I feel bad at this point to admit this but for years I was filled with empathy and would gladly try to help anyone homeless or in need. On several occassions I did fund raisers at a prior business and led donation bins. WOW…..how life experience and the current environment have changed me to the core. I have done a complete 360..haha, Am i just jaded, an asshole, or am i right?
We did five years time (lol) down on Prairie….more like rented a commercial location in a shopping center. Fantastic people around the houses in that area …but unfortunately droves of “affordable housing and apartments” abound. With that affordability comes homeless and near homeless and you get a quick lesson in reality. For me…my reality was realizing 99% of these people are living this way as a choice and truly have no responsibility in their life. No one to push them to be better or punish them when they do wrong. For some reason as a society we have let this become “normal” and “accepted” and have many actually advocating for this.
Somehow I went from being a supporter and believing you could “help” many of these people to truly despising the homeless lifestyle. Everytime I travel to South Colorado Springs off Nevada I wonder if I am in a third world Country and also wonder how does this supposedly “top rated” City just “ignore” this problem. There are literally homeless and vagrants coming out of the bushes for miles. Mind you this is an area that over 250+ million dollars was spent to “revitalize”…LOL….this area is VERY crazy to see in real time. This is just one area example…you don’t have to travel far to find more as Aurora and downtown Denver has some sections as well. How did this problem become so big and what is fueling it?
Lets just be honest and straight forward….I will piss many people off that read this but I truly believe what is fueling this is money. How Money? All the “non profits”, drug rehab, hospitals, housing grant centers, & agencies are making millions and millions off this public disaster. Who wouldn’t want to advocate for this issue when you as a business rely on the problem to only get worse? This is really at the heart of the issue…and you could argue the same problem in the medical field…you don’t truly want to “heal” someone when the only way you profit is to keep them sick. (but I won’t go down that rabbit hole). So for me….cut off all the money and make this way of life illegal and the problem will disappear. Sounds so simple.
This is not a difficult fix and yet the problem only gets worse. I saw first hand that the majority of the people living homeless don’t have any reason to change. It really is a good life for many…think about it. No responsibilities, free everything from cell phones to food, cash tax free earnings, & nothing to lose. And yet our Governments and local leadership just keep giving cash and fueling the fire instead of ending the problem. Why is this a massive problem? You are literally losing businesses from this issue. The politics in America are so crazy right now that no one will go after this full speed ahead and end it.
At the heart of the “problem” isn’t the feces on the sidewalk or the tent under the bush or the crazy old man with no pants and his junk hanging out…..these unmitigated folks are chasing away customers and foot traffic from businesses that rely on their area to be clean and rodent free. Now that we have moved we have had 200+ customers tell us they “don’t go to that area” (prior location)…so they never patronized our prior location. Think of how this affecting all the hard working innocent business owners just trying to keep the lights on and don’t even realize how much business they are losing because leadership sucks. Somehow priorities have gotten completely turned around in certain States.
I now have a solid belief that in America you should have an ID, an address, & be a contributing member of society. If you don’t check those boxes you get moved to a “facility” or incarcerated. This problem would just disappear…you wouldn’t actually have to enforce more than a few hundred people on this as all the rest of these supposed “down and out” people would “all of a sudden change”. Stop enabling and start enforcing. The problem is simply ridiculous at this point. Cut off the money…cut off the empathy…Move forward.
Many will cringe or disagree with the above…but in my opinion that is just because you haven’t “lived it” or seen the majority of the issue first hand. You shouldn’t have a “right” to impact someone’s business and life in America because you choose to homeless…and that is the core argument. Are homeless a Profit Token? Entitled Citizens? or Truly in Need? The debate may go on forever…I have a feeling how the majority of hard working people feel at this point….but if you keep the money flowing nothing will change. Alex…What is a Profit Token?
