takes care of these individuals needs much more funding than it receives in your nation and in mine (Canada). In Canada they haven’t truly addressed homelessness, you can’t even find true statistics on it yet.
I am not talking about funding well enough to simply keep them housed, I am talking about correcting all related issues. For Christ’s sake, is it not a benefit to have more programs enabling these people to educate themselves? The government should also deal with related issues - such as offering daycare for those that cannot otherwise attend to their education because of children, pay to have their medical needs completely attended to, and have their food and clothing supplied too. The funds allocated to address this issue so far appear only to scratch the surface.
Mr. Stephen Harper, Mr. Barack Obama, please do something, people are starving out there… It is time to tear down some glass houses my friends, this is an outrage - those living in boxes are your brethren! I must stop writing now as my heart weeps, this is wrong, as well as unimaginable in civilization. We don’t want to ease this problem, we need to eliminate it altogether.
P.S. I just did some figuring to see what good 1.5 billion dollars directed at this issue is likely to be. Imagine, the least possible amount of people in the U.S. that could be considered homeless is 664,000 people. This apparently does not include the homeless that stay with relatives and people that are forced to live in unaffordable housing to avoid living on the street. So if you take 1,500,000,000 and divide it by that minimum possible 664,000 people - That is how much good it is going to do… The end figure for those that don’t like calculators is $2259.03 per individual. Not good.
Canadian article on homelessness
This does seem “unfair” when you look at other things money is being spent on and I do see people sleeping under bridges as well as lining up for free meals (I mean long lines). It’s distressing to say the least!!! You have to wonder about who sets priorities in the spending of money and what the standards are for allocation.
sorry - I forgot to say welcome back - I did miss you - hope things are ok with you.
Aye, and when one focuses on it it becomes painful too…
As for the second comment, I fully appreciate your saying that… Very kind of you!