One of Bernie Sanders attack lines is that somehow it is the fault of greedy billionaires that there are homeless people in America. A lot of people walk around with this "America is so rich so there shouldn't be homeless" idea. This idea is an outgrowth of the idea that in order for someone to be/get rich they must have appropriated the wealth of someone else OR prevented a class of people from becoming wealthy (or at least self-sufficient). This may have been the case during the rise of early industrialists, some of whom did some very shady (and downright criminal) things to workers in the process of making their money. However; this really isn't the case anymore; particularly in the US. Much of the wealth generated today is in the form of appreciating assets. Those assets are largely but not exclusively in the financial sector. In other words, money making money. Other forms are you, the reader, using "free" platforms in exchange for being monetized by the companies providing you with these "free" services. Remember, when it comes to the internet either you pay for the product or you ARE the product.
Generally the extremely wealthy got so by offering some good or service that a large number of people found useful and were willing to pay for. Generally. They didn't make their money by making people homeless. Generally. We'll get back to this. It's important to understand what the
homeless look like before getting further into the topic.
In a 2008 survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 25 cities were asked for the three largest causes of homelessness in their communities. Mental illness was the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults (mentioned by 48% of cities). For homeless families, mental illness was mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the top 3 causes of homelessness...
In addition, half of the mentally ill homeless population in the United States also suffers from substance abuse and dependence (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). Minorities, especially African Americans, are over-represented in this group. Some mentally ill people self-medicate using street drugs, which can lead not only to addictions, but also to disease transmission from injection drug use. This combination of mental illness, substance abuse, and poor physical health makes it very difficult for people to obtain employment and residential stability.
Mental illness being the third largest cause. I recall watching a Youtube channel where various homeless people were interviewed. A large number of the people had fell into addiction that cost them their jobs and families. This is not the fault of "billionaires". It is why as a rule I don't give money to homeless. I give food or clothes.
Another
point on addiction and homelessness:
The 100,000 Homes Campaign, a movement of communities working to find permanent homes for 100,000 homeless individuals, conducted a survey of more than 30,100 homeless people across the country. Close to 60 percent of participants had a substance abuse problem. Nearly 14 percent engaged in drugs intravenously, and roughly 20 percent had a drug problem without knowing or admitting it.
Alcohol is more common among older generations, whereas drug abuse is more prevalent with young adults. Polydrug use — using two or more drugs in combination — has become more popular among all adults.
So we can clearly see that a rather large percentage of the homeless are homeless for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with "billionaires". It is either due to their own behavior (substance abuse) or mental illness they developed or were born with.
The next class of people who are homeless are those done in by circumstances beyond their control. For example due to the explosive growth of IT businesses in California, housing costs have skyrocketed and the population of working homeless has ballooned. We're talking teachers and other professionals who in any other area of the country would probably not be homeless. Who drove up the housing prices? Not [usually] billionaires but the millionaires that own the property.
Next we have the unexpected medical event. I think this is where Sanders' argument is and will be most potent. I read that a person went to get tested for COVID-19 and received a
3k bill. Should have never happened. The extremely high costs of medical care in the US has to be addressed. Simply throwing more taxpayer money at it is not going to help. I completely understand that it takes a large sum of money to discover new treatments. I understand that medical professionals are often highly paid and that the equipment in use is specialized and "expensive" but these kinds of bills simply shouldn't be possible. These, IMO abusive billing practices are going to get Socialism in the door a lot faster than people think because all of us are going to need medical care in our lifetimes.
One of the possible reasons I see for these inflated bills is the health insurance industry. Similar to how it may be the case that guaranteed government student loads are inflating college costs, I think that these hospitals and other entities, knowing that some insurance company is going to pay for the service, regardless of whether the patient can actually pay, drives up costs. What incentives are there to get these bills down to a reasonable amount is there, when the vast majority of patients pay a $50 "fee" and the $3000 comes from AETNA? Who in turn has been guaranteed by the government to have employees pay in x-amount of their wages to their company?
How many patients with a 104 degree temp is going to be all: "Well doc, can I get an estimate? Can I get competing quotes from nearby hospitals? Naw, I don't think I want to pay for this pill right here, you just take the blood sample and I'll go get my own Advil."
So a lot of Bernie supporters are going to need to be real about the causes of homelessness. It's not a simple billionaires are to blame.
