Homelessness and Compassion by Robert R. Odle, Ph.D.

Homelessness … and compassion Robert R. Odle, Ph.D. an aspiring good citizen of the earth

… tent city in Elkton ....

There are about 700,000 homeless people in America according to this video.  About half of these people have mental illness.  They are a very low priority in our country and as long as they stay out of the way, we are content as a society to let them live like stray dogs on the edge of our prosperity.  This morning at tennis, I discovered there is a tent city with about 200 tents at Marina park.   It is one of five tent cities I was told by the volunteer there bringing in coffee and pancakes.  She told me there were about 15,000 homeless in Elkton, but that is really hard to believe since that is about the size of the “regular people”.  My wife tells me Cecil County has one of the largest populations of kids that get free and reduced lunches in Maryland.  

The biggest cause of homelessness is poverty.  A lack of resources available to care for the poor. Assuming these people never got better it would cost about $20 billion a year to cloth and house 750,000 people.  The funds used in the second Iraq war could care for them for about 50 years.   A 20% reduction in Military Aid to Israel or a 0.1% tax on earnings of the top 20% of the wealthiest in this country could take care of them forever.  But, these homeless people are not that important.  After all, we do let them get the scraps from the dumpsters.   I was told the city only burned down tent city one time, but I don’t know if that is true or not.  Not that we would make an official record of that type of activity … and what do the homeless people know.

I was told about a “Brother John?” that works at Walmart as a greeter that helps the homeless in Elkton.  He lives on his social security and uses his entire Walmart earnings buying blankets, food and basic supplies for the homeless in tent city.  Does anyone know of this man?  Can there be someone like that among us?

So, am I the only one in this country that wonders how we can spend $600 billion a year on the military (more than everyone else combined) and not 0.3% of that amount caring for the homeless? Does that make us the GREATEST COUNTRY in the world?