The Criminalization of Homelessness
How Did I Become a Criminal?
Mindset shift, building blocks of life destroyed, a life well intended and planned, stopped in its tracks, not by drugs, not mental illness, but by the unplanned, now a criminal, how
Introduction
Cannot face or deal with or solve the problem, so what do we do instead, throw shade. Play the left hand keeps you occupied so that you do not notice what the right hand is doing game. We will not face the truth of the root of homelessness so dodge it and make them criminals
It used to be that we could hide behind the stereotypes and labels and the like for the homeless and just call them bums, but now it is auntie, grandpa, the chef, the executive, so now what do we do. However, even this is not the end, the government has pulled a hat trick on us, they are mixing in a weighty ingredient. The illegals among the Americans, to make it hard to discern the real from the fake.
The body of laws that impact the homeless are called “Quality of Life,” laws, quite ironic because the laws mean those that have lost everything are now assured of even less quality in their lives and promised only jail. They have no quality and no protection, and no help and little hope.
Let’s look at His word as we start today
Matthew25:
the King will answer them and say to them: “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it unto Me”
What say you…
It is them, not us, it is those people, not us, it happens to them when they do this or that, we don’t suffer or struggle like they do, the wrecking ball is about to land on old mindsets
Billy, Bob, Joe, they brought this on themselves, Jane and Sue, they did not do what they needed to do to prevent this, it is not our fault, life simply caught up with them, they need to just deal with it
This Was Not My Life Plan….
We, the comfortable, employed, retired, housed Americans are too familiar with the old stereotypes of the homeless, the bums, derelicts, addicts and mentally, so comfortable that we cannot accept the new norms that are emerging now
The recession back in the 1980’s started the unsettling, then 2008’s crash came, then the Pandemic of 2021, the world, American got turned on its head, and suddenly there was a whole new crop of homeless. This group was elderly, educated, once well employed, trained, and skilled, but life slapped them hard, and the economy took them out
Almost overnight Quality of Life became Quality of Life Crimes that this new group had to deal with that made them afraid, frightened, and unable to find their balance again, nowhere to sleep, eat, change their clothes, shower, rest,, they are now criminals for trying to stay alive
Jails Built Faster Than Homes
Construction is going up everywhere we look, large sites and small sites, however, the projects are not what is needed in America right now. These projects are mostly higher income and higher class, ignoring the critical need for affordable housing and lower income housing. Secondly, they are tearing down single-family home neighborhoods to build these unaffordable high-rise projects
Other construction projects going on in many locations and states were larger and more complex jail structures, why, the overall uptick in crime nationwide, but also the trend toward making the homeless criminal, they need warehousing somewhere, if not in an apartment than a jail cell. Yes, the homeless immediately become criminals upon becoming homeless, who would have thought that would be possible in America
Now let me be critically clear, some homeless are criminals and need to be in jail, period. However, when you start putting them in jail for sleeping, eating, resting, receiving money, and sharing food, this is where the overuse of jails is a true problem. An increasing majority of today’s homeless are the result of the economy and pandemic of just a few years ago and are not recovering well if at all
Not In My Back Yard!!
The businessman, the shopkeeper, the million-dollar residence owner, the condo president, none want ‘them’ in their backyard, but they were your neighbor, friend, colleague, and church companion just a few months back why has that changed now that they are homeless…
The patchwork of economic, social, and situational policies is allowing this phenomenon to grow and with its
growth, it is driving the homeless out of the reach of help, and hope. The ability to not become criminals is now nearly impossible. Police intervene and clean up throwing everything away, in their hope of a re-start
There are no shelters, no treatment centers, no mental hospital beds, no assisted living facilities that can keep up with the damage that this broken economy is doing to the low and medium wage earner and disabled and elderly, what are we to do, morally when they fall?
The Laws Keep Coming
There is a Think Tank group I have spoken of before that is leading the charge is seeking to change the landscape of how the homeless are handled and dealt with, one problem is this, they have No long-term solutions or answers, just threats and jails and criminal records
There are several constitutional challenges to the criminal laws that have been passed against how the homeless are treated and handled, and the local governments and even the states are doing what are called work arounds instead of helping the homeless. Cannot ban panhandling, but they tried to ban handing money out the car window, really?
Do not stop walking, do not sit down, do not drop your belongings, do not share food, or try and find a bathroom, do not try and clean up or change your clothes, will be arrested and all your belongings destroyed. Now they have a record, harder to recovery and the paperwork to start over is gone, again
This Will Get Me Sent to Jail
SO, you have lived a fairly good and secure life, but than things changed, and you could not recover from the job loss, the illness, the injury, the loss of a loved one, and you have now lost your housing, you do not even have friends to couch surf with, but outside you are considered jail bait, everything is illegal, everything
Carrying a backpack is like a flashing red light to draw attention to yourself and it tells everyone you are one ’of those’ people. You will be fined, ticketed, even jailed if you stop and complete any task related to attempting to stay alive or rested or clean while living outside, period
I know I sound like a broken record with these statements, but my mindset must be changed. Homelessness has radically changed; shelters are not working and do not have enough beds and it is not merely the mentally ill and addicts out there anymore. If a person who is homeless sits down to rest, they will be fined or jailed, how is this acceptable when the illegals are given FREE everything?
Conclusion
Criminals, we see them on television, hear about them on the radio, but did we think that they could be our banker, chef, teacher, nurses, uncles or grandmother, that is the paradigm shift in homelessness leading to the criminalization of homelessness
Homelessness is ugly, I agree with everybody on that, but when lawmakers’ patchwork a bunch of laws together to complete a work around of the constitution and its protection, that should be a red flag. When we greet and treat illegals with the red-carpet treatment, and allow veterans and Americans to die in jail for being homeless, there is a moral issue that must be faced
CTA…
Answer this,
when do you decide to show compassion and pick food for a homeless person and you are confronted by the police. The officer states you are not allowed to offer them food, what will be your response, looking at their desperate face? Will you comply or will you properly and rightly stand up to help those that cannot help themselves?
Answer this, are you of the NIMBY crows and do not care how hard, far and to what depth the homeless are pursued, chased and jailed, or do you stand in the compassionate crowd. Understanding the catch-22 position of the homeless and standing ready to help as you are able
Turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to the growing, ugly, tough problem is the very easy answer, finding a solution through housing and re-zoning is the rough answer, but if we do not step to the plate now, more will be homeless soon simply due to lack of affordable housing, thus be made criminals
