11-03-2009, 05:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-03-2009, 05:58 PM by Peter Lemkin.)
It is hard to find good reliable figures, but I'd guess it is 3 - 5 x that bad. Many parents with kids sleep in their car [the authorities would NOT classify this as 'homeless']. Others are moving from friend to friend, relative to relative and also would NOT be considered 'homeless', though they have NO stable home and rarely if ever spend the day and night with the parents. America is only the 'richest' nation when you average in the MANY third-world poor and homeless with those who are robbing the Planet blind. On AVERAGE, an American is MUCH poorer than those in Western Europe - MUCH!...and the gulf is widening at light speeds. Europeans have some social safety net - many Americans have NONE, a majority have very little, or only in life-threatening situations. There is an expression in the USA - "God helps those who help themselves' [translation: society is not going to help you out, if you ain't 'got' on your own!] Sink or swm. Altruism on a societal level is nil. That explains (sic) the bailouts of the ultra-rich an ignoring those in need [about 25% of the population and rising] - God and Country help those who have 'helped' themselves - however they 'got what they have'. Period. It is reverse Robinhoodism. Steal from the poor to give to the rich - and all 'justified' in the mythology. And 'heaven help you' if you aren't white, Christian and look normative, act and think [sic] normative......