Essay #1
The recent debate on the severity of the social epidemic of homelessness & the need for social reform has been the topic of discussion. In this day & age its hard for a person to walk in areas such as downtown, public parks, even drive in our vehicles without noticing their presence. Holding signs, cups or sometimes even holding a bottle of alcohol. Who’s to blame? Sure it would be easy to blame the individual asking you for change with the pride less, sometimes empty & pathetic look on his face. But what does this suggest about us as a society? Lets take a look at us for a minute. Maybe hearing both sides of the table will help us come to a conclusion that will help us rectify the increasing number of individuals that are forced to live their lives on the streets. I believe hearing both sides will help us stop pointing the finger at everyone else & start to prevent some of the issues that ultimately result in homelessness as an unpleasant reality.
The Department of Housing & Urban Development showed that between the year of 2005 & 2006 the number of homeless people in America’s streets declined from 175,900 to around 155,600. Thus making a decrease of the overall estimated homeless a staggering 11.2%. Advocates suggest that this figure is a positive representation of the positive steps towards rectifying the issue. However critics dispute this figure by arguing that out of the total number of homeless Americans, more than half are homeless due to circumstances that can be prevented.
Chronically homeless people are defined as the most troubled of the homeless population, suffering from mental or addiction troubles & living on the street for at least a solid year. Though a chronically homeless person may be homeless due to the lack of financial resources, the percentage of chronically homeless Americans that suffer from mental illnesses are staggering. Critics argue that by far this segment of the homeless population remains to be the most muffled. Advocates insists that if we were to focus on this particular segment, we must 1st focus on the cases of those individuals that are forced to live with the mental illness commonly know as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Stating that we have a moral obligation to assist the Americans that have served in the U.S armed forces, & they should be considered 1st. Predominately consisted of veterans; this disorder is usually associated with the psychological effects of hand-to-hand combat. The thought of possibly killing causes certain individuals to suffer from acute systems of anxiety, in some known cases hallucinations. And for this disorder in particular scientists have yet to develop a cure. But PTSD is not the only mental illness that causes these individuals to be mentally unstable.
Another contributor to homelessness in the U.S is property zoning & rent control. Over 3 million Americans are now considered to be homeless. "Mix sixty years of local zoning regulations with one part rent control; add a generous dash of wholesome mental hospital deinstitutionalization, & a severe breakdown in family structures, especially among the poor-- & you have a dandy social tragedy," Tom Main writes. "Reforming [cities] housing policies with an eye to increasing the availability of low-income housing, "Bernard Seigan adds," zoning appears to lower the price of housing for the rich & raise the housing prices for the poor. Policies like zoning & rent control are prime targets for reform the consequences of these regulations & laws don’t actually show their results for years. Local zoning boards set minimum lot size requirements for residential developments, & permanent more than 1 family to purchase a home under "single family" restrictions." Advocates express that without systems such as rent control & property zoning helps regulate the economy. If these systems weren’t in place than property values would be non reflective of the current market state. Critics suggest that rent control prohibits allocating apartments through the price system, which is also becoming a factor in hotels. Also, it has become evident that communities have prohibited the construction of cheap housing to eliminate the existence of the lower class. Just because there isn’t housing for the poor doesn’t eliminate their presence. The government since the 1960’s has constructed thousands of housing developments that is now abandoned but decent enough to live in. In argument advocates suggest that, "deregulation accomplishes an end that conservatives think liberals think conservatives ignore, through means that conservatives think liberals ignore. Americans demand for nice neighborhoods has been the cause for the overall misfortunate homeless."
In light of this evidence, the value of humanity has now grown to overshadow the value of the pursuit of individual happiness. The epidemic of homelessness will continue to reflect this fact until we as "the people" can sit down & accomplish more than point fingers at each side. In sue of the many circumstances that may cause &/or contribute to the fact that over 1% of the total American population are currently homeless. Its more intense when you think of the idea that we live in the riches country in the world… If we can constitute laws & guidelines that govern how we interact in society in general. Then how is it far fetched to conceive that the liberty & justice that we all take advantage of everyday may be beneficial to the current situation we as a whole are? The facts are the facts, neither I nor anyone else can save everybody, but if we put in place programs that institute reform for those individuals that may still have hope then how many will be left? Furthermore, homelessness is more than just a U.S epidemic. The world around us is much more in need of an answer. Continents such as Africa, Mexico & many other country’s south of Mexico are devastated by the affects of homelessness. But in correlation to this fact we must 1st take care of home to be the model for the rest world around us.
The Department of Housing & Urban Development showed that between the year of 2005 & 2006 the number of homeless people in America’s streets declined from 175,900 to around 155,600. Thus making a decrease of the overall estimated homeless a staggering 11.2%. Advocates suggest that this figure is a positive representation of the positive steps towards rectifying the issue. However critics dispute this figure by arguing that out of the total number of homeless Americans, more than half are homeless due to circumstances that can be prevented.
Chronically homeless people are defined as the most troubled of the homeless population, suffering from mental or addiction troubles & living on the street for at least a solid year. Though a chronically homeless person may be homeless due to the lack of financial resources, the percentage of chronically homeless Americans that suffer from mental illnesses are staggering. Critics argue that by far this segment of the homeless population remains to be the most muffled. Advocates insists that if we were to focus on this particular segment, we must 1st focus on the cases of those individuals that are forced to live with the mental illness commonly know as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Stating that we have a moral obligation to assist the Americans that have served in the U.S armed forces, & they should be considered 1st. Predominately consisted of veterans; this disorder is usually associated with the psychological effects of hand-to-hand combat. The thought of possibly killing causes certain individuals to suffer from acute systems of anxiety, in some known cases hallucinations. And for this disorder in particular scientists have yet to develop a cure. But PTSD is not the only mental illness that causes these individuals to be mentally unstable.
Another contributor to homelessness in the U.S is property zoning & rent control. Over 3 million Americans are now considered to be homeless. "Mix sixty years of local zoning regulations with one part rent control; add a generous dash of wholesome mental hospital deinstitutionalization, & a severe breakdown in family structures, especially among the poor-- & you have a dandy social tragedy," Tom Main writes. "Reforming [cities] housing policies with an eye to increasing the availability of low-income housing, "Bernard Seigan adds," zoning appears to lower the price of housing for the rich & raise the housing prices for the poor. Policies like zoning & rent control are prime targets for reform the consequences of these regulations & laws don’t actually show their results for years. Local zoning boards set minimum lot size requirements for residential developments, & permanent more than 1 family to purchase a home under "single family" restrictions." Advocates express that without systems such as rent control & property zoning helps regulate the economy. If these systems weren’t in place than property values would be non reflective of the current market state. Critics suggest that rent control prohibits allocating apartments through the price system, which is also becoming a factor in hotels. Also, it has become evident that communities have prohibited the construction of cheap housing to eliminate the existence of the lower class. Just because there isn’t housing for the poor doesn’t eliminate their presence. The government since the 1960’s has constructed thousands of housing developments that is now abandoned but decent enough to live in. In argument advocates suggest that, "deregulation accomplishes an end that conservatives think liberals think conservatives ignore, through means that conservatives think liberals ignore. Americans demand for nice neighborhoods has been the cause for the overall misfortunate homeless."
In light of this evidence, the value of humanity has now grown to overshadow the value of the pursuit of individual happiness. The epidemic of homelessness will continue to reflect this fact until we as "the people" can sit down & accomplish more than point fingers at each side. In sue of the many circumstances that may cause &/or contribute to the fact that over 1% of the total American population are currently homeless. Its more intense when you think of the idea that we live in the riches country in the world… If we can constitute laws & guidelines that govern how we interact in society in general. Then how is it far fetched to conceive that the liberty & justice that we all take advantage of everyday may be beneficial to the current situation we as a whole are? The facts are the facts, neither I nor anyone else can save everybody, but if we put in place programs that institute reform for those individuals that may still have hope then how many will be left? Furthermore, homelessness is more than just a U.S epidemic. The world around us is much more in need of an answer. Continents such as Africa, Mexico & many other country’s south of Mexico are devastated by the affects of homelessness. But in correlation to this fact we must 1st take care of home to be the model for the rest world around us.
posted by Michael Oliver | 2:22 PM
1 Comments:
Title? Attention getter?
You are making too many assumptions about the reader and the reader's experience: why not focus on your own, something you know you can speak about and be right? Otherwise, you are assuming every person who reads this does not notice the homeless. I do, I do volunteer work on the subject...so how is your intro allowing me to relate to it?
You are not using your topic sentences in each paragraph to control the topic. The topic sentences should ALWAYS be your voice and not a source. Otherwise, the sources are made primary over your own views on the issue, whatever it may be.
The thesis is not clear, and the paper subsequently meanders.
Citations?
NP
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home