Homeless as ‘Reminder of Society’s Failings’

I recently wrote a response to a brochure mailed to Santa Monica residents concerning our homeless problem. I would like to share that letter with your readers.

“I think your attempt to characterize the homeless as the cause of all of Santa Monica’s problems is immoral and you should be ashamed of yourselves. The very idea of offering T-shirts referring to the homeless problem as ‘Skid Row by the Sea’ is deeply offensive and a pathetic attempt to blame the victim. Unlike many of you, I see the homeless as my neighbors--human beings who for one reason or another find themselves on the streets. I’ve lived in Santa Monica for 11 years and I feel sick at heart every time I see the homeless. Some days I think I can’t stand it anymore but I have never wanted to ‘run them out of town.’ Whether their problems are alcohol-related, mental illness or just bad luck they are part of our society, and we all have to share the responsibility for finding a compassionate and constructive solution to those problems.

“If you were really serious about solving our social problems you would look to the Republican Party in the White House and in Sacramento. They’ve destroyed our economy, refused to help our cities and given us an unseemly leadership that has led many of you to believe that greed and selfishness are virtues, and to hell with the less fortunate. I don’t want to hear anymore how there’s no money for our domestic problems. The federal government seems to have plenty of money to support every cocaine- and weapons-dealing dictator in the world. Maybe that’s why we don’t have money to house and feed the poor (the majority of whom are women and children), money for national health insurance, money to educate our children and care for our elderly.

“The problem is not ‘those people camping in the parks.’ The problem is that for 12 years we have allowed the Reagan/Bush/Deukmejian/Wilson governments to cry ‘poor’ when it came to the needs of low- and middle-income people. Instead they chose to help their wealthy friends rip us off--from the savings and loan robbers to stealing our pension money. Now the chickens have come home to roost, and you want to blame the homeless.

“As their numbers increase, the homeless will continue to be a constant, painful reminder of our failing as a society to demand that the federal and state governments take responsibility for the reallocation of our resources to solve our domestic problems. Blaming the most powerless people for those problems may be the easy way out but hardly the most admirable.”

BEVERLY VORAN

Santa Monica