# The USA now has homeless (tented) communities outside 55 cities? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 13, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701 "2012-02-13T12:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/61 "2012-02-17T14:04:28Z")
Matthew 25: 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Jesus is coming back, and I think he is going to be really pissed. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/62 "2012-02-17T17:31:45Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yeah, yeah, yeah, I keep hearing that: “Poor in America is better than poor anywhere else”. Where do you hear that? ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/63 "2012-02-17T18:02:55Z")
I’m European and I thought that kind of denigrating the U.S. (as in the OP) had subsided a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/64 "2012-02-19T01:54:56Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Where do you hear that? I believe Fox News has made statements to that effect. Didn’t they famously have a graphic that said over 99% of the poor have a refrigerator? Ah yes, they did. [http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201107190025](http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201107190025) ---
**Author:** ![Whambulance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@Whambulance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whambulance)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/65 "2012-02-19T07:51:43Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > There is adequate provision for homeless single people, and there is a statutory duty to house families. These are facts, speaking as a non-hysteric. Statutory duty to house families that don’t see an urgency to work is hastening the demise of your country. And the statutory duty to pay for years of unemployment, welfare, food stamps and medical bills for people who are ‘smart enough’ to accept it rather than join the workforce and earn less will be the demise of ours. Back in the 70s and 80s people would work for a living and if they weren’t able to make ends meet they would find a room mate or 2 and skimp for years until they were able to get through school or put a down payment on a home. These days people are too good for that. They are also too good to live without 150 TV channels, 60 inch TVs and a $90 / month Iphone bill. Take away the incentive to not work and all of a sudden all of these jobs that they say Americans are too good to fill will begin to fill up and the rest of us can go back to paying for our own income. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/66 "2012-02-19T18:29:49Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > Statutory duty to house families that don’t see an urgency to work is hastening the demise of your country. It has nothing to do with whether not not they’re working. How do you imagine the statutory duty works? Since you know enough about it to judge it, enlighten us all as to who is entitled, what kind of home they get, who pays the rent, etc etc. If you don’t know those facts then you don’t know enough to judge. And somehow I don’t think having children live on the street is a _good_ thing for any country. Taking them into care would cost more than housing their parents with them. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/67 "2012-02-19T18:32:48Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > Statutory duty to house families that don’t see an urgency to work is hastening the demise of your country. Children don’t work. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/68 "2012-02-19T19:16:02Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > Statutory duty to house families that don’t see an urgency to work is hastening the demise of your country. > > And the statutory duty to pay for years of unemployment, welfare, food stamps and medical bills for people who are ‘smart enough’ to accept it rather than join the workforce and earn less will be the demise of ours. > > Back in the 70s and 80s people would work for a living and if they weren’t able to make ends meet they would find a room mate or 2 and skimp for years until they were able to get through school or put a down payment on a home. These days people are too good for that. They are also too good to live without 150 TV channels, 60 inch TVs and a $90 / month Iphone bill. > > Take away the incentive to not work and all of a sudden all of these jobs that they say Americans are too good to fill will begin to fill up and the rest of us can go back to paying for our own income. For those of you who are not “too good for it” I would highly recommend you spend a little time volunteering with the Rotary in your local town. Homelessness is an easy hole to get into but hard to climb out of and despite the above claims many of them do have jobs. A large number of them are waiting on you when you go for a Big Mac, emptying your trash at work and maybe even cleaning the sick off of your parents at the nursing home. They may not have made the best life choices but most are not sitting around the pool popping bonbons all day. Many are there due to illness and or the need to escape physical violence. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/69 "2012-02-19T22:41:38Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Homelessness is an easy hole to get into but hard to climb out of and despite the above claims many of them do have jobs. Indeed. Three of my coworkers, people who work fulltime, are currently homeless and living in shelters. Not that any of the people who come in the door would be able to determine that as my homeless coworkers have good hygiene, don’t have active substance abuse problems (although one is a recovering alcoholic, he’s been sober about two years now), my coworkers have decent (if limited number of) clothes to wear, and so forth. That, to my mind, is a symptom that there is something Very Wrong with our nation - people can work full time and still not be able to afford a place to live. How crazy is that? ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/70 "2012-02-20T00:18:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > That, to my mind, is a symptom that there is something Very Wrong with our nation - people can work full time and still not be able to afford a place to live. How crazy is that? It demonstrates democracy doesn’t exist in any meaningful fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/71 "2012-02-20T00:49:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Three of my coworkers, people who work fulltime, are currently homeless and living in shelters. Is it truly the case that these three people couldn’t get together and rent a place between them? I find that hard to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/72 "2012-02-20T01:07:02Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > There are all kinds of overlapping public and private help for the poor. By the time you hit the curb you’re down to overnight housing for adults. Children will always be cared for but the parent would have to relinquish them. Yeah, and forcing parents to give up their children isn’t REALLY providing for families, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/73 "2012-02-20T01:18:44Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > Statutory duty to house families that don’t see an urgency to work is hastening the demise of your country. > > And the statutory duty to pay for years of unemployment, welfare, food stamps and medical bills for people who are ‘smart enough’ to accept it rather than join the workforce and earn less will be the demise of ours. > > Back in the 70s and 80s people would work for a living and if they weren’t able to make ends meet they would find a room mate or 2 and skimp for years until they were able to get through school or put a down payment on a home. These days people are too good for that. They are also too good to live without 150 TV channels, 60 inch TVs and a $90 / month Iphone bill. > > Take away the incentive to not work and all of a sudden all of these jobs that they say Americans are too good to fill will begin to fill up and the rest of us can go back to paying for our own income. Citey fucking cite cite cite on the statutory duty, the welfare food stamps and medical services for the poor that makes work unnecessary … hell I want some of that! Work sucks! Give us some backup for your words or admit you live in a fantasy land. Cause you do. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/74 "2012-02-20T01:46:51Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Is it truly the case that these three people couldn’t get together and rent a place between them? I find that hard to believe. Have you ever try to rent a place without references/bank account/good credit/address/phone number? Have you ever tried to save up enough money at at min-wage job for first/last when you have to buy everything for immediate use at a much higher price? Like I said, it is a hole that is a lot harder to dig out of than most people realize. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/75 "2012-02-20T02:07:19Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Is it truly the case that these three people couldn’t get together and rent a place between them? I find that hard to believe. Well, aside from the fact that one is located in a different county from the other two might be an obstacle, just for a start (my employer has more than one store location). And why should a 46 year old woman be forced to share living space with a man half her age just because they both happen to work at the same place? You really don’t see any problem with that? How is that different than simply dumping the homeless into a shelter and making them sleep in bunk beds? That’s leaving aside that it’s not JUST a matter of the monthly rent, but also accumulating enough for a security deposit, which takes some months of full time employment at minimum wage, and that’s if everything goes smoothly and there are no unexpected expenses. ---
**Author:** ![Whambulance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@Whambulance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whambulance)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/76 "2012-02-20T05:44:34Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Citey fucking cite cite cite on the statutory duty, the welfare food stamps and medical services for the poor that makes work unnecessary … hell I want some of that! Work sucks! Give us some backup for your words or admit you live in a fantasy land. Cause you do. I freely admit I live in a fantasy land. I live in a fantasy land where people provide for themselves and only under the most desperate of situations do they ask for assistance … and I refuse to leave that world. I never said that entitlements made work unnecessary only that the net sum of their benefits can outweigh the urge to work in a lazy society. I’m also not claiming it as fact, it’s just an observation. Its funny how even the mention that people exercise a bit of personal responsibility can incense so many but beggars that are perfectly capable of working are seen as victims. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/77 "2012-02-20T06:08:44Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > And the statutory duty to pay for years of unemployment, welfare, food stamps and medical bills for people who are ‘smart enough’ to accept it rather than join the workforce and earn less will be the demise of ours.. 1. You pay for unemployment, it’s _insurance_. **Mandatory** insurance. It’s not a hand-out. You can’t get it without having been on the workforce. 2. There is no more “welfare”, not since 1996. 3. Food stamps are pretty minor. It is almost impossible to live “on the dole” in the USA as a able-bodied adult, unless you are a single mom with infant kids, and even than it’s no picnic. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/78 "2012-02-20T07:18:01Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > I freely admit I live in a fantasy land. I live in a fantasy land where people provide for themselves and only under the most desperate of situations do they ask for assistance … and I refuse to leave that world. > > I never said that entitlements made work unnecessary only that the net sum of their benefits can outweigh the urge to work in a lazy society. I’m also not claiming it as fact, it’s just an observation. > > Its funny how even the mention that people exercise a bit of personal responsibility can incense so many but beggars that are perfectly capable of working are seen as victims. Could you answer my questions, then? Since you’re still posting on this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/79 "2012-02-20T07:40:53Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > Children don’t work. I’m sure **Whambulance** has a rant ready to go for that one, too. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701/80 "2012-02-20T13:36:54Z")
> [@Whambulance](#): > > I freely admit I live in a fantasy land. I live in a fantasy land where people provide for themselves and only under the most desperate of situations do they ask for assistance … and I refuse to leave that world. > > I never said that entitlements made work unnecessary only that the net sum of their benefits can outweigh the urge to work in a lazy society. I’m also not claiming it as fact, it’s just an observation. > > Its funny how even the mention that people exercise a bit of personal responsibility can incense so many but beggars that are perfectly capable of working are seen as victims. Everything you write screams comfortable midde class entitlement; parents paid for your healthcare, and your education, you grew up in a nice house, great neighbourhood. Pretty good employer as well. Great memories. Lifes been good. Never been close to outside that bubble, except in your head. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-now-has-homeless-tented-communities-outside-55-cities/612701.md?page=5)