How many of you saw last night's Oprah show about increasing homelessness in the US? What has economic reform offered so far for the homeless and near homeless?
So far the stimulus package has provided funds to keep many workers from being laid off, and it creates jobs that people can apply for. But so far there has been no action, on the scale of Roosevelt, to make sure that there is a safety net of work for anyone who wants it. There needs to be a way that people who want to work can sign up and start earning a salary in some time of work suitable for their skills.
The Republicans want to talk about "eneitlement reform." We should be talking, instead about safety nets. The word "entitlement" is derived from the word "title," which refers to the European concept of "titled nobility," the idea of privilege accruing to a particular group of people. The concept of title has been turned around 180% and leveled at the needy, implying the negative phrase, "why do you think you should be entitled to..."
Democrats should not be using the word "entitlement." We should be talking about the need for a safety net. I would like to hear more from the Congress and the administration about proviswion of safety need and providing work to the homeless and near homeless, anyone who wishes to sign up for work.
The other problem is the hiring system. With HR people screening out anyone with a gap on a resume, or anyone older or with a health problem, and with HR checking people's credit, people will find it increasingly difficult to find work unless they are young, athletic cheerleaders from a rich family (i.e. with perfect credit). If real people, not just people who look perfect on paper or in an interview, are not put back to work, the homelessness situation will not improve.
I would like to give another example. A homeless man in a California town gives out newsletters produced by the homeless in the community. One day I started talking to him while he was standing on the corner giving out newspapers. He mentioned that the homeless were doing "recycling," i.e., getting materials out of bins and trash cans and taking them to the recycling center. I told him that this was work and I asked why can't these homeless be hired to work for the recycling center. The problem is the ubiquitous epithet, "homeless mentally ill." We read these words so often that we begin to think of the two concepts as a pair. But why should the mentally ill be excluded from work? If they are doing recycling already, aren't they qualified to work full time at the recycling center? One of the problems today is that employers are becoing increasingly narrowminded, and in order to remedy unemployment, the hiring system has to change.